Grabbing an open door… T.A. Dugger dump Vance 28-20 to snag a share of the conference championship
Published 12:01 am Friday, October 4, 2019
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Cyclone Jeriah Griffin puts the finishing touches on a victory after running for a first down on a third down play with less than 1:30 left to play.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
TAD's Luke Whaley (6) looks to throw a block for teammate Jeremiah Norris (15) after a Norris reception in Wednesday's game against Vance at the Stone Castle in Bristol.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Zeth Mullins works around the blocks by his TAD teammates to pick up valuable yardage on a rush.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jeriah Griffin of TAD is sandwiched between a pair of Jr. Viking tacklers.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Zeth Mullins looks for running room during Wednesday's contest at the Stone Castle in Bristol.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jeremiah Norris of T.A. Dugger returns a kickoff for the Jr. Cyclones.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Cyclone Matthew Kent jumps on top of the Vance quarterback like mounting a horse in throwing the Jr. Viking for a big loss.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
A pair of TAD tacklers work together to bring down a Jr. Viking runner.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Matthew Kent of TAD rides the Vance quarterback down for a big loss.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
BRISTOL- As the T.A. Dugger Jr. High Cyclones were prepping for this week’s contest against the Vance Middle Jr. Vikings, the Jr. Cyclones had no idea that there would be a door opened for them to be playing for something special in their final regular-season contest.
There were a lot of what-if’s after the loss to Greeneville, but thanks to help from an unlikely source the Jr. Cyclones found themselves on the turf at the Stone Castle in Bristol with an opportunity to gain a share of the conference title after Crockett upset Greeneville leaving the door wide open for TAD.
With a lot on the line and playing on a Wednesday night instead of the usual Thursday evening, the Jr. Cyclones rolled out to a 21-6 lead halfway through the second quarter behind two touchdown runs from Zeth Mullins and a receiving touchdown from Jeremiah Norris.
Vance wasn’t ready to just roll over and let the Jr. Cyclones take half the title without a fight, however, as the Jr. Vikings scored right before the half to cut the lead to 21-14 as the two teams went to the locker room.
The Jr. Cyclones took the opening kickoff of the second half and methodically worked down the field and extended the lead to 28-14 on a Mullins six-yard touchdown run and Caleb Campbell’s extra-point that split the uprights.
Once again, the Jr. Vikings raised up and thanks in part to a penalty on the kickoff was able to take advantage of great field position to score once again slicing the lead to eight after the two-point conversion was snuffed out by the Jr. Cyclone defensive line.
Jeriah Griffin put the finishing touches on the contest as the speedster broke free on a long run on a third-down allowing TAD to take a knee after achieving the first down.
As the clock wound down to zero, the boys from TAD celebrated their 28-20 hard-fought victory.
“We weren’t tight at all, it’s a football game and winning is hard,” said TAD head coach Brock Pittman in his first year as the head coach of the Jr. Cyclones. “Whatever happened last week has no bearing on what happens this week and that’s what we preach to the kids as records don’t matter.
“It was a dogfight and what better way to end a season than in a dogfight like that to come out with a victory and call ourselves champions.”
The Jr. Cyclones finished with a record of 7-1 for the regular season.
