NEW TAZEWELL – It might be hard to believe when looking at the scoreboard at the end of the night, but Chuckey-Doak Head Coach Billy Kaylor may have done his best coaching job yet in a 39-13 loss at Claiborne.
The Chuckey-Doak community was hit particularly hard by the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the flooding that brought the Nolichucky river over its banks. The Black Knights were without key players and coaches who were dealing with the damage caused around the river. Just getting to the high school is now a challenge for many on the east side of Greene County as bridges were swept away in the flooding, and just returning to the Friday night lights was an accomplishment for Chuckey-Doak.
Kaylor said, “Players were in and out coaches were in and out all week and you have to do what you have to do for your families. It’s just been just a tough week. I thought we battled, but it’s been a tough week for us … all of us in Greene County, Greeneville, Carter County and all over East Tennessee. But the kids played really hard, we have a lot of stuff to improve on. We have to keep moving forward as a team and as a community.”
On top of that the Black Knights also had five starters out with injury and thy had not played in two weeks because of last week’s storm.
Friday’s action started with Claiborne taking the opening kickoff and surprising everyone with an empty backfield as it quickly moved into the redzone. The drive nearly stalled at the 19-yard line, but on fourth down and 10 Bulldogs quarterback Isaac Daniels threw up a 50-50 ball in the corner of the endzone that Colton Jones somehow came down with for the games first points. The extra point was good, and the Dawgs were up 7-0 with just under five minutes gone in the first quarter.
The Knights went three-and-out and were forced to punt. The punt was muffed and fell into the arms of Dominic Hahnlan. The Knights were unable to take advantage of the gift and punted again. The first quarter would end with the Dawgs up 7-0.
Kaden Lovin would carry the ball four consecutive times for the Dawgs, the big blow was a 47 yarder down to the Black Knight two-yard line. Lovin would take it in from there, for a 14-0 Claiborne lead with 7:55 to play in the first half.
The next Knight possession would end with an Owen Stone interception of Black Knight freshman quarterback Kiptyn Ball. Daniels would hit Anthony Truner for 19 yards and then again on the same play for another 12 yards. Lovin scored his second touchdown of the half from three yards out. With the extra point the Dawgs had a 21-0 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the second quarter.
The Knights looked like they had something going when Ball connected for five yards to James Seidl and then 17 yards to Hahnlan. Kaden Williams stepped in front of Ball’s next pass and returned it to the Knight 24-yard line. On the first play after the interception Daniels found Kristopher Ford in the endzone for the score, the kick was no good, but the Dawgs now led 27-0 with just 59 seconds remaining in the half.
Chuckey-Doak took the second half kickoff and mounted a drive. Ball was on target with Seidl for 16 yards and then tossed up a prayer that was answered by Mason Henderson for 40 yards down to the one-yard line. Gage Hill scored on the next play, the kick was blocked but the Knights were on the board, 27-6 at the 8:37 point of the third quarter.
Lovin would add his third touchdown of the game on the next drive to make the score 33-6. The Knights followed with a big play when Ball and Hahnlan hooked up on a 52-yard touchdown and the kick this time was good bringing the final score to 39-13.
Ball managed to pass for 158 yards and a TD while Hahnlan hauled in a score, Hill scored a rushing touchdown to also lead the Knights on offense.
