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STAR CORRESPONDENT

With an opportunity to capture the District 1AA championship and secure a home game in the opening round of the Region playoffs the Elizabethton Cyclones fell to David Crockett 2-1 and will have to travel to Greeneville in the next round.

“I feel like the Unicoi game was our pinnacle game,” Cyclones head coach Doug Schultz said. “I’m so proud of how we played. Crockett is a real good team and I think we showed some anxiety tonight. Anxiety makes you revert to old ways and we showed that tonight.”

The Pioneers got on the scoreboard in the 24th minute on a shot by Elijah Moore. Moore was set up for his goal by a free kick issued to Tyrone Rodriguez who fired a shot from 30 yards out into the scoring area.

From there the ball was deflected to Diego Cook Silva who had his back to the Cyclones goal but he put a pass high and straight up to where Moore put a header shot past EHS goalkeeper Tucker Taylor.

Crockett held that lead until the 39th minute of the first half when Reece Vernon struck a free kick from 15 yards out past Crockett’s goalkeeper Bradley Gouge to knot the score at 1-1 at the break.

“I was in a good position and it was a good shot,” Vernon said. “We lost a lot of seniors last year so it has taken us some time to build our chemistry this year, but we feel pretty confident right now.”

The game was a penalty filled affair with Crockett seeing three yellow cards and the Cyclones one. In the 54th minute Silva headed in a rebound of a shot for a 2-1 Pioneer advantage and EHS had two golden opportunities for goals that went wanting.

Riley Vernon fielded a pass from Drake Teague but was a little too deep into the box allowing Gouge to crash down to the right goalpost giving Vernon no angle and his shot was directly into Gouge’s body.

The second opportunity came when Reece Vernon was given a free kick from just outside the penalty area and his shot was stopped by Gouge who also handled the rebound in a scrum outside the goal to thwart the Cyclones last best scoring chance.

District 1AA Championship

David Crockett 2-1

David Crockett 1 1 – 2

Elizabethton 1 0 – 1

Scoring Summary

First Half

DC – Moore (assist Silva) 24:00

E – Reece Vernon (unassisted) 39:00

Second Half

DC – Silva (unassisted) 54:00