GATLINBURG – Chuckey-Doak (1-8, 0-5) hopped on a bus for the final time in 2024 and traveled to play Gatlinburg-Pittman (7-3, 4-1) for a Region 1-3A showdown in which they suffered a 55-3 loss in the end.
“All credit to them. A phenomenal football team. They’ll make some noise in the playoffs,” Black Knights Head Coach Billy Kaylor said.
The gauntlet of regional opponents that Chuckey-Doak had to go through at the tail end of their schedule ended with the Highlanders. For three-straight weeks the Black Knights played the top three teams in Region 1-3A and it seemed like things only got harder and harder each week. Two of those three teams were ranked inside the statewide top ten at the time of each game. The only team that wasn’t was Gatlinburg, but they sure seemed like one on Friday night.
Chuckey-Doak struggled to find any momentum through a strong attack from the Highlanders defense and GP’s many offensive weapons were too much to handle for the Black Knight defense.
“I thought we came out flat in the first half,” Kaylor mentioned. “There were times when we did a lot of things right. We’re not that far off from making some really good plays. At times, we did some really good things defensively.”
From the opening kickoff, the Highlanders made it evident that they weren’t messing around. A great kickoff return crossed midfield and ended up at the 39-yard line. On the very first play from scrimmage, Ben Reece pulled down a quick screen pass and housed it for a 39-yard receiving touchdown. GP went ahead 7-0.
A botched punt granted the Highlanders with a shorter field to work with and they made quick work of that. Elijah Spence beat his defender deep for a 20-yard touchdown catch on 3rd down to lift them ahead 14-0.
Chuckey-Doak put together a strong offensive drive that saw them gain 55 yards next. Mason Henderson completed a 14-yard catch on 3rd down and Hayden Roper sprang a 51-yard run that led them to the red zone. Quarterback Kipton Ball was sacked on 3rd down and the Black Knights sent Billy Hahnlen out to attempt a 43-yard field goal. The attempt was blocked to end the drive.
Two plays later, Brayden Maples found gaps in the defense to complete a 55-yard touchdown run to extend the score to 21-0.
To start the second quarter, Reece picked up 47 yards on a catch-and-run to set up Cecilio Rodriguez for a 24-yard touchdown run. Gatlinburg led 28-0.
After another Chuckey-Doak punt, Brayden Maples did all the work with a 15-yard run that set up his eventual 26-yard touchdown run on the next play. The score was 35-0.
Right before the end of the half, Elijah Brimmer pushed through for a 3-yard touchdown run to increase the Gatlinburg lead to 42-0. It seemed like they were done scoring for the half until an interception by Nathan Allen set them up at the 11-yard line with two minutes to play with. They wouldn’t need more than one minute for
Brayden Maples to complete his hat trick in the first half with an 11-yard touchdown rush.
The Highlanders led 49-0 at the break. They scored once more in the second half with a 1-yard touchdown by Elias Reed.
The Black Knights went on one final drive to end the game and scored on their last drive of the season courtesy of a 20-yard field goal from Billy Hahnlen.
“Kid is a senior and got a shot in his last game. It’s in a situation where we were scoreless so let’s try and get some points. He’s a great kid and he’s worked his tail off,” Kaylor stated.
Chuckey-Doak suffered a lopsided 55-3 loss to Gatlinburg-Pittman on Friday night in their final game of the 2024 season. They finished the season 1-8 (0-5).
