MOUNTAIN CITY— There may be remnants of Hurricane Hermine passing through the southern states, but a huge Cyclone blew through Mountain City Friday night—as in the Elizabethton Cyclones.

Elizabethton shook off the effects of a heartbreaking loss by constructing a 34-0 lead by the half and cruising to pitch the 47-0 shutout at Paul McEwen Stadium Friday night.

The Cyclones showed the energy that their head coach Shawn Witten was hoping to see, running their offense with thunder and lightning efficiency, while the defense kept the Longhorns between the 30-yard lines for the best part of the night.

“We wanted to try and get off to a fast start, and we ran some jet speed sweeps to get outside,” said Witten after the contest. “We wanted to try and play as fast as possible and go right at them.

“We wanted to get a good game in and play solid because we had that sour taste in our mouth all week, and I am just proud of the way we played tonight.”

Elizabethton jumped out quickly on a 12-play drive as Cyclone quarterback Carter Everett topped the drive off with a one-yard plunge to give Elizabethton a 7-0 lead after Dylan Nordby’s point after.

The Cyclone defense responded with a four and out to give the ball back to the offense and little time was wasted in cashing in on a score.

Everett had a hand in the score once again connecting with wide receiver Evan Perkins on a 15-yard scoring toss.

Freshman Jaxton Holly kicked the PAT and the Cyclones led 14-0 with 3:05 left in the first quarter.

The quarter ended with the same 14-0 score.

After another defensive four-and-out gem, the Cyclones looked to punch the ball in once again but Jacob Turner lost the ball in the end zone and the Longhorns took over.

The Cyclone defense took the ball back from the ‘Horns on the ensuing drive when Tyson Vance hit Johnson Co. quarterback Nathan Arnold and forced a fumble which was recovered by Nestor Grubb at the Cyclone 11-yard line.

Fashioning an 11-play drive, the Cyclones hit pay dirt again with Everett adding his second rushing score of the night—this time from six yards away.

The scoreboard read 20-0 after the PAT was wide after a holding penalty canceled out the first kick by Holly which was good.

Johnson County was able to move the ball into Cyclone territory but was shut down on the drive when the Cyclone defense stopped the ‘Horns on a fourth and seven.

A quick-strike toss from Everett to Conner Johnson on the first play from scrimmage covered 50 yards with 3:35 left in the half to push the advantage to 27-0 after Holly was straight through the uprights on the PAT.

Elizabethton closed out the scoring just before the half when Jacob Turner burst through the big offensive line to score on a seven-yard run.

The PAT from Holly was true and the Cyclones went to the locker room with a comfortable 34-0 lead.

The Longhorns received the second half kick but the turnover bug struck again as defensive end Alex Norwood pounced on the loose pigskin for a Cyclone takeaway.

Elizabethton dug into its bag of tricks on the ensuing possession as Carter lateraled to Corey Russell, who found Johnson wide open for a 33-yard scoring toss to push the lead to 41-0 after the Holly boot.

The Cyclones put their final score on the board in the fourth quarter as Austin Outland took off to the ‘Horn side of the field and then cut back across the field and into the end zone for a 20-yard scoring scamper. The kick failed.

Everett, who had a hand in almost all the scores for the Cyclones, said the performance was refreshing especially after last week’s loss.

“It feels great—it’s a big win, and it just feels amazing,” said Everett. “The line played great today, and I didn’t have to worry about getting hit, and the running backs played well as did the receivers.”

Witten was beaming with pride about the effort of his defensive team in the shutout.

“Sometimes our defense plays better inside the red zone,” said Witten. “We have a really good front four who is putting a lot of pressure on people. Johnson County started out trying to run to the edge, but our second-level people continued to tackle well on the edge which is important.”

One of the anchors on the defensive front, Cameron Coleman, said the win was big after the emotional loss to Science Hill.

“We had a great game against Science Hill that we lost in two overtimes, and we used this as a redemption game,” said Coleman. “We got our feet back underneath us so we can go on for the rest of the season and win and play as a team together.”

Elizabethton (1-1, 1-0) has a daunting task again next week traveling to Boone (2-0) while the Longhorns (0-3, 0-1) play Sullivan Central on Thursday night in Blountville looking to break into the win column.

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Elizabethton, 47-0

Elizabethton……..14    20    7    6— 47

Johnson Co. …….  0       0    0    0—  0