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Star Correspondent

The Elizabethton Cyclones made a familiar trip to Clinton on Friday night for the 2024 Class 4-A BlueCross Football Championships, facing the Region 2-4A champion Anderson County Mavericks, a team that has been a thorn in their side for the past four seasons.

Hoping to rewrite the narrative of their past visits, the Cyclones jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before the Mavericks surged ahead, handing Elizabethton a lopsided 54-14 loss and bringing another productive season for the Cyclones to an end.

Anderson County will advance to meet Greeneville in the quarterfinals once again this Friday.

The Cyclones opened the game with an effective running attack, marching down the field before CJ Mathes twisted his way into the end zone for the game’s first touchdown. Will Bowers’ point-after attempt made it 7-0.

From that point forward, it was all Mavericks. Anderson County responded with 34 unanswered points to close the first half.

The Mavericks continued their dominance in the second half, adding two more scores to push the lead to 48-7. Elizabethton managed to score once more when quarterback Rhett Slagle connected with wide receiver Zack Wallin on a six-yard touchdown pass. Bowers’ PAT made it 48-14.

On the ensuing kickoff, Anderson County put the exclamation mark on the game with a 96-yard kickoff return, sealing the Cyclones’ fate.

Despite the final score, the game’s total yardage was closer than expected. Elizabethton ran 60 plays compared to Anderson County’s 31, with the Mavericks gaining 341 total yards of offense to the Cyclones’ 279.

Slagle completed 15 of 23 passes for 195 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. On the ground, Elizabethton carried the ball 36 times for 84 yards, including Mathes’ rushing touchdown.

The Cyclones wrapped up their season with a 7-4 overall record.