South, Elizabethton to Battle For Home Playoff Game
by STEVE WILMOTH
TriCitiesSports.com
October 19, 2017
Next goal.
The Sullivan South Rebels knocked off Sullivan East last week, 48-21, to earn their first playoff berth since 2014.
This week, the Rebels can make that playoff appearance at home, but it will take an upset of state-ranked Elizabethton at Citizen Bank Stadium.
It’s the 34th meeting in an entertaining series that finds the Cyclones with a slight 17-16 advantage. It’s also the first meeting between the two since South won a 28-21 thriller in the last Elizabethton game ever at Brown-Childress Stadium back in 2014.
“It’s been a back-and-forth series, but a great series,” said South coach Justin Hilton. “Elizabethton had our number when the Wittens came through, but then we had a run there for awhile as well. Very few of the games have been blowouts, most have come down to the last drive and the last play.”
The Cyclones battled top-ranked Greeneville to a 24-10 contest last week, using a bit of an unorthodox style in the process on offense, lining up quarterback Carter Everett and running back Corey Rusell side-by-side in shotgun formation.
“Elizabethton was solid in making tackles and didn’t give up big plays,” noted Hilton. “Offensively they had a nice wrinkle there and snapped it to both of those guys.”
Hilton isn’t sure whether the Rebels will see the game, but both present their unique set of concerns.
The 6-5 strong-arm Everett has thrown for 1657 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season while Russell, still just a sophomore, has rushed for 815 yards and has 13 total touchdowns.
“Everett throws it as good as anyone I’ve seen this year,” noted Hilton. “And Russell will be quite a challenge. He is just a good athlete in that may be faster in football pads than without.”
Ryan Wetzel is the leading receiver with 553 yards while Evan Perkins has total 516 yards.
“Everett is big and tall and they throw the fade and the stop,” added Hilton. “And their timing is exceptional. He gets the ball out on time and in the right spot.
“They throw a lot of quick balls to spots and their timing routes are spot on. It’s obviously they’ve practiced those about every day.”
Hilton is also impressed with the Cyclones play on the line of scrimmage.
“The offensive line is pretty big and the defensive line is monstrous,” noted Hilton. “They are really good up front defensively and very athletic on the back end.”
South quarterback Ethan Ward had another shortened day at the office last week against the Patriots. Ward now has 1905 total yards and 27 total touchdowns on the season.
“Ethan is a phenomenal player,” said Elizabethton coach Shawn Witten. “He has been his whole career, but this year they’ve been able to keep him healthy. He makes a lot of plays, and they do a lot of read plays with him. He reminds you of Corey (Russell). He’s got savvy and toughness.”
South running back continues Julian Reed continues to shine and now has 572 yards on the ground. Wide receivers Luke Pollack and Gavin Parker all added to receiving yards with yards after the catch last week.
Up front, 6-5, 270-pound sophomore Cam Necessary continues to impress on both sides of the ball. Necessary had ten tackles, three tackles for loss, two quarterback sacks and one pass break-up last week. Matthew Kelly has been solid all year and Riley Grills had another two sacks to boost his area-leading total to an even dozen.
While the winner stays home in the first round of the playoffs, the loser looks to be taking a 400-mile round trip to Chattanooga Central for their playoff opener.
“Our guys understand what is at stake,” said South’s Hilton. “We celebrated we were back in playoffs last Friday, but it was time to move on. Now we can move on to the next goal. Hopefully we can keep checking these goals off and keep improving the program.”
“You can feel a sense of urgency, no question,” added Witten. “And no question South will be ready. They are a much-improved football team.”