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Sullivan South 56, Sullivan East 6
Oct 12, 2007Check Saturday’s BHC for the full write-up. Here’s a quick recap and some notes:
Rough night for the Patriots.
Big, big night for Rebels quarterback Curt Phillips.
Phillips was 8-of-12 passing for 107 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran 10 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns. And he did it all by barely stepping on the field in the fourth quarter.
Phillips wasn’t perfect. He failed to check off a couple times, threw an interception, and nearly had two more passes picked off. This said, he absolutely dominated East, and looked like a men among boys.
And Phillips wasn’t the only Rebel to come up big. Taylor Fletcher ran for 133 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries, while South’s defense held East to just two first downs.
Up 14-0 after the first quarter, South took a 28-6 lead into halftime. Then Phillips and Fletcher drove it home.
Fletcher broke four tackles and ran across the field for a 36-yard burst on the Rebels’ first play from scrimmage after the break.
Phillips then made it 34-6 when he turned an up-the-middle scramble into a 16-yard touchdown run.
“We gave a good beating to a good football team, so maybe we’ll start getting a little respect,” said South coach Stacy Carter. “I think we can play with just about anybody around.”
The Rebels rushed 36 times for 298 yards, and totaled 405 offensive yards.
“That’s what happens when you have our offensive line,” Fletcher said.
Sullivan South 56, Sullivan East 6
Sullivan East 0 6 0 0—6
Sullivan South 14 14 21 7—56
Scoring Summary
SS—Ty Garvin 16 pass from Curt Phillips (Jordan Willingham kick)
SS—Seth Johnson 13 pass from Phillips (Willingham kick)
SS—Kaleb Kitzmiller 16 pass from Phillips (Willingham kick)
SE—Caleb Looney 74 run (Kick failed)
SS—Taylor Fletcher 11 run (Willingham kick)
SS—Phillips 16 run (Willingham kick)
SS—Phillips 15 run (Willingham kick)
SS—Kitzmiller 38 pass from Phillips (Willingham kick)
SS—Brad Shanks 8 run (Willingham kick)
Team Stats
First Downs: SE 2, SS 18; Rushes-Yards: SE 16-172, SS 36-298; Passing Yards: SE 18, SS 107; Comp-Att-Int: SE 2-9-2, SS 8-12-1; Fumbles-Lost: SE 0-0, SS 1-1; Punts-Yards SE 2-45, SS 0-0.
Posted by Brian T. Smith Touchdown Friday Night
Oct 12, 2007About 2 1/2 hours until kickoff for local high school football teams. Here are some things to look for tonight:
--- Sullivan East is off to a 5-1 start but the Patriots will get their biggest test of the season when they travel to Colonial Heights to face Curt Phillips-led Sullivan South.
--- Will Sullivan Central end its 16-game losing streak at Unicoi County?
--- Lebanon will travel to Virginia High in an important Clinch Mountain District contest. Lebanon head coach Jon Adams formerly coached at Virginia High and led the Bearcats to a Highlands District crown during his time at the Bristol school.
--- Chilhowie running back Robert Gonzalez transferred to the Smyth County school this season. He’ll play his former team tonight as the Warriors travel to PH.
--- Powell Valley travels to J.J. Kelly in a crucial Lonesome Pine District contest. Both schools are in dire need of a victory if they want to reach the postseason.
--- There are four winless teams in Southwest Virginia at the present time. One of those schools will break into the win column as Pound (0-6) travels to Twin Valley (0-6).
--- Honaker has one of the best running backs in the area in Logan Ball. Will that be enough for the Tigers to upset J.I. Burton tonight? Burton (6-0) is the only unbeaten team in Southwest Virginia.
--- Clintwood’s contest at Gate City could be an old-school clash. Both teams rely on hard-hitting defenses and tough-running running backs. Crucial VHSL power points are also at stake.
Posted by Tim Hayes I-AAA Regional Golf Tournament
Oct 08, 2007BOYS
At par-72 The Country Club in Morristown, Tenn.
Team Scores – Jefferson County 303, Science Hill 305, Sullivan South 314, Cocke County 316, Dobyns-Bennett 324, Morristown East 329.
Note: Winning team advances to state
Individual Scores
Note: Top four individuals not on winning team advance to state.
Dobyns-Bennett – Alex Ratliff 80, Justin Harvey 77, Taylor Pate 85, Drew Daniels 83, Ross Ramsdale 84.
Science Hill – Dane Voss 75, Jared Songster 78, Michael Hembre 75, Matthew Love 81, Robert Treadway 77.
Sullivan South – Nick York 74, Nic Willis 78, Matt Washburn 77, Brandon Worley 89, Matt Bowers 85.
Cocke County – Jake Shelton 76, Zack Briggs 82, Seth Moore 76, Luke Ottinger 84, Trevor Marshall 82.
Jefferson County – Jordan Jennings 73, Logan Hance 75, Will Buie 77, Drew Jenkins 78, Jeremy Beachner 80.
Morristown East – Brandon Sexton 82, Corey Atkins 81, Alex Conway 81, Aaron Wilson 87, Dustin Williams 85.
Other – Willie Nichols (THS) 87, Curtis Vann (THS) 83, Jace Devault (THS) 89, Carlson Cox (VOL) 73, Lucas Armstrong (VOL) 79, Josh Henrichs (MW) 80, Anthony Damico (MW) 71, Aaron Moon (MW) 84, Blake Napier (MW) 80, Andrew Sawyer (MW) 88.
GIRLS
Team Scores – Jefferson County 140, Greeneville 156, Cocke County 170, Science Hill 210, Sullivan Central 212, Sullivan South 221.
Note: Winning team advances to state.
Individual Scores
Note: Top four individuals not on winning team advance to state.
Science Hill – Madison Alexander 91, Maci Whitson 119, Sophia Linville 149.
Sullivan Central – Chelsea Gammon 100, Brittany Rogers 112.
Sullivan South – Samantha Williams 107, Makensey Campbell 114.
Cocke County – Whitney Ball 88, Lexi Clevenger 82.
Jefferson County – Kristin Price 72, Kendall Martindale 68, Maria Stapleton 80.
Greeneville – Katy Hucherson 81, Paige Ramsey 75, Ashley Morris 87.
Other – Heather Saults (Crockett) 102, Aubrey Baker (D-B) 94, Linsey Bridwell (D-B) 143, Brittney Salyer (THS) 108, Courtney Conley (THS) 122, Kaitlyn Harville (Morristown East) 98, Erica Bruce (ME) 98, Alex Dickinson (MW) 106, Chelsea Leonard (MW) 119, Haley Lawson (Cherokee) 103.
Pressure won’t get to Ellenbogen
Oct 08, 2007Think the pressure of winning a second straight Group AA title is going to get to Blacksburg’s Courtney Ellenbogen?
Not a chance. Not when you’ve rubbed shoulders with the best women golfers in the world and come within one shot of possibly playing the third round of the U.S. Women’s Open with Annika Sorenstam.
Ellenbogen sits three shots out of the lead in Bluefield after a first round 72 Monday which included a two-shot penalty for hitting from an improper tee box on the front nine.
“The tees were just a little bit apart and I hit off the wrong one,” she said. “I wasn’t paying attention. It wasn’t a good mistake, but you have to keep playing or you’ll really screw up the round.”
That mistake would unnerve most golfers to the point where they would fall out of contention. Not Ellenbogen, who has plenty of reference points for those rare tough times.
For instance, this summer, when after advancing out of sectionals to reach the U.S. Women’s Open, Ellenbogen shot a more-than-respectable 5-over par over 36 holes, missing the cut by one shot.
“That was pretty tough,” she said. “There’s always strokes out there you’d [like] to take back that would have made the difference. I still feel like I represented myself well.”
Sorenstam made the cut on the number, meaning had Ellenbogen also made the third round, she could have played with Sorenstam. At the very least, the 16-year old high school junior can boast of nearly matching the 36-hole score of her sport’s most recognizable player.
“It was good to play with some of the best players in the world,” Ellenbogen said. “It helped my mindset of shooting low scores.”
Ellenbogen may not defend her state title tomorrow, but the odds are if someone wins it, they’ll have to earn it.
After all, if you’ve stood up to a USGA-prepared course, why crumble when you’re playing for a state title?
Chip Shots
While the Fincastle Country Club course earned respect for its tight fairways and fast greens, event organizers scored a clear double bogey when they forced players to pay $7 for the privilege of going through a buffet line.
It’s one thing to make fans, coaches or even media members shell out money to shuffle through a buffet. It’s ludricrous to make the players, who are the reason you’re putting on the event in the first place, dip into their wallets.
One player was so astounded by being asked for $7 that he just threw down his plate and walked away. Golf is supposed to be a gentleman’s sport, but it’s hard to blame him for that outburst.
It should be pointed out that at least four other prep tournaments, including the Group A Tournament in Botetourt County, set up buffets for players, officials and media and didn’t feel the need to charge for the privilege of eating.
Wonder if Fincastle would charge Tiger Woods if he wanted a quick bite between nines?
Falcon good, but far away from the playoffs
Oct 05, 2007They handed out placards in Abingdon Friday night that read “Falcon Awesome.”
And while awesome might be a stretch, there’s no doubt this is a pretty decent Abingdon football team. Its 35-14 win over visiting Carroll County gave it a 4-2 record and a pretty good shot at getting to seven or eight wins by season’s end.
In most years, seven or eight wins buys you a playoff ticket. Yet the Falcons’ only entry into the Region IV, Division 4 fray might be if they go and purchase tickets for a game in Salem, Bassett, Blacksburg, Christiansburg or Pulaski.
Simply put, Division 4 is stacked. Even at 4-2, even with one of the area’s top pitch-catch combos in Adam Henderson and Tyler Bailey as well as an improving running game, Abingdon is 7th in the division with only four teams assured of a playoff berth.
First-year coach John Bowles said all the right things after last night’s game about not worrying about other games or the points system and about how his team just needs to worry about its business.
But you know that the Falcons would love to have their two losses back now—both come-from-ahead jobs. Had they held on at Richlands and Honaker, this would be a 6-0 team with a serious chance at winning the Southwest District.
Instead, barring collapses by the likes of Pulaski County, Blacksburg and Hidden Valley, Abingdon could go 8-2 and sit at home.
“We’re not thinking about [the playoff scenarios],” Henderson said after Friday night’s win. “We’re just going out there and playing ball, trying to win games.”
Were Abingdon in Division 3, it would be playing for homefield advantage in the first round. As it is, it needs a Colorado Rockies-type run just to get a sniff at the postseason.
