Jr. Cyclones pitch another shutout over visiting Tennessee Middle
Published 11:12 am Friday, September 6, 2024
Star Correspondent/Ivan Sanders Jr. Cyclones quarterback Creed Baker gets to the outside of the Jr. Vikings defense for a big gain.
Star Correspondent/Ivan Sanders Callen Reed picks up tough yards through the heart of the Tennessee Middle defense.
Star Correspondent/Ivan Sanders Max Fields of T.A. Dugger skies high to haul in a potential Jr. Cyclones score. The ball fell off Fields’ hands, but he made up for it later with a big catch for a touchdown.
Star Correspondent/Ivan Sanders Legend Pate tackles a Jr. Vikings running back for a loss.
Star Correspondent/Ivan Sanders Austin Haskill (73) lifts the ball after recovering a fumble to stop a Tennessee Middle drive.
Star Correspondent/Ivan Sanders Jr. Tuffy keeps the crowd fired up throughout the Jr. Cyclones’ win over Tennessee Middle.
Star Correspondent/Ivan Sanders The T.A. Dugger Jr. Cyclones cheerleaders perform a stunt during halftime of the Jr. Cyclones vs. Jr. Vikings game.
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
STAR CORRESPONDENT
The visiting Tennessee Middle Jr. Vikings found out Thursday evening what other teams already knew: The T.A. Dugger Jr. Cyclones are a formidable team, both offensively and defensively.
Pitching another shutout, the Jr. Cyclones dominated on both sides of the football, taking a 28-0 victory over the Jr. Vikings before an impressive crowd at Citizens Bank Stadium.
The win moved the Jr. Cyclones to 5-0 on the season.
T.A. Dugger got on the board with its first score in the first quarter when quarterback Creed Baker walked in from two yards out at the 3:03 mark. The two-point conversion failed, and the Jr. Cyclones went up 6-0.
Creed Baker continued to impress as the seventh-grade standout intercepted a Jr. Vikings pass at midfield, returning the ball to the Jr. Vikings’ 29-yard line.
Pate cashed in on the turnover just 1:08 into the second quarter with a nine-yard run, weaving through several Jr. Vikings defenders and diving over the goal line. The two-point conversion failed again, but the Jr. Cyclones extended their lead to 12-0.
Baker and Pate spun more Cyclone magic just before the half as Baker found Pate in the flat. Pate outran the Tennessee Middle secondary easily for a 61-yard toss and score.
Baker took care of the two-point conversion and the home team took a 20-0 lead into the intermission.
The Jr. Cyclones added their final score with 1:30 left in the third quarter when Baker connected on his second touchdown toss of the contest finding Max Fields on a 28-yard scoring pass. The two had just missed another scoring opportunity earlier when Fields extended on a pass only to have the ball roll off his fingertips.
After Baker toted the two-point conversion to make it 28-0, the Jr. Cyclone defense took care of business in completing the shutout effort.
“Defensively to get another shutout was just a great team effort first of all,” said Jr. Cyclone head coach Brock Pittman. “I think that we played some of our best ball on defense today for sure. We made a lot of mistakes on offense early in the game with turnovers and dropped snaps. We made up for it on defense. Can’t say enough about our kids because when the football wasn’t on the ground, we played our best football.
“That was a good football team. It’s the way football works, and we are going to be in dogfights for the rest of the season.”
The Jr. Cyclones play host to Liberty Bell on Thursday, Sept. 12 at Citizens Bank Stadium.
