Jr. Cyclones battle Pioneers for third win of season
Published 2:50 pm Friday, September 1, 2023
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Legend Pate breaks off a big gain against the Crockett defense. Pate had two rushing TDs in the contest.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
TAD running back Mycah Matheson follows the block of his offensive linemen.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Ryan Jones is pushed out of bounds after a reception for the Jr. Cyclones.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Nolan Loveday wraps up the Crockett running back for a loss in the backfield.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Ryan Jones prepares to offer a stiff arm to a would-be Pioneer tackler.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
The Cyclone defense made it hard on the Crockett quarterback all four quarters.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
There was just no room to go for the Pioneer offense during Thursday’s game.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Brycen Blevins looks for running room on a kickoff return.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Lennox Loveday turns up field after hauling in a reception.
STAR CORRESPONDENT
JONESBOROUGH – The TA Dugger Jr. Cyclones haven’t had to break a sweat in their first two wins of the season but were put to the test on Thursday evening in Jonesborough against the Crockett Jr. Pioneers.
Although the Jr. Pioneer offense couldn’t handle the TAD defense, the effort from the Crockett defense led to holding the explosive Jr. Cyclone offense to its lowest output of the season in a 26-0 victory over the Jr. Pioneers.
The Jr. Cyclones put their first points of the contest on the scoreboard with 4:32 showing on the first quarter clock. Signal caller Brycen Blevins connected with Ryan Jones for an eight-yard scoring toss and Legend Pate converted the two-point conversion for an 8-0 TAD lead.
Both teams showed great defensive effort from that point until the Jr. Cyclones struck pay dirt again with 1:15 left before the half.
After a key pass from Blevins to Jacob Clevinger put the Jr. Cyclones in great field position, Pate bolted in from four yards out and then converted the two-point conversion for a 16-0 TAD advantage.
The Jr. Cyclones got their final score in the third quarter as Pate took advantage of a huge hole created by the TAD offensive line and broke loose on a 44-yard dash to the end zone.
Blevins connected with Jones for the two-point conversion and the game had its final score at 26-0.
“Crockett has a bunch of tough kids with speed and size,” said Jr. Cyclone head coach Brock Pittman. “They made us work for everything we had. I am really proud of the fact that we were able to fight and obviously overcome a lot of stuff. We had a lot of mistakes which is good for us because it gives us something to work for next week in practice to just get better at.”
Pittman went on to add that he was proud of the defense because they bent but didn’t break in the contest.
In Junior Varsity action, the Jr. Cyclones also remained a perfect 3-0 on the season winning their contest 32-8.
Up next for the Jr. Cyclones will be Sullivan Heights at Citizens Bank Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 6 pm.
