‘Almost flawless’
Mavs look very sharp in first-round win
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Composure in the midst of measured chaos: Anderson County’s Walker Martinez enjoys next-level protection from Jonah Arender (77), Graycen Bradshaw (75) and Lucas May in the pocket against Seymour while he waits for a receiver to break free. Martinez was a stellar 17 of 19 passing for 312 yards and six touchdowns in the first round of the TSSAA 4A playoffs, against Seymour. - Ken Leinart
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Anderson County High School linebacker Andrew Meier made his presence felt against Seymour High School Friday night. The Eagles found little room for movement against the Maverick defense. - Ken Leinart
It was not an easy game, but Friday night the Anderson County Mavericks made it look almost that way, beating the Seymour High School Eagles 55-6 in the first round of the TSSAA 4A playoffs.
“It was almost flawless,” Maverick Head Coach Davey Gillum said. “Defensively, we had a bust, maybe on a tackle here or there, that resulted in a couple of first downs.
“But, we played real well, got to play a lot of young kids, a lot of young kids got to play in a playoff game and that’s special and exciting. And a lot them did real well.”
It took Anderson County three plays to show how the game was going to go. Three passes from Walker Martinez spanned 58 yards on the field, the last being a 27-yard rocket for a score to senior Tate Russell with 10:50 left in the first.
A mishandled snap on a punt four plays after the Mavs’ first score set ACHS up at the 12.
Gavin Noe needed one play to make the score 14-0 with 9:02 showing in the first.
Chris Nelson notched both point-afters.
The Mavs forced another Eagle punt, and two plays after that it was a Martinez to Braden Miller 45-yard touchdown combo and Nelson PAT for a 21-0 lead with 7:02 left in the first.
Seymour gained some traction, picking up a first down, but fourth and 11 came eventually.
Eli Davis got a hand on the kick, however, and the Mavs were in business 40 yards from a score.
A 15-yard pass to Miller, followed by a 13-yard pass to Russell, set up a 12-yard score to Miller. Nelson, uncharacteristically, missed the point after and the Mavs were up 27-0.
The Mavs were called for their first penalty of the night on Miller’s second touchdown for “not giving the ball back quick enough.”
You can’t make up that kind of stuff.
Anderson County wasn’t finished with the first quarter, however.
The Mavs went 45 yards in less that 90 seconds and capped off the first-quarter scoring with a Martinez-to- Nick Moog score from 11 yards out with 9.4 seconds showing in the period.
Nelson returned to form and Anderson County led 34-0 going into the second quarter.
Two more scores for Anderson County — a 45-yard drive capped by a Martinez-to-Eli Braden five-yard TD and extra point at 9:19 in the first half, and a 41-yard TD from Martinez to Zeke West (and PAT), and the Mavs led 48-0 with 8:25 left in the half.
And, as it has become custom for Gillum to do once the score hits the 49-0 range, the junior varsity Mavs took over.
The younger Mavs gave up some yardage, but kept the Eagles out of the end zone, and at the break the Mavs led 48-0.
“We didn’t have to get very deep in the playbook ,” Gillum said of the offensive outburst by the Mavs.
“And by the way we scored, we didn’t have to make it a real physical game,” he said. “We were able to keep key people in the box from being banged up. We wanted to make sure everyone’s healthy and ready to move on.”
Seymour put a TD on the junior varsity Mavs in the third quarter, but the point after was no good; the Mavs led 48-6.
The younger Mavs returned the favor. Sophomore Cody Miller led a 64-yard drive for Anderson County, connecting with Waylon LaRue for a big gain that set up a Christian Tuttle’s 11-yard scamper down the left sideline.
After Tyler Radcliff’s PAT, the final margin was notched at 55-6 with around three minutes left in the game.