Patriots Raid the Hornets 28-3

On a hot September Friday night, the Jefferson County Patriots took to Leroy Shannon Field for the second time of the season.  Still reeling from the home loss against Bearden, Jefferson County came on to the field looking for redemption.

The Patriots came out on the field, donning the throwback red jerseys with gray pants, hoping for a repeat of the last time the two teams met.

The first quarter started out with the Patriots trying to find their bearings.  The offense had a rough time the first couple snaps, and for most of the first quarter the battle was between the defenses.  The Carter Hornets managed to press within field goal range midway through the first quarter, the successful field goal attempt granted the Hornets their only score for the evening.  The first quarter ended with Carter ahead of the Patriots 3-0.

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Early in the second quarter, the Patriots began to come alive.  The defense began to tighten up quickly, and it took a few plays for the offense to catch up.  Once the can opened, though, Jefferson County started plowing forward, not looking back.

The first touchdown came as a surprise, catching everyone off guard as Brody Moore slid his way in to the endzone.  A good extra point put the Patriots ahead of the Carter Hornets 7-3.  Not even two minutes later, Johnathan Royster Picked off a pass around the 50 yard line, moving the Patriots ahead 14-3.  Going in to the halftime break, the awakened Patriots were ahead 14-3

The start of the second half of play, the Hornets received the kickoff.  Several drives in to the half, Carter was poised to break their scoring drought, finding themselves deep in to Jefferson County territory.  The Patriot defense protected the goal and Jefferson County got the ball back in to their possession.  With just over four minutes left in the third, Hawkins rushed in to the endzone, adding six more to the board.  The good extra point extended the lead of Jefferson County 21-3.

The fourth was beginning to look like Carter was going to tighten the gap.  A pass from Atkins was intercepted by Carter’s Kenneth Cox, and drove back deep in to Patriot territory.  The Patriot defense tightened up and defended the zone once again.  The Hornet’s inability to perform in the redzone ultimately was the fire the Patriots offense needed to place one more nail in the coffin.  As the play clock was winding down, Atkins slid in to the endzone with a keeper.  With a good extra point once again from Alverez, the Patriots squashed the Hornets 28-3.

Jefferson County’s Tanner Atkins went 4-12 in his passing game, put 102 yards under his belt, and put six on the board for the evening.  Brodie Moore got 83 yards for the evening and added six to his scoring stats.  The evening, once again, belonged to Jefferson County’s Kris Hawkins.  He had 24 carries for 226 yards and two touchdowns.

Staff Photo Angie Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports

Staff Photo Angie Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports

Carter was nothing to ignore as they put up a tough battle.  They actually had possession of the ball more than the Patriots, but just could not perform in the redzone.  They had the ball for 27 minutes compared to Jefferson County’s 20, and ran four more plays than the Patriots did.  What ended up being Jefferson County’s saving grace was the toughness of the defense, who held the Hornet offense to 146 yards rushing and eight first downs.

Jefferson County will now travel to Farragut to face off against the Admirals.  The #3 Admirals defeated Jefferson county 33-6 the last time they met up.  Farragut is coming in to this game with a 4-0 record, and most recently had a hard fought battle against #5 Oak Ridge.  Kickoff will be at 7:30 in Farragut.

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Source: Angie Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports