Jr. Cyclones storm past Jr. Vikings in gridiron play, 48-16
Published 11:39 pm Thursday, September 17, 2020
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
The Cyclones coaching staff sense a touchdown coming up after Jeriah Griffin rounds the corner and heads toward the goal line.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Cyclone Landry Buckles inches the ball closer to the goal line for T.A. Dugger.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
The Jr. Cyclone defense was stingy the entire contest allowing only two scores to the visiting Vance Middle Jr. Vikings.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Blaine Tolley picks up additional yardage after a reception in Thursday's game at Brown-Childress Stadium.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Not even a little rain could keep the Jr. Cyclone cheerleaders from cheering on their Jr. Cyclones against the Vance Jr. Vikings.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Cyclone running back Jeriah Griffin breaks free for a good gain against Vance Middle School.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
The Vance Middle School Jr. Vikings found out what it was like to try and tackle a human bowling ball as Jr. Cyclone seventh grader Jaiden Wallin was running over and through the Jr. Viking defenders.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
The TAD offensive line was creating running lanes a tractor could drive through as Jr. Cyclone quarterback Rhett Slagle found out Thursday night.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Landry Buckles puts a shoulder into a stop against Vance during Thursday's contest on Dave Rider Field.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jr. Cyclone running back Jaiden Wallin bounces around the end and into the end zone for a TAD score.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Rhett Slagle takes a snap as rain falls during the Jr. Cyclones contest with Vance Middle School.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
As tropical depression Sally continued to wind down while passing through the Tri-Cities area with steady rains on Thursday, the T.A. Dugger Cyclones were blowing up another storm on their own accord inside Brown-Childress Stadium on Dave Rider Field.
By the time the Jr. Cyclones had finished blowing past the Vance Middle School Jr. Vikings, they had hung 48 points on the board in defeating their visitors from Bristol, 48-16.
T.A. Dugger started rolling early in the first quarter as speedster Jeriah Griffin zoomed 57 yards to the end zone with 5:59 showing on the clock for a 7-0 Jr. Cyclone advantage after Caleb Campbell blasted the point-after attempt through the uprights.
Not to be outdone early, the Jr. Vikings rallied on their next possession with a long touchdown run of their own as quarterback Turner Elliott found a lane and ran 33 yards to paydirt to push Vance ahead on Elliott’s two-point conversion, 8-7.
TAD wasn’t finished in the period however as Griffin turned on the afterburners once again on a 27-yard gallop with 1:47 remaining in the opening quarter to make it a 14-8 contest at the end of one quarter of action.
The second 10 minute quarter started much like the first one began as Jaiden Walling burrowed his way through the Jr. Viking defense to make it a 21-8 Jr. Cyclone lead when Campbell converted the PAT.
Coach Brock Pittman’s Jr. Cyclone squad kept peppering it on as quarterback Rhett Slagle got in on the scoring action when he romped around the end of the offensive line and eight yards into the end zone to extend the TAD edge to 27-8 when Campbell’s PAT was wide left.
Both teams headed to the locker room with the same 27-8 Jr. Cyclone score showing on the scoreboard.
TAD came out of the break with smoke still rolling to add another seven points to their total when Slagle connected with Griffen on a 35-yard scoring pass. Campbell’s PAT was true and the lead had escalated to 34-8.
Vance did manage to shave the lead to 34-16 after Ethan Turner rambled 62-yards for a score with 32 seconds left in the quarter and Elliott converted the two-point conversion.
The Jr. Cyclones added two more scores in the final 10 minutes of play as Griffin added his fourth score of the night on a 40-yard running play to make it 41-16 on Campbell’s PAT.
Wallin added the final score with only 1:20 left to play when he bulled in from the five-yard line. Campbell connected for the point-after to close out the scoring.
“The main thing that we did tonight was that we didn’t make any mistakes,” said Pittman after the contest. “They made all the mistakes and we didn’t turn the ball over.
“We haven’t even practiced in the rain and for our guys to go out there and not make any of those critical mistakes and to capitalize on the ones they made that’s huge and that is how you win games.”
The Jr. Cyclones will be back on the road next week at Boone as they put their 3-0 record on the line.
