Score stoppers… Canes 9-10-year-old travel team love pitching shutouts on the gridiron
Published 1:03 pm Monday, October 26, 2020
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The Canes Aldo Cordell takes advantage of a wide running lane made by his offensive line on a big gain.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Evan Chambers (3) of the Canes breaks through the line and has blocking help from teammate Ju Ju Sensabaugh (9) in the Canes big win over the Avengers at Sullivan North High School in Kingsport.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders An Avengers running back looks to pick up some yards against a tough Cane defense.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The Avengers Rylan Jones cuts back aross the grain as the Cane defense closes in.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Canes running back Kase Spradlen gains some good yardage during his team's contest against the Avengers at Sullivan North.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Ju Ju Sensabaugh explodes through the interior of the Avenger defensive line for a good gain for the Canes.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The Avengers Lake Turbyfill gets some encouragement and a pat on the head from a coach.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The Canes Evan Chambers breaks to the outside on a scoring running for his team.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Canes quarterback Brycen Blevins carries the football across the goal line for a two-point conversion.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Evan Chambers looks for a running gap during the Canes contest against the Avengers.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Rylan Jones searches for a running lane for the Avengers.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Ju Ju Sensabaugh of the Canes rips off a chunk of yards as the Canes remainded undefeated and unscored upon.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders This group of Cane players take a much-deserved break as the game winds down.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
KINGSPORT – The Elizabethton Cyclones are on a 24-game win streak but that is not the best win streak happening in Elizabethton right now as the Elizabethton Canes 9-10-year-old travel football team composed mainly of Elizabethton players with a sprinkle of Greeneville, Kingsport, Johnson City, and Mountain City players in the mix as well ran their streak to 30 straight with an impressive 36-0 win over the Cloudland-based Avengers.
With COVID-19 shutting down most local youth football leagues, the Canes are one of a handful of local travel teams that still have managed to get some games in at different fields throughout the Tri-Cities including Bluff City, Sullivan North, the Stone Castle, and Dobyns-Bennett.
That hasn’t kept head coach Brandon Blevins team from their winning ways.
Along with the 30-game win streak, the Canes have not allowed a score in their five games this season outscoring their opponents, 208-0.
On Saturday at Sullivan North, it took the Canes about four minutes into the game to get rolling but once they did, they were like a downhill juggernaut.
Aldo Cordell put the Canes on the board first when he carried the football into the endzone on a five-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Brycen Blevins added the two-point conversion and the Canes led 8-0.
After forcing the Avengers to punt the football back, Ju Ju Sensabaugh put on a scintillating display of footwork as the fleet runner dashed 42 yards for a Cane score with 1:19 left to play in the first quarter.
Evan Chambers took care of the two-point conversion for the Canes and the scoreboard read 16-0 and that was the way the first quarter finished.
With a tough defense stifling everything that the Avengers attempted to do offensively, the Canes quickly took possession in the second quarter and took only 1:21 to add to their side of the scoreboard.
Blevins took care of business on the drive as he scooted into the end zone from seven yards out to put the Canes up 24-0 after Bo Armstrong converted the two-point conversion.
Just before the halftime intermission, Chambers danced to the outside of the Avenger defense and raced 46 yards for another score with 26 seconds left.
The two-point conversion failed and at the half, the Canes had the game in hand leading 30-0.
Adding the cherry to the top of the sundae, Sensabaugh scampered in from the 10-yard line with 20 seconds left in the third quarter. The two-point conversion failed and the game had its final score of 36-0.
“It’s just dedication – they are all in,” said Blevins. “Our goal for the season is to shut out every game and give the kids a little surprise for that. It’s a good accomplishment for a defense and it’s one thing we work on.
“Youth football – we teach the basics. Blocking and tackling, if you can block and tackle the rest will do itself and that’s kind of been our theme for five to six years now and we have been pretty successful.”
The Canes will be back on the field on Saturday, October 31st at 11:15 am when they take on the Hilltopper Red team at Sullivan North.
