Mavericks begin region title defense
Hixson falls 56-14 to well-balanced attack
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Anderson County’s Gavin Noe helped lead the Mav ground attack with 63 yards - Ken Leinart
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T.J. Holmes helped lead the Mav ground attack with 63 yards each. - Ken Leinart
The Anderson County Mavericks returned to their winning ways and won their first region football game of the year last Friday as they rolled over Hixson 56-14 in the Maverick Stadium home opener.
After losing at Powell the previous week, the Mavs successfully began a defense of their two-time region championship as they overpowered the visiting Wildcats.
The Mavs built a 28-0 halftime lead as they started an offensive charge that by the end of the night would accumulate 530 yards total offense, including a first-down advantage of 22-7.
The Mavericks also had success on the defensive side of the football. AC’s defense dominated well into the final quarter, although Hixson scored a couple of touchdowns during the closing minutes when the game was already well in hand.
“This was a much better game tonight than last week,” Mavs Coach Davey Gillum said. “We played well on both sides of the ball and except for some penalties along the way, we played a pretty clean game. A lot of players played and that’s good because we face a very difficult opponent next week against South-Doyle and we needed a game like this to get us ready for that one.”
Offensively, AC gained 296 yards rushing and 234 yards passing. Gavin Noe and T.J. Holmes shared top rushing honors with 63 yards apiece while Mason Field finished right behind them with 62. Holmes scored two rushing touchdowns while Noe, Joshua Miller and Cam Thomas each scored on rushes of
32, 20 and six yards, respectively.
AC quarterback Stone Hatmaker completed 10 of his 12 passes for 193 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Hatmaker completed a 74-yard scoring pass to Joshua Miller and 10-yard TD toss to Bryson Vowell. Walker Martinez threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Vowell.
Mavs kicker Daniel Bethel kicked six extra points and almost made a 51-yard field-goal attempt which hit the crossbar. Teammate Dalton Andrews also kicked an extra point for the Mavs.
Top defenders for the Mavs were Stone Cummins, Devon Noe, Maxx Oglesby, Nick Reed and Russell Lindsay – each with four tackles. Austin Elliott and David Stooksbury finished with three apiece.
Looking ahead to this Friday’s 7:30 p.m. home game against South Doyle, Gillum said the visiting Cherokees will provide a steep challenge.
“They have a bunch of FCS (NCAA Football Championship Series) caliber players all over,” Gillum said. “They have one of the top running backs in the entire state and their lines are big and strong. We will need to avoid mistakes because they know how to take advantage of mistakes.”