In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the simple fact the fall high school sports season started as scheduled in our region was a victory in and of itself.
It took countless hours of hard work by school administrators, athletic directors, health care professionals and coaches to establish the protocols that allowed players and fans to spring into action this past week. At times this summer, it was hard to imagine football being played, but lo and behold, Science Hill, David Crockett and Daniel Boone were among the teams in action on a busy opening night of the high school football season.
In Elizabethton, the Hilltoppers ran headlong into the defending 4A state champions and wound up on the wrong end of a 30-8 decision. The Cyclones’ offense put up points early, and the defense shut down the Hilltoppers throughout the contest to secure Elizabethton’s third straight win over Science Hill.
Jaxon Diamond threw a touchdown pass to Amare Redd to account for the Hilltoppers’ lone touchdown.
Down the road in Gray, Daniel Boone made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes early and eventually fell to CAK by the score of 28-14. Boone had a pair of passes intercepted and returned for CAK touchdowns in the first quarter. Despite the rough start, the Trailblazers recovered to tie the game at 14 by halftime on a Jackson Jenkins touchdown pass to Brennan Blair and a long TD run by Devon White.
After halftime, however, CAK finally got its offense in gear and scored a pair of touchdowns to secure the victory.
David Crockett opened the season with a long trip to Ooltewah, where the Pioneers fought valiantly, but came up on the short end of a 14-12 decision.
Notre Dame signee Prince Kollie had 169 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Pioneers.
In other action, Science Hill’s volleyball team got off to a fast start to the season, rolling to a 6-1 start that included a sweep of rival Dobyns-Bennett and a runner-up finish in the Cyclone Invitational at Elizabethton over the weekend.
The Science Hill girls soccer team also had a big first week, beating David Crockett 9-0 on Tuesday before edging defending Class AA state champion Greeneville 1-0 on Thursday at Kermit Tipton Stadium.
