Jr. Cyclones ride 38-point first quarter to romp over Sevier

Published 1:07 pm Friday, August 25, 2023

By Ivan Sanders

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While the temperature on Thursday hovered about 90 degrees, it was much hotter on the turf at Citizens Bank Stadium as the T.A. Dugger Jr. Cyclones turned the visiting Sevier Warriors every which way but loose.
A 38-point first quarter set the tone as head coach Brock Pittman’s team was clicking in every phase of the game to lay a smackdown on the Warriors by a score of 52-6 before a large home crowd.
The Jr. Cyclones have outscored their first two opponents 102-6 behind a well-oiled offense and a smothering defense.
Legend Pate got the party started for TAD when the scat back galloped 34 yards to the end zone with just 20 seconds off the game clock. The two-point conversion failed and the Jr. Cyclones led 6-0.
It would take under a minute for the Jr. Cyclones to add to their lead. The score was set up by a Jacob Clevinger fumble recovery on the Sevier one-yard line. Ryan Jones scored on the ensuing play thanks to a massive opening created by the offensive line of TAD. Pate tacked on the two-point conversion and the lead grew to 14-0.
Defense turned into offense as Sevier just couldn’t get going offensively when Aldo Cordell stepped in front of an attempted pass by the Jr. Warrior quarterback and raced 45 yards for the score. Quarterback Brycen Blevins made a good read on the two-point conversion to capitalize on the short run for a 22-0 advantage with 6:05 still left in the first quarter.
Jones got into the defensive column after the score just 40 seconds later when he put the Jr. Cyclones in business at the Sevier 45-yard line.
A Blevins to Jones pass resulted in a 45-yard jaunt to the end zone to extend the lead in a 12-second offensive series. Blevins then found Lennox Loveday for the two-point conversion and TAD was cruising leading 30-0.
Sevier looked like they finally found a little momentum on their ensuing drive but Mycah Matheson threw water on the drive when he picked off a pass at Sevier 42 and took the ball to the 16-yard line for great field position once again for the home team.
After a short gain, Blevins found Cordell on an 11-yard scoring toss with Pate toting the point-after to make it 38-0 as the quarter mercifully came to an end.
The TAD defense was back at it once again early in the second quarter as Matheson once again read the Warrior offense and stepped into the path of a pass and raced 26 yards to pay dirt. Blevins took care of the two-point conversion and TAD ballooned its lead to 46-0 with six minutes left before the break.
Sevier managed to break the goose egg on its side of the scoreboard with 2:18 left before the half but the two-point conversion failed as the Jr. Cyclones took a 46-6 lead to the break.
With a running clock in the second half, Matheson snared his third interception of the contest at the Sevier 48-yard line as the third quarter ended at 46-6.
Gage Reid added the final score of the game when he crossed the goal line from one yard out with 5:53 left in the game. The conversion failed to give the game its final margin of victory at 52-6.
“We came out really hot and took advantage of a couple of mistakes on their part and were able to get up 14-0 really quick and the momentum just kind of built off that,” said a pleased Pittman after the game. “We played really well on defense. I thought we tackled well and they have a lot of speed and we did a great job of containing their speed. Teams like they have are going to make big plays and they made a couple of big plays on us especially that touchdown run.
“I felt like we were really organized and we are playing really, really hard as a team and that’s the main thing and I am really proud of the team. The coaches did a great job of getting them prepared for the game.”
The Jr. Cyclones will be on the road next Thursday when they take on Crockett.
TAD Junior Varsity
TA Dugger…..24
Sevier………..  6
Just like the varsity TAD team, the junior varsity Cyclones rolled to their second consecutive victory as Callan Reed scored early in the opening quarter and the Jr. Cyclones cruised after that.
The TAD JV has outscored their opponents 66-12 in two games defeating Boone last week 42-6.

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