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.
