Mavs turn and burn
Hensley top gun for AC in tourney
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Anderson County’s multisport speedster, Waylon LaRue, tacks on yards after the catch during last Thursday night’s opening round of the Knoxville Classic. The Mavericks defeated Oneida 20-14 in opening play. - Tony Cox
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Landen Hensley had a great performance for the Maver- icks at the Knoxville Classic at Powell High School. He led Anderson County to a 6-1 overall record at the event. - Tony Cox
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Riley Wolfenbarger and Evan Pyatt double-team one of Oneida’s receivers and break up the pass. The Mavericks showed successes on both sides of the ball during last week’s Knoxville Classic 7-on-7 tournament at Powell High School. - Tony Cox
Competing in one of the area’s top 7-on-7 tournaments, Anderson County High School’s football team had a successful run.
The Mavericks went 6-1 in the two-day Knoxville Classic, which was held Thursday and Friday at Powell High School.
The Mavericks went 2-1 in pool play Thursday night.
They lost to Webb School of Knoxville 13-12. But they would bounce back to defeat Oneida 20-14. They closed pool play with a 42-6 win over Farragut.
Anderson County returned to Northwest Knox County on Friday and won four consecutive games. In their second tournament game against the Admirals, the Mavericks toppled Farragut 35-14.
ACHS then edged Gibbs 20-14 before beating Grace Christian Academy 28-21. The Mavs would then defeat the host Panthers 28-14.
“We had a great time over there,” Anderson County Assistant Head Coach Gary Terry said. “(Powell) Coach (Matt) Lowe always does a great job.
“On the first night, we had pool play and we went 2-1,” he said. “We lost to Webb 13-12, and they held the ball the whole time. That’s 7-on-7 strategy and I get it.”
Anderson County has several new players on both offense and defense, including quarterback Landen Hensley, a transfer from Campbell County.
Terry said that Hensley was impressive at Powell.
“Landen was just incredible,” Terry said. “He did a great job under pressure. He did a great job getting the ball out.”
Terry also noted that Hensley was able to get a multitude of receivers involved in the games.
“We had 10 receivers and all of them were making the catches,” Terry said. “But when you throw the ball, you’re going to have guys make catches and make plays.”
The tournament was double-elimination, and play went late into Friday night.
The Mavericks were in championship contention when they pulled out of tournament play.
“It was double-elimination; we didn’t know that it was double-elimination, and it was a late night Friday night,” Terry said. “To win the championship, we would have had to beaten Powell and Webb twice.
“We had a good tournament and we got some good work in, so we decided to take it to the house,” he said. “We decided to let Powell and Webb play for the championship. There was no need to get anybody hurt.”
The Panthers ended up defeating the Spartans to win the tournament championship.