Unicoi County (7-1, 3-1) marched into Lower Afton on Friday night and picked up a 48-0 victory over Chuckey-Doak (1-7, 0-4) to win their second-straight game in the rivalry.
“I thought our kids played really, really well. I think that’s there’s a lot of improvement over the last two weeks. It’s hard to say that with the scoreboard. We’re getting better, we’re just playing really, really good teams. They’re a really good team and they’re going to make a strong run in the playoffs,” Chuckey-Doak Coach Billy Kaylor said.
The score might not reflect it, but Chuckey-Doak’s defense showed much improvement in Friday night’s matchup. The pesky Black Knights showed no quit no matter what the scoreboard read and broke up multiple deep passes down field and came up with a couple big drive-killing plays.
“They had some explosive plays and they are very capable of doing that. Sometimes young kids get plays made on them and it just happens,” Kaylor mentioned.
After tonight, the Blue Devils won their third-straight game while Chuckey-Doak dropped their seventh-straight. The win moves Unicoi into a pivotal game versus Johnson County next week for a share of the Region 1-3A championship. If they win, they would move into a tie with the Longhorns while Gatlinburg-Pittman will be looking to earn a share of that championship when they host the Black Knights next week.
Unicoi wasted little to no time scoring a quick six. Bransan Salts broke off a 65-yard rushing touchdown on the second play from scrimmage to lift Unicoi ahead 7-0 in the opening moments.
Chuckey-Doak’s offense moved into Blue Devil territory and picked up 44 yards on the drive, but a 44-yard field goal attempt by Billy Hahnlen came up a few feet short and left them empty on the possession. James Seidl and Skylar Davis were responsible for their trio of first downs.
Another Unicoi possession ended in another Bransan Salts touchdown. This time a screen pass in the flat was taken all the way home for a 43-yard touchdown to boost their lead to 14-0.
Three-straight punts followed as both defenses stiffened up and allowed nothing past. Once Unicoi got the ball back again, they were right back in the end zone. A 31-yard catch from Blaze Rice crossed into the red zone and set up Avery Hatcher for an 8-yard receiving touchdown from quarterback Kolby Jones. He finished his night with a trio of passing touchdowns. The score was 21-0.
The Black Knights seemed to be turning the corner on offense with a 20-yard catch-and-run by Hayden Roper, but the drive stalled out again after a blitz caused Kiptyn Ball to be sacked on 4th-&-8. They turned around and dished the same right back to Unicoi on defense though. They stopped the Blue Devils on 4th-&-short for a turnover-on-downs. Unfortunately, the same would occur on offense again and they’d give the ball back after a failed 4th-down conversion.
Unicoi went 47 yards before the end of the half and finished the drive with a 19-yard touchdown catch from Koda Cutlip. The Blue Devils led 28-0 at the half.
Chuckey-Doak’s first possession of the second half ended in another turnover-on-downs and set up Unicoi at their own 42-yard line. The drive lasted 2:36 and started the second-half running clock when Trent Helso plunged through for a 1-yard touchdown.
Blaze Rice’s interception on defense set up the next score with Shawn Menkowitz marching in for a 12-yard rushing touchdown. Isaac Acevedo scored the final touchdown in the fourth quarter with a 65-yard rushing touchdown.
Unicoi finished the night with a 48-0 beating of Chuckey-Doak.
“All credit to them they are a really good football team. We are improving defensively and offensively. There are strides being made, it’s just hard when you play really good football teams. They take advantage of you and they did. They played well,” Coach Kaylor stated.
The Black Knights travel to Gatlinburg-Pittman next Friday night for their season finale. Unicoi and Johnson County square off with the Region 1-3A championship up for grabs.
