Hammer time… Jr. Cyclones throttle Jr. Pioneers in middle school play, 51-0
Published 10:37 pm Thursday, October 1, 2020
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jr. Cyclone lineman Seth Campbell (66) wraps up a Crockett running back in Thursday's contest.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders T.A. Dugger wide receiver Blaine Tolley (80) takes the ball into the end zone after getting a block from teammate Justin Whitehead (12).
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jeremiah Norris leaps high for a 10-yard touchdown reception in Thursday's Jr. Cyclone 51-0 win over Crockett.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders TAD running back Jeriah Griffin sweeps to the outside for a big gain.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders T.A. Dugger's Jaiden Wallin got the Jr. Cyclones off on the right foot as he took the opening kickoff back 65 yards for a touchdown that set the tone for the rest of the game.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders There was nowhere to go for this Jr. Pioneer running back as he is wrapped up by TAD's Jeriah Griffin (7) and Bryson Rowland (20) for a loss.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jeriah Griffin takes off on a huge rushing opportunity for the Jr. Cyclones.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Rhett Slagle lays the hammer to a Jr. Pioneer running back to force the ball loose but an inadvertent whistle allowed the Jr. Pioneers to keep the football.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jr. Cyclone Jaiden Wallin scores his second touchdown of the contest on an 18-yard burst in the second quarter to give TAD a 30-0 lead at the time.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Rhett Slagle stops a Jr. Pioneer in his tracks during Thursday's 51-0 win for TAD.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The Jr. Cyclone defense was tough as nails as they didn't allow the Jr. Pioneers anywhere close to the end zone in Thursday's game at Grandview Elementary
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders T.A. Dugger's Caleb Campbell was a busy kicker on Thursday as the Jr. Cyclones won big 51-0.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jeriah Griffin sets sail on a 65-yard touchdown run in the first quarter of Thursday's game against the Crockett Jr. Pioneers.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jr. Cyclone Jeremiah Norris (15) on the bottom and Landry Buckles (25) make life hard on a Jr. Pioneer running back.
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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
JONESBOROUGH – M.C. Hammer had a song back in the day called ‘U Can’t Touch This’ and that seemed to be the theme on Thursday evening in Jonesborough as the T.A. Dugger Middle School Jr. Cyclones absolutely were unstoppable on offense while being very stingy on defense in laying a 51-0 spanking on the host Crockett Jr. Pioneers at Grandview Elementary.
It didn’t take but 16 seconds for the Jr. Cyclones to cash in on the scoreboard as seventh-grader Jaiden Wallin took the opening kickoff 65 yards to the house to set the tone for the contest.
Rhett Slagle cashed in on the two-point conversion and the visitors were off and running, 8-0.
After a stout defensive stand, the Cyclones once again were efficient on offense as it took only one touch for fleet-footed Jeriah Griffin tote the pigskin 65 yards for the game’s second score and after the point-after was no good, the Jr. Cyclones led 14-0 with 2:58 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Jr. Cyclones kept the pressure up just two minutes into the second quarter as it was Griffin again but this time on defense as he picked off a Jr. Pioneer pass and raced 75 yards on a pick-six.
Slagle converted the two-point conversion and the score was 22-0.
TAD continued to play strong defense and put the football back in the offense’s hands once again where it took a few short plays to cash in as Wallin rumbled through the line like Franco Harris and took the ball into the end zone from 18 yards out to push the lead to 30-0 after Slagle once again made good on the two-point conversion.
That would be the score as both teams headed to the locker room at intermission.
After holding the Jr. Pioneers in check to start the second half, the Jr. Cyclones cashed in once again as Slagle would find Jeremiah Norris on an acrobatic catch in the end zone for a 10-yard scoring toss with 3:25 remaining in the third quarter.
Caleb Campbell split the uprights on the point-after attempt to push the lead to 37-0.
TAD tacked on another score before the quarter ended as it was Slagle finding big receiver Ben Adams who pounded the football into the end zone on a 28-yard scoring reception with 41 seconds remaining in the third.
Campbell’s PAT was true and the Jr. Cyclones carried a 44-0 edge into the final eight minutes of play.
The final score of the contest came with 4:28 remaining when Slagle connected on his third scoring toss of the game finding Blaine Tolley on a 10-yard scoring reception.
Campbell’s kick made up the final 51-0 score.
“Early on they got into the double tight-end set and they were kind of pounding the football inside and that was good for our football team to see,” said Jr. Cyclone head coach Brock Pittman. “We haven’t really seen that this year so we made some adjustments and they made it hard on us early on stopping the run but the kids figured it out.”
The Jr. Cyclones will be at Brown-Childress Stadium next Thursday when they play host to a very tough Robinson team that gave Greeneville a run for their money early on in the season.
Game time is 6 pm.
