Football - East vs David Crockett 9/12
September 12, 2008 By Rick Waller of Sullivan East High School
On another beautiful, if not muggy, evening in Northeast Tennessee the Patriots played host to District 2 foe David Crockett. The Pioneers came to East being picked as the favorite to win this game and they came out to prove they were worthy of that prediction. East proved the "experts" wrong as they held on to beat Crockett by a final score of 28-22.
The first quarter of this ball game was back and forth between the two teams as Crockett came out on offense for the first possesion. East forced a Pioneer punt and had a chance to grab the early lead with their first stab with the ball. However, when it was all said and done, the first quarter showed nothing but zero's on the board and it came down to being a three quarter ballgame.
The second quarter proved to be more productive for both teams. David Crockett scored just 52 seconds into the stanza and converted on the PAT to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game, 7-0. This provoked an immediate response in the Patriot offense as quarterback Tyler Gaby connected on a 50 yard pass to receiver Zane Campbell for paydirt and East was back in it. The PAT was blocked however and Crockett still maintained their lead, however slim, at 7-6.
The team traded possesions and Crockett made the most of it's last possesion of the first half by scoring with 51 seconds to go in the first half. A fake kick led to a two point conversion pass givin the Pioneers their biggest lead at 15-6. On the following kickoff, Campbell found the field wide open on his right and returned the ball to midfield giving the Patriots once last chance before half. With 41 seconds to go, East blazed downfield and with 14 ticks left on the clock hit gold once again as Gaby once again connected on a 28 yard pass, this time to Chase Depew, bringing the Patriots back to within 3 at 15-12. Gaby had his own number called for the two point conversion and with that run cut Crockett's lead to 1 at 15-14. Crockett took a knee on it's next possesion to run out the final seconds and that's how the first half ended.
The second half began with some confusion as Crockett pulled off an onside kick to start the 3rd quarter. A Pioneer player seemed to catch the kick in the air past the 10 yards necessary for the ball to go, but somehow East retained possession and started at their own 45 yard line. The offense picked up where it left off in the first half and took it the 55 yards down the field, with Gaby finishing off the possession with a 3 yard run off left tackle. Another successful 2 point conversion put the Patriots up by seven, 22-15.
Crockett could do nothing with the East defense and gave it back to the Patriots after some modest yardage was gained. East once again put its offense back on the field and Gaby once again found the end zone, this time with a 20 yard run with 4:39 left in the third quarter and even thought the PAT was no good, the Patriots had their biggest lead of the night at 28-22.
Crockett still had life though as East fumbled the ball away with about 7 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Crockett took advantage of the East miscue and the Pioneer running backs pounded the ball play after play to put them back in the end zone. The extra point made it 28-22. The excitement wasn't over as the Pioneers had one more chance to snatch away the victory from the Patriots, but the East defense gave up one first down before pushing Crockett backwards, getting the ball back on downs. Caleb Looney ran for a quick first down which was enough for the Patriots to run out the rest of the clock and secure the win.
East now stands at 0-1 in district action and 2-1 overall. Next week is Homecoming week as the Patriots will host Sullivan North in a district game. Game time is 7:30. Come celebrate homecoming with us and help us CHEER ON OUR PATRIOTS!!! |
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