Just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, the Elizabethton Cyclones found there’s no place like home as Coach Shawn Witten’s troops rallied from their season-opening road defeat last week to Science Hill by battering the visiting Rebels of South Greene 49-7.
After the Rebels recovered an onside kick to start the game, the Cyclone defense rose and slammed the door close quickly, and from that point, the Elizabethton offense took matters into their own hands.
Using only 11 plays, the Cyclones built a 28-0 first quarter lead and put it into cruise control from that point scoring 21 more points in the second quarter to push their halftime advantage to 49-7.
Junior running back Corey Russell made the most of his five rushes accumulating 173 yards on the ground going for three scores on runs of 85, one, and 65 yards. Russell also had a catch for 23 yards to finish with 196 all-purpose yards in one-half of play.
Quarterback Carter Everett also had a quality start as the junior signal caller tossed four touchdown passes covering 35, 17, 10, and 40 yards in the contest.
Ryan Wetzel was the big target on the night as Wetzel was on the receiving end of three of those scoring tosses as the duo continues to develop confidence with each other and the chemistry continues to evolve.
Evan Perkins also found pay dirt on the first of Everett’s passes covering 35 yards.
Meanwhile, Coach Jordy Harrison’s first trip back to Elizabethton as South Greene’s head coach was bitter sweet as his team found the sledding tough against an attacking defense and a Cyclone offense that appears back on track after a disappointing loss in the season opener.
Harrison had served as an offensive line coach at Elizabethton before moving on to South Greene.
The only bright spot for the Rebels came when sophomore quarterback Levi Myers found Tristen Biddy for a 10-yard scoring pass with 3:51 left in the first half to prevent a shutout.
With the 42-point lead, the clock quickly ticked away in the second half on a running clock as the Cyclone coaches funneled in a bevy of players to get everyone playing time.
“Hats off to Coach Harrison and South Greene because those guys played hard and accepted the challenge today,” said Witten. “I am really proud of Coach Harrison for taking on this challenge because he has a good football team.
“We have some things that we still have to clean up. The penalties were bad today, but the execution was better. We played hard like we knew what we were doing. We are a good football team, and it was good to come out and get a big win.”
For more on the contest, check out the STAR’s Gridiron Weekly on Tuesday with more in-depth game coverage, statistics, and player and coach interviews.