Round two TSAAA Football Playoffs

Mavs takes the wind out of Cyclones

November 14, 2018 by Conner McCarty

The Anderson County Mavericks (12-0) hosted the Elizabethton Fighting Cyclones (10-2) in the second round of the TSSAA 4A Playoffs last Friday night.

In a game that many believed Anderson County would lose, the Mavs jumped out to 27-0 lead. While the spread offense of Anderson County is largely pass-heavy, the Mavs took advantage of Elizabethton’s inability to stop senior running back Ryan Moog.

The Mavs stacked up 360 rushing yards on the Cyclones’ defense, and Moog had 227 of them. Senior quarterback Stanton Martin was elite once again, throwing for 201 yards and four touchdowns.

The Anderson County offense was explosive all night long, and led the Mavs to a 54-21 win over Elizabethton.

“These kids are going back to the quarterfinals and a shot at a state championship. For the program’s sake, it rewards all the hard work that went into tonight,” said Anderson County head coach Davey Gillum on the win.

The first few drives of the ballgame seemed to be a prelude to an exciting back-and-forth TSSAA Second Round Playoff game. Elizabethton received the opening kickoff, and drove the ball from their own 19-yard-line to the Mavs’ eight-yard-line. However, on first down, senior Quis Gallaher would blow up a draw play for a two-yard tackle-for-loss.

On second down, the Cyclones would get penalized for a false start then fail to complete a pass.

On third down, the Mavs’ defense would bring pressure which forced an errant throw which drew an intentional grounding penalty. The loss-of-down penalty made it fourth down and goal to go from the Anderson County 35-yard-line.

The Cyclones brought out the kicking unit for a 45-yard attempt, but it failed—a major win for the Anderson County defense. With some momentum after the stop, the Anderson County offense took over from their own 20-yard-line. On a third and nine from their own 40, Martin escaped the pocket upfield, bounced outside, and raced down the sideline for a huge 47-yard scamper. On the next play, from the Elizabethton 13, Martin would rifle a pass over the middle to senior wide receiver Logan Berry, who sat on his route around the two-yard-line. Berry caught the Martin bullet and stepped into the endzone untouched for six. Out of the hold of Martin, senior placekicker Steve Wagner banged the extra point through the uprights. The six-play 80-yard drive put Anderson County up 7-0, with 7:33 left in the first quarter.

Momentum heavily favored the Mavs, and Elizabethton’s offense took the field to try to swing it back the Cyclones’ way. Elizabethton is led by senior quarterback Carter Everett, who is very talented passer. On a play that resulted in a Cyclones’ first down, Elizabethton would lose their star to an unfortunate injury. Immediately, the Cyclones’ offense became much easier to defend. On the ensuing play, senior wide receiver/defensive back Michael Carroll would pick-off backup quarterback Corey Russell’s attempted deep ball.

The interception gave the Mavs possession at their own 30-yarline, and the offense went back to work. In three plays, Anderson County crossed into Elizabethton territory. Three more plays later, Moog took a handoff off right tackle and sprinted 37-yards to the house. The PAT was blocked, but the six-play 70-yard drive extended Anderson County’s lead to 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.

After exchanging three-and-outs, Elizabethton had possession and looked to get anything going offensively. Yet again, the Anderson County defensive unit would come up big. A fumbled snap would be recovered by Ethan Powers, and gave Anderson County great field position—the Elizabethton 21-yard-line. Three plays later, Martin, from the shotgun, received the snap and ran a read option play to the right side of the formation. Before hitting the corner, Martin then pitched to his right to Moog along the sideline, and the six-foot 220-pounder went untouched into the endzone for his second touchdown of the night. Wagner tacked on the extra point, and the 13-yard Martin to Moog connection put Anderson County on top 20-0 with 11:18 left in the second quarter.

Still, the Cyclones could not conjure up anything that the Anderson County defense could not stop. After a first down, the Mavs’ defense were able to force a punt and get off the field. The Anderson County offense were in sync, and again capitalized on their defense’s efforts. From their own 32-yard-line, Anderson County crossed midfield in three plays. Two plays later, Martin would find his favorite target wide open on a post route, and senior team-leading receiver Michael Carroll caught Martin’s pass for an easy 38-yard touchdown. Wagner’s extra point sailed through, and Anderson County stunned the Elizabethton faithful with a commanding 27-0 lead with 6:30 left until the halftime break.

Both teams exchanged scoreless drives, but Elizabethton won the field position game. The Cyclones took over with good field position—their own 48-yard-line—with just under three minutes to go in the first half. Elizabethton only needed two plays to get on the board. On play one, Cade Russell scrambled down to the Mavs’ 37-yard-line. On play two, Russell hit Troy Hughes down the left sideline for a touchdown. Holly’s extra point cut into Anderson County’s lead, and with 2:23 left in the second quarter, the Mavs led 27-7.

Anderson County responded in the only way that an undefeated team should. With little time left in the half, most football minds would think two-minute drill—passes towards the sidelines, hurry up offense, etc. Not the Mavs, who did not attempt one pass the whole drive. From their own 35-yard-line, on first and ten, Martin gave to Moog who hit a hole up the middle. Moog juked the jockstrap off the Elizabethton middle linebacker and rumbled into the Cyclones’ secondary, then carried his eventual tackler across midfield before finally being brought down at the Cyclones’ 42-yard-line. Two plays later, Gallaher would take a handoff off left-tackle, make a defender miss, and race 26-yards into the endzone. Anderson County’s two-point conversion failed, but the four-play 65-yard scoring drive took only 57 seconds off the clock. With 1:26 remaining in the second quarter, the Mavs took a 33-7 lead into halftime.

The second half: more of the same. Anderson County received the second half kickoff, and a Cyclones’ facemask penalty put the Mavs’ on their own 38-yard-line to start the drive. On the first play of the second half, Martin would hit junior wide out Austin Elliott for a big 39-yard pass and catch down to the Elizabethton 23-yard-line. Anderson County went back to the ground with Moog. The senior bulldozer carried on the next three consecutive plays, which concluded with a five-yard touchdown run. Moog’s third trip to the endzone, followed by Wagner’s point after gave the Mavs a comfortable 40-7 lead with 10:11 to go in the third quarter.

Finally, the Cyclones were able to put together a well-executed drive. Quarterback Corey Russell was Elizabethton’s most athletic and dynamic threat. Thus, it makes sense why Russell either attempted a pass or ran the ball himself on every down of the ten-play 69-yard drive, except for one—a two-yard loss. A Russell 26-yard touchdown pass and successful PAT got Elizabethton on the board for the second time. With 7:09 left in the third quarter, the Mavs led 40-14.

After an Anderson County punt and a Elizabethton three-and-out, the Mavs’ offense took over possession at their own 48-yard-line. It took the Mavs three plays, and the hands of senior wide out Cannon Carpenter to reach paydirt. The first play of the drive, Martin hit his fellow senior for a 29-yard pickup to the Cyclones’ 33. After a Moog five-yard rush, Martin went back to the air. From the Elizabethton 28-yard-line, Martin dropped back, looked, and fired to his left to Carpenter—who had run a ten-yard curl route and sat in the space. Carpenter received Martin’s pass at about the left hashmarks, then turned outside. The senior wideout reached the numbers, hit the near sideline, and raced 28-yards for six. Wagner’s extra point gave Anderson County a 47-14 lead with 2:23 left in the third quarter.

After only one two-play scoring drive in the first half, Elizabethton put together two second half scoring drives of 65-plus-yards consisting of eight-or-more plays. Their last of the 2018 season would be a eight-play 68-yard drive, which once again involved Russell’s talents on six of the eight Elizabethton plays. 57 seconds into the fourth quarter, on a fourth down and five to go from the Anderson County 29-yard-line, Russell delivered a 29-yard touchdown pass. The second string quarterback finished through the air 10-of-21 for 163 yards, two interceptions, and three touchdowns. On the ground Russell carried the ball 30 times for 126 yards. Of the Cyclones’ 395 total yards, Corey Russell had 289 of them.

Anderson County would capitalize on another Elizabethton turnover, and add a late score after Logan Berry picked off a Russell deep ball. Gallaher and Moog shared the workload. From their own nine-yard-line, Gallaher moved the Mavs to their own 37-yard-line on three carries. Moog’s first carry of the drive moved Anderson County across the midfield stripe. The next play, from the Elizabethton 42-yard-line, Moog would take a sweep around left end, and seal a second consecutive Anderson County TSSAA 4A Playoffs Second Round win over the Cyclones with his longest run of the night—a 42-yard house call. The senior’s fourth touchdown of the night, followed by Steve Wagner’s PAT sealed a 54-21 win.

Seniors Stanton Martin and Ryan Moog continue to lead Anderson County, and both posted ridiculous stat lines against the Cyclones. Through the air, Martin was 14-of-20 for 201 yards for four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. On the ground, he added 44 yards on three carries.

Moog had his best performance of the year. On the ground, Moog carried the ball 21 times for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns—a 10.8 yard per carry average. As a receiver, Moog added two receptions for 19 yards, and one touchdown. Moog is the most dynamic player for the Mavs, and can play multiple positions on both sides of the football.

Anderson County moves on to the Quarterfinals of the TSSAA 4A Playoffs. This Friday will be the most anticipated high school football game of 2018. The defending 4A State Champions the Greeneville High School Devils come to town for a rematch of the 2017 4A Quarterfinals. Last year, the Greene Devils defeated the Mavs 34-31. This year, both teams are undefeated and ranked number one and two in 4A. If you are looking for some of the best high school football in the state of Tennessee, you will find it on the turf of the Bullpen this Friday. Simply, it does not get much better than this. The 4A Quarterfinal matchup is scheduled to kickoff at 7:00, and Stanton Martin and the Mavs will be ready. “We really want this win. Not only for the team, but because of the heartache we went through last year. For our families, friends, fans, teachers, for this county—we are going to give it all we have,” said Martin.



Box Score



Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Anderson County 13 20 14 7 54

Elizabethton 0 7 7 7 21



By The Numbers



AC EHS

First Downs: 21 22

Rushing (Att-Yds): 33-360 40-148

Passing (Com-Att-Yds) : 14-20-201 17-32-247

Total Yards: 561 395

Fumbles (Total-Lost): 0-0 1-1

Interceptions 0 2

Penalties (Total-Yds): 15-147 7-54



Stat Leaders



Rushing (Att-Yds-TDs): Ryan Moog 21-227-3

Passing (Com-Att-Yds-TDs): Stanton Martin 14-20-201-4

Receiving (Total-Yds-TDs): Troy Hughes 7-154-3

Tackles: (Solo-Ast-Total-Sacks): Quis Gallaher 8-6-14-1