Sevier County 28, Lincoln County 24: The Smoky Bears Are Inevitable
The Falcons pushed the Smoky Bears to their limit on Friday night, but Sevier County found a way to win a close ball game again to keep their repeat dreams alive.
For a long time, it did not appear as though the defending 5A state champions were going to win Friday night at Burchfield Stadium. However, the Cardiac Smoky Bears of Sevier County found a way to come back from a two-score deficit late in the fourth quarter to beat a fantastic, upset-minded Lincoln County football team 28-24.
Sevier County has lost one football game in the last two seasons.
One.
Head football coach Todd Loveday’s program has lost just three games in the last three seasons overall. A lot of folks in East Tennessee expected this quarterfinal game to pit the Powell Panthers against the Smoky Bears for the third postseason in a row.
Eddie Cunningham’s Falcons had other plans last week, though, as his team upset Powell on the road to earn their opportunity to upset the defending state champs the following week. Cunningham told me after the game, “Well, first off, Sevier County is a phenomenal team, well-coached, that’s why they’re the defending state champions. My personal belief is nobody believed in our team like we did. Nobody gave us a shot.”
The Falcons fell into an early 14-to-0 hole on Friday night, but similar to what Riverdale did last week at Maryville, Lincoln County weathered the early storm from Sevier County. On his team’s resilience in that tough spot on the road, Cunningham added, “Well, we’ve done that all season. We were down sixteen points versus Powell last week. Back early in the season, we were down 12 to Independence. Came back and won both of those. That’s what we try to teach, that it’s four quarters. That was early in the ball game; you still had a whole lot left. It can flip really fast; it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, where you’re at. So, I hope we hold our heads high; we played a good ball game. Hats off to Sevier.”
Lincoln County didn’t just weather the storm, though – they became the storm throughout most of this ball game. Cunningham’s Falcons proceeded to score 24 unanswered points to put themselves up two scores midway through the fourth quarter.
Lincoln County put Sevier County on its heels in a variety of ways – sometimes it was senior wideout Trashawn Jean at the goal line; sometimes it was senior quarterback Maddox Franklin rolling out and making plays down the field when he was under intense pressure from Sevier County’s front four; sometimes it was junior tailback Carsen Carter toting the rock time after time into the teeth of Sevier County’s fierce defense.
For the majority of that quarterfinal football game last night, it looked like it was going to be Lincoln County’s night.
The Falcons forced the Smoky Bears to go into the half with no points inside the ten to keep the score tied at 14 a piece.
Lincoln County received the ball to start the second half and proceeded to march down the field on a long drive that ended with a rushing touchdown, and just like that, the Falcons were up 21-14.
After Cunningham’s defense forced a quick three-and-out, the Falcons did it all over again and marched down the field, led by their bulldozer tailback Carter, and got into field goal range to go up two scores early in the fourth quarter.
To Sevier County’s credit, they responded how champions respond. Loveday told me after the game, “Just play the next play. There’s no magic formula. These guys have done it. This program has done it for a few years. We don’t play the scoreboard, we just play the game each play. If a team is going to beat us, they’re going to have to earn it, and for most of the game, I believe Lincoln County did a lot of credit to them. I thought they had good game plans, and keeping the ball from us. We didn’t panic. We just kept playing, made a key third-down stop down there by Joey Galazin. Offense just made big plays when we had to, left a lot on the field, I thought, in the first half. I probably should have kicked a field goal before halftime, try to stay aggressive with it, and that’s because we trust our guys.”
The Smoky Bears didn’t flinch, particularly star junior quarterback Cooper Newman, who threw a huge dart down the left-hand side to sophomore wideout Zach Banks to get the Smoky Bears back within three points of tying the ball game late in the fourth quarter, with their repeat chances in serious doubt.
After forcing a key three-and-out on Lincoln County’s next possession, the Usual Suspects for Sevier County showed up when their team needed them most in sophomore tailback Nathan Patterson on the ground and junior wideout Parker Newman through the air to push Sevier County back on top 28-24.
Lincoln County again did not waver, though, as the Falcons had a huge kickoff return after that final Smoky Bears touchdown, amplified by a Sevier County horse-collar penalty on the long return. However, the Falcons just missed converting a tough sideline catch on fourth and short, resulting in a turnover on downs and ultimately a Sevier County victory.
Still, this ball game was an instant classic here in East Tennessee, and a great showcase for two extremely resilient football teams.
But somebody had to win.
Sevier County is the defending 5A state champion for a reason, and they’re now off to the semifinals to face Halls on Friday night to see if this resilient bunch can win two more ball games to repeat as 5A state champions.