Sullivan East was hoping to surprise the visiting Elizabethton Cyclones in the league-opening contest for both teams, but by the time the first quarter had come to an end the Cyclones had already burst any hope that the Patriots may have envisioned.
Rolling out to a 21-3 advantage at the end of the first 12 minutes, the Cyclones put the metal to the pedal and rocketed past the Patriots with ease defeating East 59-16.
There was nothing new as Corey Russell did his thing on the ground and Carter Everett continued to sling the football consistently into the hands of his receivers and let them do the rest as Elizabethton ran their record to 2-1, 1-0 on the season. East fell to 1-2, 0-1.
Russell scored on runs of 11, 32, and 20 yards in the contest as well as hauling in a 13-yard scoring pass from Everett in helping the Cyclones build a 45-10 halftime advantage.
Meanwhile, aside from the scoring toss to Russell, Everett also hooked up with one of his favorite targets in Ryan Wetzel in scoring tosses of 23 and 15 yards.
Everett would also find a streaking Austin Outland along the Cyclone sideline for a 51-yard scoring connection as Outland tiptoed along the line on his way to the end zone.
Using his legs, Everett also plowed over for a one-yard score.
Elizabethton closed out the scoring when Gavin Lowe blew past the Patriot defenders on a 17-yard romp with 40.9 seconds remaining in the contest.
Sullivan East showed a lot of fortitude as they continued to battle throughout the contest but just couldn’t slow down the Cyclones.
While the Cyclone offense was putting the points on the board, the Cyclone defensive front led by Cameron Coleman, Chandlor Mullins, and Jared Grindstaff were eating the Patriots lunch forcing the Patriots to turn the ball back over to the Cyclone offense on numerous series.
The score could have been a whole lot worse than it was as the Cyclones dropped several interception attempts that could have easily went for six.
Elizabethton now must turn their attention to the Daniel Boone Trailblazers as the Blazers (2-0) come calling next week to Citizens Bank Stadium coming fresh off a 42-10 blitzing of Tennessee High.
For more on the Elizabethton and East contest, please see Tuesday’s edition of Gridiron Weekly with a full overview of the contest along with stats and much more.