The Rematch

Unicoi County (28-5) brought in a second place finish from the Region 1-AA tournament and now secured a substate game for Monday night.
It’s a team the Devils are familiar to – Stone Memorial.
The Devils hosted the Panthers from Crossville last year in Erwin and narrowly fell from their chance to punch a ticket to the state tournament by falling 63-56.
The teams are mirror images of one another on the court with majority of last year’s teams, both Unicoi and Stone Memorial, returning for the 2012 clash.
Stone Memorial will be led by their district and region tournament MVP, Brandon Cole,  who brought in a 29 point effort in the Panthers 58-54 win against the Aloca Tornadoes in the Region 2-AA championship.
Robert Traino and Brock Rowan are Panthers who’ll return from last year’s squad, who hit double figures against the Devils back in Erwin.
Unicoi County will make the trip to Region 2 champions on Monday, and the experience on the court is on their side.
Austin Hensley, Trevor Shelton

Trevor Shelton (#23 Lucas Hensley pictured) and the Devils look for revenge against Stone Memorial on Monday Night. Photo By Erwin Record's Adam Campbell

and Ethan Rice, Rice came off the bench last year against Stone Memorial, all will be looking to take revenge in round two between the East and West Tennessee schools.
Unicoi led early in the contest last year until A.Hensley was sidelined for an ankle injury.
Then the Panthers made their rally.
With some Blue Devils athletes battling through sickness during post season play, health won’t be a factor for the squad. The team will be  finishing up a three day rest before making the trip for their substate game.
Unicoi brings to the court six to eight kids who’ll see the court, along with the three mentioned, Issac Harris brings a shutdown-defense mentality to the court while Lucas Hensley has emerged into one of the key cogs in the Devils starting rotation.
Connor Simpson will see time off the bench, proving to be a valuable sixth man for the Devils crew, including his eight point, 11 rebound performance against Sullivan East in the Region 1-AA championship.
Nic Chambers and Austin Green could also see some possible time on the court, with the two sophomores continually showing improvement.
Stone Memorial has been known to be a team that’ll attempt to out hustle their opponents, while Unicoi County has been accustomed to adjusting to the press defense show from other teams during the season.
The comparisons between the are nearly identical.
Be sure to keep updated with The Erwin Record’s Facebook page for updates in the substate game and be sure to pick up the March 13 edition of The Erwin Record for full coverage of the game.

The rivalry keeps its taste

Who would of guessed the past three years would of brought such high octane games to the fans in the Three Rivers Conference?

Unicoi County and Sullivan East have started up a special rivalry that could be explained in one simple word – intense.

The Devils moved the 2011-2012 season record to 2-2 record on Sullivan East with an impressive come from behind win in the District 1-AA tournament held on Feb. 20, at the Devils Den in Erwin. It won’t be the last time we’ll see fans storm the court in these types of games. Blue Devil coach John English and Sullivan East head man John Dyer have established two powerhouse programs (after the past three years, powerhouse could honestly be an understatement).

Coach English and Dyer have developed a friendship since the integration of the Patriots from AAA to AA.

After every game, win or lose, each coach will never be at a loss of words for recognizing each other’s accomplishments not only during the game, but during the season as well.

The re-introduction to ‘In Overtime’ may kick off with a small post, but it’ll be the first of many to follow.

Be sure to keep updated with ‘The Erwin Record Sports’ Facebook page for updates on the Region 1-AA tournament and pick up the edition of the March 6th Erwin Record for full coverage of the Blue Devils run through tourney action.

Blue Devil fans storming the court after the Devils knocked off Sullivan East, 56-52, in the District 1-AA Championship

Off The Field

Off The Field
Huskins’ squad is for real
By: Curtis Carden

I’ll start off with some economics.
In the high school football stock market of northeast Tennessee, some people within the area were buying that stock that had the UCHS Blue Devil program’s season possibly being a rocky one after dropping their season opener to South Greene, 35-0.
I’m not exactly a top notch economist but I can assist with anyone who bought that share of stock.
SELL!, SELL!, SELL!
With this year’s football season barely underway, one thing that has stood out to me the most about the Blue Devils squad is the hard work being put in by the players, coaches, and fans ever since the end of last year’s gridiron adventure.
While entering the world of sports’ reporting, one thing I learned right off the bat is to not question nor place doubt in any type of sports team that you know has ‘that’ certain quality about themselves.
Especially a program at UCHS.
The Blue Devils were able to rebound after a home defeat and travel on the road to Afton, Tennessee to defeat a team that had scored 52 points the week before and whose defense posted a shut out.
Like I said, you might want to start selling that stock.
The 28-10 win over Chuckey Doak on Thursday, Aug. 28, issued a notice to teams within the Three Rivers Conference that Unicoi is in the hunt for the number one spot.
Play on the field was something to be admired, with all facuets of the game being addressed and excueted during the night’s festivities.
Offensively, the play of quarterback Austin Hensley spearheaded the offense while being contributed by a receiving core that consisted of a host of Blue Devils coming up with key catches during the night.
Hensley also showed off his scrambling ability, by turning plays that could of resulted in negative yards category into plays that resulted in first downs for the UCHS squad.
In the backfield, junior Hunter Abbott proved to be a vital powerback for the Devils by showing his strength in many situations by plowing through defenders and also showing off the wheels by breaking off some huge gains that included one touchdown run.
Also not to be forgotten is sophomore Matt Lingerfelt, who proved to be strong number two runner for Unicoi by coming up with some key running plays during the night.
Defensively the Devils silenced the critics by holding the causing some havoc, with the Blue Nation witnessing their squad coming up with momentum shifting plays.
Stops on fourth down, forcing fumbles, tackles in the backfield, the list goes on and on.
Special teams was also shown during the night with Tomas Vazquez proving his stock as the Devils kicker, drilling all extra point attempts during the night.
With the play-calling, discipline and leadership coming from the coaches and the athletes doing their jobs on the field; the Big Blue Train was able to chug along to bring the Devils to their first win of the season.
Even though it’s early in the season, I’m just honored to have a chance to witness the growth of the football program and to watch a team that can cause a comotion within the conference race.
This week brings up the Johnson County Longhorns and the Devils first encounter with a conference team.
Like the rest of the season, I expect the Devils to come out with a heart and fire to be able to tackle this next challenge during the next phase of the 2011 football campaign.
For the movie buffs reading this.
Everyone might “Remember the Titans” but people within northeast Tennessee will be sure to “Remember the Blue Devils.”

BlueBlaze96

BlueBlaze96 team has Unicoi ties
Curtis Carden
ccarden@erwinrecord.net

The fast-pitch softball team, BlueBlaze96, recently won the ISA at the “Best of the Mountain” tournament on Aug. 6 in Crossville.
BlueBlaze96 is comprised of high school and middle schoolers within the Tri-Cities area and competed with teams from Tennessee and Kentucky while in Crossville
Lady Devil and current sophomore at UCHS, Kaylee Nicholson, was apart of a three pitcher rotation for the BlueBlaze96 that combined to give up just 18 hits, seven walks and striking out 16 overall during the tournament.
Science Hill’s Emma Martindale and Knox Halls’ Daniele Beeler were the other two members of the pitching staff.
Not to be out done on the offensive side of things, current Lady Devils, Taylor Wright and Brooke Strother, led the team in the home run category.
The team consists of other Lady Devil products, including Tiffany Laughren, Haley Webb and Cassie Foster.
In the five games of the ISA, BlueBlaze96 accumulated over 20+ runs during the day’s festivities.
The ISA is the fifth tournament win of the year for the squad.
Head coach, Lee Pastel, is a veteran of the fast-pitch softball realm, coaching since 2001.
His past endeavors include coaching the Greeneville Stars and the Tennessee White Lightning.
The rest of the coaching staff includes James Laughren, Kristina Pastel, and Erica Nicholson.
Tournament number six is around the corner for coach Pastel’s squad, with the ladies participating in the Heroes Classic which is to be held at Riverview Elementary Complex on Friday, Sept.2.

UCMS Cross Country

UCMS cross country participate in meet
Curtis Carden
ccarden@erwinrecord.net

Intense heat, bright sun, long runs.
The Blue Devils just make it look easy.
The UCMS Devils showed what they can do in the cross country category, with the boys and girls’ teams participating in a scrimmage on Thursday, Aug. 25, at Domtar Park in Kingsport.
“We are off to a good start”, coach Lydia Hilliard explained, “The runners have been working hard and giving good effort.”
Unicoi County had the opportunity to get their first taste of cross country action while in Kingsport by competing against local schools within the northeast Tennessee area.
The boys’ team was led by James Powers, who ran the 1.5 mile course in 12:41.
Coming in second for the guys of Unicoi was Noah Wagner, with the time of 13:18.
Following behind the two, in timing order, was Micheal Williams, Caleb Bocock and Chase Erwin with times of 13:40, 13:54 and 14:00.
You can’t forget the the ladies either.
The girls squad actually brought the fastest time between the two squads by having Megan Todd run the course in the 12:02.
Stephanie Richardson brought the second fastest time for the girls, by running the course with the time of 14:09.
Subrina Delph, Kim Diaz and Gracie Edens rounded up the rest of the runners for UCMS with the times of each girl, in order, being 14:52, 17:58 and 19:04.
The Middle School with be participating in their first big meet of the season, by being apart of the Warrior Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 1 which is to be held at Warriors State Park in Kingsport.
Festivities are set to begin around 4:00.

UCHS Football

Devils Defense Dominates; Defeats Doak 28-10
Curtis Carden
ccarden@erwinrecord.net

The heat in Tennessee may of been on scene during last week’s slate of high school football games, but the Devils from Erwin made sure to bring a little fire of their own while traveling on the road for their second game of the season.
The Unicoi County Blue Devils (1-1) showed a complete 360 on Thursday, August 25, by rebounding from a 35-0 home opener loss to defeat the Chuckey-Doak Black Knights (1-1) by the score of 28-10.
Doak, who was expected to place fairly high within the Blue Ridge Conference, came into the night’s contest after posting a 54 to 6 winning performance in their first game of the season.
“We took our lumps last week and the boys were challenged,” coach Jerad Huskins explained after the game, “We just went back and did what we needed to do to prepare for (Doak) during our practices and the guys did a great job out there tonight.”
The Black Knights would score first after a stalled Blue Devil drive that resulted in a Joe McNabb field goal that had Chuckey-Doak on top 3-0 at the 3:45 mark of the first quarter.
Unicoi’s offensive efforts were stalled on drive number one, but Hunter Goddard’s kickoff return from the Devils 20 yard line to their own 45 gave the spark needed to ignite the fireworks for coach Huskins’ squad.
After a Goddard 10 yard reception from quarterback Austin Hensley, Hunter Abbott made the first big bang of the night for the Blue Devils offense.
“Hunter (Abbott) and Austin (Hensley) are kind of our one-two punch,” Huskins’ stated, “You cover one and it keeps the other open, both of them did what we needed them to do during the night.”
Unicoi only needed two plays during their drive, with Abbott racing forward to the endzone with a 45 yard touchdown that gave the Devils a 7-3 lead following a Tomas Vazquez extra point.
Abott came up for the rushing attack of Unicoi County, contributing with 88 yards on 12 carries from scrimmage.
The battle of the defenses would be in effect until halftime, with Unicoi rebounding from a 15 yard penalty thanks in part to a stop in the backfield by Hunter Burnett and Chase Honeycutt’s fumble recovery to keep momentum on the Devils side.
The Devils would go into a halftime with a 7-3 lead, but the Black Knights would not go away by returning the opening kickoff of the second half back for a touchdown.
It would be the last time the Unicoi would trail during the night.
“Defensively we shaked some things up and moved around some personal,” Huskins said, “We prepared for Doak and made sure that if they were going to beat us, it would be through the air. The guys on defense came up big overall with the forced fumbles and stops on fourth down, it was good to see the improvement over the week.”
Josh McKinney and Cody Harris were apart of the host of Blue Devils who helped with the on the defensive side of things with stops in the secondary against the Black Knights’ passing attack.
Unicoi’s offense was unable to punch through on their first drive of the second half, but after a Matt Lingerfelt stop the Devils were able to cause the second forced fumble of the night with Jordan Berry coming up from the linebacker spot to aid in the fumble recovery near the Black Knight’s redzone.
Berry’s name would be soon called again.
After a Hensley first down run, the Blue Nation in attendence would see Hensley connect with Berry on a touchdown pass that gave the Devils the lead again at 9:00 spot of the third quarter.
With the Vazquez extra point, the Devils would be back on top 14-10.
Unicoi would cause their third forced fumble on the night on the Black Knights next drive, but Hensley’s next pass would be picked off by a Doak defender.
Accounting for three touchdowns and aiding in stops on defense, Hensley would make up for the interception.
“We came out here tonight and executed the way we needed to” Hensley said, “The coaches did a great job of getting us ready tonight.”
Hensley would run from one yard out on his first rushing touchdown and three yards out for the second, to give the Devils the final score of 28-10.
Hensley finished the night going 13-21 passing with three touchdowns (one passing, two rushing) with an interception.
The Devils will be back on the road for their upcoming game on Septemeber 2, traveling up to face coach Mike Atwood’s Longhorn squad from Johnson County.
The game will mark the Devils first conference game of the year, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
JV Results
The UCHS JV Devils were at home on Monday August 22 against the junior varisty of South Greene.
Unicoi came away with the 28-6 win, with Thomas Tipton coming up with three of the touchdowns during the night for the Blue Nation.
Garrett Clark came up big defensive for the Devils including the intercepted but had to leave the game due to an injury on the field.
The JV Devils will be on the road August 29 to play against the junior varsity of Chuckey Doak, gametime is slated for 6:00 p.m. after the Erwin Record’s press deadline.

UCHS Volleyball

Busy Week For UCHS Volleyball
Curtis Carden
ccarden@erwinrecord.net

The volleyball season is back for UCHS.
Coach Junia Gindlesperger’s squad is back at the grind for the 2011 campaign after experiencing a busy opening week for her Lady Devils’ squad.
“It’s been a busy week for us,” Gindlesperger said, “We’ve had a good competition throughout the week and the girls have responded well.”
The girls opened up their season on Monday, Aug. 22., at the Devils Den in Erwin against a senior loaded Daniel Boone, but would falling in a close match-up against the Trailblazers by the scores of 16-25, 24-26 and 21-25.
Mercedes Wright would come up big for the team during the night, coming away with 31 digs during the night. Sophomore Brooke Strother would have an impressive performance on Monday, with 21 digs and coming up with two kills and one assist.
Grayson Goddard would follow along with her sophomore counterpart on the team, coming up big with 16 digs.
Seniors would lead them team with kills, as Emmie Thompson would get six and Alex Lamaa would follow with four of her own. Fellow senior, Sarah Lingerfelt, contributed with her other counterparts by hitting 17 digs, one kill and having six assists.
Juniors Bethany Gibson and Carrie Whitson brought in successful performances, with Gibson hitting 18 digs with 3 aces and Whitson showing the defense with two blocks and three kills during the night.
The girls would go back to the drawing board on Tuesday, Aug. 23., with Chuckey-Doak coming to Erwin for the next matchup of the night.
The Black Knights would come away with the win by the scores of 25-14, 25-21, 25-13.
Wright would come away leading the dig category with 20 on Tuesday. Lingerfelt hit nine digs and tallied in one assist. Gibson raked in four digs and one assist of her own. Whitson would have a kill with the Lamaa and Thompson rounding out the rest of the scoring efforts, in order, of having five digs and one kill and two digs and one assist.
The varsity efforts would be wrapped up on Saturday, Aug. 27, by participating in the Elizabethton Cyclone Invitational, which was held at the high school in Elizabethton and T.A. Dugger Middle School.
Following successful outings against David Crockett and home team, Elizabethton, the girls would advance on to participate in the gold division for the winners of pool play.
The Lady Devils would draw the Lady Hilltoppers of Science Hill and the girls of Johnson City would be just to much for UCHS.
“It was a great experience for us,” Gindlesperger stated about the Cyclone Invitational, “We got a chance to see and play against talented teams and it helps us to see where we stack with the teams around the area. The girls showed their heart in the second game against Elizabethton, and they just did a great job of battling during the tournament.”
The Devils will be back to another busy week starting off by traveling on the road to face the South Greene Devils on Monday, Aug. 29.
The Lady Devils will open up conference play on Tuesday, Aug. 30, by traveling to Elizabethton to face the Lady Cyclones. The Three Rivers will be calling the girls again on Thursday, Sept. 1, as the Lady Longhorns will be traveling to the Devils Den in Erwin.
Unicoi will be traveling to Chuckey-Doak on Wednesday, Aug. 31, with only JV and Varsity playing, and gametime begining at 3:30.
For the rest of the week, freshmen games are scheduled to begin at 4:30, with junior varsity at 5:30 and varsity begining at 6:30.
The junior varsity were in action back on Saturday, Aug. 20, with the head coach stating the girls are starting to impress.
“Our JV girls did great in the PlayDay at Science Hill,” Gindlesperger said, “They came along and just showed what they could do.”

UCMS Football

UCMS football win two in Elizabethton
Curtis Carden
ccarden@erwinrecord.net

The middle school football program of Unicoi County came up big during action in Elizabethton, winning two games on Tuesday, Aug. 23, against T.A. Dugger
Varsity: UCMS 30 T.A. Dugger 6
Offense was in full view for Blue Nation during Tuesday’s matchup between the varsity Blue Devils and the T.A. Dugger Cyclones.
Coach Larry Howell’s squad controlled the ball the whole first quarter which would set the tempo for the rest of the game.
“We’ve hard during the week and the kids responded very well,” Howell said after the two games for the Devils, “We had great attendance during the week and the boys did a good job out there tonight.”
Unicoi would strike first on the board, with running back Colton Myers taking the ball from 19 yards out to give Unicoi a quick 6-0 lead.
The back from Unicoi would come up big, with Bryson Tolley punching in the two point coversion put to Unicoi on top, 8-0 at halftime.
“In a game like this you can’t single out any of the kids,” Howell explained, “It was just a great overall performance by everyone on the squad, all the kids contributed out there tonight in both games.”
Tolley would drive the ball 19 yards on two plays during the beginning phases of the first half, with Myers punching the ball in from 37 yards out to continue the scoring for the Blue Devils squad.
A two point conversion run would have Unicoi on top 16-0 in the third.
The rushing attack wasn’t finished for the Devils.
After stops on defense by Brandon Caldwell and Eddie Martinez, the Devils would get the ball in their own territory with Myers coming away with his third rushing touchdown of the night by taking the ball out from 70 yards continue the offensive efforts for Howell’s squad.
Quarterback Hunter Hensley would connect with Dallas Dugger on the two point conversion to put the Devils up 24-0.
Caldwell’s name would be called upon again during the night.
After picking off Cyclone quarterback, Landon Kane, Caldwell would take the ball out from 45 yards out for the final touchdown of the night for the Blue Nation.
T.A. Dugger would score on a quarterback keeper from Kane, to give the game the final score of 30-6.
Tuesday marked the date of Unicoi’s season opener, with their first game of the season against Cloudland being rescheduled due to the funeral of a classmate at UCMS.
“It was a little disheartening at practice after that,” Howell explained, “But the boys are tough and mature and they were able to rally together to get themselves ready for the tonight’s game, I’m just proud of their performance.”
JV: UCMS 8 T.A. Dugger 6
The junior varsity squad opened up Tuesday night’s festivities with a 8-6 win over the Cyclone of T.A. Dugger.
T.A. Dugger opened up the scoring with a quarterback keeper from Hunter Vines but a failed extra point would have the score 6-0 for the Cyclones.
The Blue Devils would capitalize.
With the Cyclones next offensive drive, Jacob Smith would sack the Cyclones quarterback with Dayton Clark coming up big in the next play with a fumble recovery to put the Devils in a chance to score before halftime.
Quarterback Michael Howell hooked up with Nick Fender on a 21 yard TD pass to have the Devils tied up with the Cyclones, 6-6, with Fender punching in the two point conversion to give Unicoi the go ahead score.
Next Week for the Devils
The Devils will open back up action on Tuesday, August 29, by hosting Science Hill’s Middle School squad at Gentry Stadium. The junior varsity of UCMS will be back at Gentry Stadium on Sept. 1, going against Indian Trail Middle School.
JV times are set for 5:00 with Varsity scheduled to play at 6:30.

UCMS Volleyball

UCMS volleyball open up season
Curtis Carden
ccarden@erwinrecord.net

The volleyballs are flying on both levels of the Blue Devils’ athletic programs, with the middle school Lady Devils opening up their season last week against Colonial Heights on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
The JV of the UCMS Devils’ held their own against CHMS by losing in a close match by the scores of 22-25 and 24-26. Brenna Jones led the team’s effort with digs with 12. The varsity of UCMS fell to CHMS by the scores of 12-25, 15-25. Ashlie Padgett and Abby Hensley led them tea overall in digs, with 16 apiece.
Coach Holly Perdue sees the potential in her squad.
“I am proud of their work ethic and their willingness to push on despite the tough games.” Perdue explained, “The girls have been working extremely hard to become better players.”
The ladies from Unicoi continued their march throughout the week going up against the T.A. Dugger Lady Cyclones on Thursday, Aug. 25.
The junior varsity of the Lady Devils brought over their play from Tuesday to keep the game close against the Cyclones, playing tough but falling by the scores of 18-25 and 22-25. Ashley Edwards came up for her squad by leading the team with 12 digs.
The varsity wrapped up the slate of games during the week for the middle school, with the girls losing to T.A. Dugger, 14-2 and 13-25.
Haley Peterson led the varsity squad on Tuesday with 12 digs.
The experience gathered in the first two games for the Devils will be valuable as the season progresses, as coach Perdue eluded to.
“We have seen areas where we need to improve and we will be working on it.” she explained, “Once the girls are fully comfortable with playing with each other I believe they will be unstoppable.”
Unicoi will have a home appearance on Tuesday, August 30 at the UCMS gym, with the ladies traveling on the road on Thursday, Sept. 1, against Church Hill.
All JV will begin action at 4:30

Unicoi wins big on Thursday

The Devils may have found the right touch. Following up from last week’s blowout at home against South Greene, the Blue Devils channeled the determination and character they possess by traveling on the road to defeat Chuckey-Doak, 28-10. The game was a showing of how each side of the ball can produce , with the offensive efforts being spearheaded by QB Austin Hensley( who had another 100yard+ passing performance) and tailback Hunter Abbott (Who rattled off his first touchdown as a Devil by taking the ball from 45 yards out to score and won respect points heavily by using the power-running card while playing hurt). Special teams was handled by kicker Tomas Vazquez who came up big by kicking all the extra points needed during Unicoi’s touchdown drives, as well as the kick returning game…which was handled very well by senior Hunter Goddard. The biggest improvement witnessed during Thursday night game was the defensive side of the ball, with the UCHS defense only allowing a field goal (along with a kickoff return on special teams). Jordan Berry came up with momentum shifting plays, that included forced fumbles during the night that helped stop the rushing attack that was picked by some to over the Blue Devil defense. Following a preason pick of finishing fifth by some news publication and expectations of falling to Doaks by some local news outlets, the Devils proved that you can’t judge a book by its cover…or better yet a season by one game. The Devils will be opening up conference action against Johnson County (0-2) this Friday who recently lost their matchup against Hampton, 30-7. By watching both teams play on Friday, Unicoi stacks up well and if the Devils can make the Longhorns one dimensional…the Three Rivers may have another sleep pick for a possible playoff berth brewing with the UCHS Blue Devils showing that the game of football isn’t just about talent…it’s about heart as well.