Sweetwater's defense wraps up Tellico's Ryan Shaffer. Photo by Doodle Bivens
Bears Snap Sweetwater’s 12-Game Streak, Win County Crown 29-0
by AJ Hall and Bryan Burchfield
Photo by Doodle Bivens
The Tellico Plains Bears defeated the Sweetwater Wildcats 29-0 on Friday night, claiming the “Kings of the County” title. Both teams had beaten Sequoyah earlier this season, making this game the decider for Monroe County supremacy.
Tellico Plains (3-0) ended Sweetwater’s 12-game winning streak in the series, with their last victory coming in 2009. The Bears won the toss and elected to receive, starting their first drive at their own 20-yard line. Tellico marched 80 yards on 14 plays, consuming 7:45 of the first quarter, and capped the drive with a 5 yard touchdown run by Ike Hollinghead. The extra point gave Tellico a 7-0 lead with 4:15 left in the first.
Sweetwater (1-2) struggled to respond and punted on their first possession. However, just one play into Tellico's second drive, Landon Murphy forced a fumble that Lucas Rockholt recovered on the Bears' 24-yard line. With a short field, Sweetwater seemed poised to score when quarterback Nolan Dacus sneaked in a touchdown from 2 yards out. However, an aiding-the-runner penalty nullified the score and The Wildcats couldn’t get the ball back across the goal line, turning it over on downs at the 9-yard line.
Both teams exchanged punts before Tellico Plains' Braden Reed returned one 53 yards to Sweetwater’s 37-yard line. Tellico capitalized on the field position with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Hollinghead to Reed, extending the lead to 13-0 with :43 seconds left in the half. The extra point was missed, and Tellico led at the break.
Sweetwater looked for a spark on offense to open the second half, with Dacus connecting on a 62-yard pass to Jeremiah Parris to get to the 5-yard line. However, Reed intercepted Dacus' pass in the end zone to end the threat.
The Bears then put together another 80-yard drive on 12 plays, finishing with a 1-yard touchdown run by Ryan Shaffer. Shaffer also added the two-point conversion, giving Tellico a 21-0 lead late in the third quarter. Sweetwater continued to struggle offensively, turning the ball over on downs after a failed fake punt and throwing a second interception that set up another Tellico touchdown.
With 8:35 left in the game, Hollinghead scored again on a 2-yard run, followed by another Shaffer two-point conversion, making the final score 29-0. Tellico Plains has outscored its Monroe County opponents this season, 86-0.
Next week, Tellico Plains will travel to Polk County, while Sweetwater will host Meigs County as both teams enter region play.
Graphic by Josh Walker - Sweetwater High School
Game Stats
