Football Preview: Elizabethton Fighting Cyclones vs. Sullivan East Patriots
Elizabethton has gone 8-0 against Sullivan East recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Elizabethton Fighting Cyclones will look to defend their home field against the Sullivan East Patriots at 7:00 p.m. Elizabethton knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past three games -- so hopefully Sullivan East likes a good challenge.
Elizabethton's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They breezed by Daniel Boone on the road to the tune of 42-0. The Fighting Cyclones might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won three matches by 28 points or more this season.
Elizabethton can attribute much of their success to Rhett Slagle, who rushed for 40 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
Another reason for the win was Elizabethton's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Braydon Rainwater was especially locked on to Daniel Boone's QB and sacked him twice. Rainwater also set a new season high mark in total tackles with six.
Meanwhile, Sullivan East managed to keep up with Grainger until halftime on Friday, but things quickly went downhill from there. Sullivan East was dealt a 53-21 defeat at the hands of Grainger. The Patriots have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Sullivan East's loss came about despite a quality game from Blue Proffitt, who picked up 123 receiving yards and a touchdown. Proffitt showed off some serious burst, lighting up the secondary with a catch for 63 yards.
Elizabethton's win was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-1. As for Sullivan East, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-4.
Friday's contest might be decided in the trenches. Elizabethton has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 175.7 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Sullivan East, though, as they've been averaging only 34.6. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Everything came up roses for Elizabethton against Sullivan East in their previous meeting back in September of 2023 as the team secured a 47-0 victory. Does Elizabethton have another victory up their sleeve, or will Sullivan East turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
