Mavs storm past Fulton
Offense piles up 477 yards
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Anderson County’s Brayden Sharpe stretches the ball toward the goal line as Fulton’s Jett Byrge tries to bring him down during Friday night’s game. Sharpe caught three passes for 46 yards and a touchdown as the Mavericks rolled to a 41-18 victory over the Falcons. - Tony Cox
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Anderson County’s Elijah Johnson goes airborne to haul in a pass during the Mavericks’ 41-18 win over Fulton on Friday night. Johnson torched the Falcons for 121 yards and three touchdowns on five receptions. - Tony Cox
Anderson County may have stumbled out of the gate Friday night, but once the Mavericks found their footing, they were tough to stop.
ACHS overcame that sluggish start and pulled away in the second half to defeat Fulton 41-18 on Sept. 4, giving the Mavericks their first victory of the season.
“We were a little sloppy on both sides of the ball at the beginning,” Anderson County Coach Davey Gillum said. “And then, in the second half, we just cleaned some things up, kind of pulled away offensively.”
Quarterback J.D. Gillum led the charge, throwing five touchdown passes and compiling 385 yards through the air.
“Receivers were playing pretty good, our line was solid. J.D. had a big game,” Davey Gillum said.
Anderson County piled up 477 yards of total offense, with several Mavericks making big plays.
“Offensively, we played well,” Gillum said. “I think all of our starters played real well. Elijah Johnson, he ended up with three TDs and 121 yards receiving. He had a couple of long runs on a couple of catches and broke some tackles, running away from people. I thought he really had a good night.
“And then Jaxon Price ... had some long catches, some big one-on-one catches; he had 110 yards,” the coach said.
“Zach Happney had some big catches to get us kind of rolling in the second half in the middle of the field, and Brayden Sharpe made some big catches, had a touchdown catch and run of 26 yards,” Gillum said. “And we kind of called on him early in that first half to get something going.”
While Anderson County improved to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in region play, Fulton fell to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the region.
“Lane LaRue at running back had some nice runs and some big catches as well, but Lane didn’t get to play second half; he had a little bit of a knee sprain,” Gillum said.
Maddox Tackett stepped in and put an exclamation point on the victory with a 51-yard touchdown run to close out the Mavericks’ scoring.
“On defense in the second half, I kind of felt we calmed down a little bit,” Gillum said. “And some of the youth we had on the field got a little more sure about what they’re supposed to be doing. And (Fulton) really struggled to get a first down in the second half.”
Defensive back Jack Davis was among those setting the tone.
“He had another big game, a lot of big tackles, big stops,” Gillum said.
Lyric Jackson and Michael Maggi also created problems for the Falcons.
“Lyric Jackson, defensive end/outside linebacker guy, had some really big plays, timely plays,” Gillum said. “Same for Michael Maggi, [who] played the other defensive end. Both had some big plays. Lyric and Maggi really get them in negative-yardage situations.”
Landon Burnett-Daniels also contributed at linebacker.
“You know, Landon Burnett-Daniels came in, played linebacker and did a really good job making some plays as well,” Gillum said.
“So there’s a lot of those guys who played really well, but those names I mentioned at the beginning, they had big, big games.”
One of Fulton’s touchdowns came on an interception return, while another came late against Anderson County’s younger players.
“We did throw a pick-six, so we gave them one of those touchdowns, and then one of the other touchdowns was late in the game when we had put our young guys in the game,” Gillum said.
Kicker Charles Morris also helped the Mavericks control field position.
“Our kicker, Charles Morris, kicked well,” Gillum said. “He put three (kickoffs) in the end zone. Anytime a team’s got to start from the 20-yard line, it’s a big deal.”
Despite securing the first win of the season and opening region play with a victory, the Mavericks still have plenty to clean up, Gillum said.
“We’ve got to learn how to quit shooting ourselves in the foot and make teams earn some things,” he said.
“And it’s a process. We did better (at Fulton), but we’ve still got a long way to go. So, you know, hopefully every week we just make some progress in those areas.”
Anderson County will play host to Heritage on Friday at Anderson County High School for Military, 9/11 and First Responders Appreciation Night.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
