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BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com   
The good news for the Elizabethton Cyclones is they are beginning to show signs of ramping up for the playoffs. The bad news for their opponents is that the Cyclones are showing signs of ramping up for the playoffs.

New conference foe Volunteer will get to see the Cyclone attack up close and personal on Friday night when Elizabethton travels to Church Hill to tangle with the Falcons who are coming off a big win last week against Tennessee High.

After their loss to Greeneville, the Cyclones have taken on the mentality of whatever it takes and that means players going both ways on offense and defense and repositioning players as needed to get the outcome they are looking to achieve.

This Friday night, the Cyclones will be once again reversing course after playing a team like Rhea County that thrives on the ground game.

“It’s a completely different contest for us,” said Cyclone head coach Shawn Witten. “Coming off last week where we went against a Wing T and now we have a team that really spreads you out and throws the football and have three straight wins and are playing really well.

“They are coming off a big win at home against Bristol.”

The two teams have met before but it has been an 11-year hiatus and everyone knows in that time frame a lot of things have a way of changing.

“It’s the first time we have played them since 2010 and so it’s been a long time,” Witten commented. “They are a really good team who is doing things differently throwing the football with a really good quarterback. They have played some good teams as well like Dobyns Bennett and West Ridge.”

The Cyclone skipper has welcomed the Fall Break as it has given his team time to get their bodies healed up as well as putting in some good work without having added pressure to deal with.

With the win over Rhea Co., the coach said that game helped to put some perspective on the remaining season going forward.

“From the whole scheme of things, the question is are we built for the long haul. Are we built for the games in November? Where the people remember you the most is what you do in November. Right now, the preparation part of when you play a new opponent, you only have so many days to prepare,” Witten commented.

“Last Friday’s game against Rhea County showed us that if we prepare that the outcome can go in our favor. That was an extremely great challenge. These guys who are seniors have done it before but these younger guys have to understand that the outcome on Fridays come from what you do during the week.”

The Cyclones kick off Friday night’s contest at 7:30 pm at Volunteer High School.