Jr. Cyclones brew up a defensive storm in second half to remain unbeaten
Published 8:43 am Friday, August 23, 2024
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders TAD's Peyton Vanover finds plenty of green ahead as he dashes past Robinson defenders.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Callan Reed sees a seam and heads toward the goal line for the Jr. Cyclones.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Carson Lyons (8) picks up a timely block from Eli Phillips (30) for a good gain on the ground.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders A blitz from the backside by TAD's Legend Pate knocks the ball free from the hand of the Robinson quarterback.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Legend Pate makes a great cut against the Robinson defense for a huge fourth-down conversion.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jr. Cyclones quarterback Creed Baker rolls out looking for an open receiver.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Anthony Orton continues to drive despite being held by a Robinson would-be tackler.
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Star Correspondent
KINGSPORT – The T.A. Dugger Jr. Cyclones traveled to the Model City to take on the homestanding Robinson Redskins at J. Fred Johnson Stadium Thursday evening, looking to keep their record unblemished on the young season.
After playing a closer-than-usual first half in which they held a slim 14-6 advantage, the boys in orange and black came to life in the second half like a Kansas twister defensively, turning the Kingsport team every which way but loose in a 32-6 victory to go 3-0 on the season.
Playing a scoreless first quarter, the Jr. Cyclones broke on the scoreboard when quarterback Creed Baker scampered in from four yards out to give TAD a 6-0 lead. Baker found Max Fields on the two-point conversion to boost the lead to 8-0 with 6:18 showing on the first-half clock.
The boys in blue from Robinson found the going tough offensively on the ensuing possession and turned the ball over to the Jr. Cyclones with under one minute to play in the half.
However, a Baker pass was picked off by Robinson’s Eli Weaver, who raced untouched 53 yards for a pick-six to pull the Redskins within a two-point conversion. The Jr. Cyclones stood firm and foiled the attempt, leaving the score at 8-6 with 43 seconds left in the half.
That was too much time to leave on the clock, as the Redskins would find out the hard way, since the Jr. Cyclones weren’t finished in the half.
A key play came when Baker found Anthony Orton on a 39-yard pass to the Robinson one-yard line, where TAD called timeout with :04 left on the scoreboard clock.
Baker plowed over for the score as time expired to extend the Jr. Cyclones’ lead to 14-6. The two-point conversion failed, and both teams went to intermission.
The Jr. Cyclones received the second-half kickoff and wasted little time cashing in when Legend Pate bolted 64 yards to paydirt with only 20 seconds off the third-quarter clock to make it 20-6 after the two-point conversion failed once again.
After taking possession on the following kickoff, the Redskins ran into a brick wall in the TAD defense and found themselves going backward until Pate put his hands on a Robinson pass and took it 18 yards for the pick-six.
The point-after attempt hit the crossbar, and the Jr. Cyclones extended their lead to 26-6 with 4:21 left to play in the third quarter.
Dugger’s defense continued to pound away at the Robinson offense, getting the ball back into the Jr. Cyclones’ hands once again.
A Pate 25-yard scamper to the Redskins’ nine-yard line had the boys from ‘Betsy back in business again as the third quarter expired.
Callan Reed cleaned up the final two yards just four seconds into the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 32-6 as the conversion failed.
The Cyclone defense took the reins from there and held the Redskins out of the end zone as a Reed interception with 19.5 seconds to play sealed the contest.
“We are going to get everybody’s best shot, and Kingsport is always going to be Kingsport,” said Jr. Cyclone head coach Brock Pittman. “Robinson has some athletes, and they did a good job of scheming on us on defense, and our guys had to figure it out.
“We just trust our guys to execute. A big shout out to our fans who showed up once again. We are excited to be playing at home next week against Boone.”
Next Thursday will be the first time the Jr. Cyclones play before their home fans, with a blackout called for by the undefeated team. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m.
