Maryville football capitalizes on turnovers to hand Fulton first loss

MARYVILLE — Maryville might have a new MO. The play of the game has looked very similar the past two contests: force a turnover in the red zone and then break out for a big run afterward.

Last game, it was a fumble into end zone after which Tee Hodge broke out for an 80-yard touchdown run.

On Friday against Fulton, Tommy Smith forced a fumble on Maryville’s 2. The next play, Isaiah Cobb broke out for a 97-yard run but was caught at the 1 and needed a second chance to score.

 Cobb joked afterward that he just needed to one-up his half-brother.

“That’s the defense making plays and timely plays,” Maryville coach Derek Hunt said after the Rebels’ 41-12 win. “That’s the same thing that happened against Alcoa. Hopefully that can be our MO: Get turnovers and capitalize on them.”

Hunt also called those plays back-breakers, adding they can make a team want to quit.

Maryville (4-1) capitalized on a few others that weren’t as timely as far as holding off a score, but more so as far as field position. Three times the Rebels forced a turnover inside Fulton’s 10.

With less than two minutes to go in the first quarter, Fulton (4-1) fumbled on its own 9. That one didn’t cost them — the Falcons came up with a strip sack a few plays later and turned that into a touchdown — but others did.

Xavier Malone threw his first of two interceptions at his 9 in the second quarter. He was pressured heavily and tried to check down to Joey Smith, but Luke Walker stepped in front of Smith to pick it off. Walker returned it to the 2, and Cobb punched it in on the next play to put the Rebels up two scores.

“We turned it over way too many times,” Fulton coach Rob Black said. “I said it before the game, turnovers and penalties were two things we can’t have and win. We didn’t have too many penalties (four for 23 yards), but we had a lot of turnovers and that cost us.”

Maryville has rebuilt its defense and has a young defensive line, but it beat Fulton’s young line on Friday. Black summed it up, saying the Rebels won the line of scrimmage and that will usually win you games.

In the first half, Fulton ran the ball 13 times for negative 15 yards. Overall, the Falcons, who average 243.8 rushing yards, had 75.

“Fulton is so well-coached, so athletic,” Hunt said. “But we were ready for that. We were gritty. I was really proud of how much grit our defense played with.”