A rematch of 4A powers on tap Friday night at ACHS
Elizabethon High School will get a second shot at Anderson County Friday night in Round Two of the TSSAA 4A football playoffs.
The Mavs outlasted the Cyclones Sept. 23 in overtime.
Neither team will look familiar to the other this time around.
The Cyclones are getting comfortable with a new offensive scheme they implemented just two weeks before heading to Mavland.
The Mavericks have ironed out what kinks they had since way back when, and Walker Martinez has progressed so much as to almost seem unfair to other teams.
Plus, the Mavs will have Gavin Noe in full stride this time around.
But it’s Elizabethton, one of the trio of East Tennessee 4A squads expected to represent the east in the state championship round.
The funny thing about expectations is that is all they are. What matters is what happens on the field.
“They’re hot, too,” Anderson County Head Football Coach Davey Gillum said of the Cyclones.
“The game before that (first meeting, Sept. 23) they changed philosophies. They were trying to be who they were the last three years with (Bryson) Rollins. And Rollins was a special player.”
Gillum said as the season has played on, the Cyclones have become more at ease with their new scheme.
“It’s a more-conventional spread offense, and the other kid has done well,” he said. “They have good receivers and linemen. And I hate to say it, but they are one of the hottest teams right now. They’re gelling.”
The Mavs have gelled, as well. If the play against Carter, Gibbs, Bearden, Scott, and Seymour are any indication, the Mavs are entering play red hot.
“We played about as bad a first half as we played all year (against Elizabethton the first time around) and that was just logistically,” Gillum said. “If we play clean, I think we win the game, but the margin is going to be small.”
