Cookeville

Special Teams Miscues Cost Cavaliers

Earlier this week, Cookeville High School head coach Jimmy Maynord expressed concerns of the unknown in week one. 

One of those concerns Maynord talked about was special teams. That side of the ball proved costly in Cookeville’s 21-20 loss to Upperman Saturday night at Tucker Stadium. 

Cookeville experienced kicking woes all night. From a kickoff out of bounds to a missed extra point and a botched snap, the Cavaliers struggled the entire night to find success on special teams.

Cookeville dominated Saturday night’s matchup in almost every statistical category.The Cavaliers out-gained Upperman 411 to 256, and won the time of possession battle by over three minutes. 

 Cookeville’s starting quarterback Stockton Owen threw an interception to Upperman athlete Donoven McCallister, who weaved his way through Cookeville defenders on his way to the end zone to give the Bees an early 7-0 lead.

Owen and the Cavaliers responded with a seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive where he connected with Cameron Harris on a 14-yard touchdown strike to draw Cookeville within one. 

CHS tallied the only score in the third quarter on a 55-yard touchdown run by Owen, who scored on a designed power read play. Owen kept the ball through the backside ‘B’ gap that was vacated by a pulling guard, and Cookeville took a 12-7 lead into the fourth. 

Zach Stewart capped off Upperman’s opening drive of the fourth quarter with a seven-yard touchdown run that gave the Bess a 14-12 advantage. 

On the ensuing possession, running back Jacob Stamps scored from one yard out to give Cookeville an 18-14 lead. Maynord and staff elected to go for two, and the attempt was successful when Owen found Harris open in the flat to push the lead to 20-14

McCallister struck again on a 22-yard quarterback counter to finish off a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ate up 4:29 of game clock. The score gave Upperman a 21-20 lead. 

Cookeville took over with 2:52 remaining in regulation. The Cavaliers quickly moved into Upperman territory, and were aided by two personal foul penalties. CHS moved the ball to the Upperman four-yard line after a successful third-and-30 conversion with under a minute to go in regulation. 

Owen took it down to the one-yard line on quarterback counter around the left side of the line, and spiked the ball on second down to stop the clock with 11 seconds to play. 

Cookeville marched out the field goal unit on third down. Cookeville’s attempt veered off to the left, no good. Upperman loaded up for the block and in the process, ran into the kicker. The penalty gave Cookeville one last chance at victory. Fourth and goal with four seconds to play from the six-inch line, the Cavs lined up for one final play. 

Both teams brought in goal-line units for the game-deciding play. Owen tried a quarterback sneak over the right side of Cookeville’s offensive line, but the Upperman defense surged into the Cookeville backfield to stop him behind the line of scrimmage for a loss to end the game. 

Cookeville stays in the Upper Cumberland next week against the Livingston Wildcats. 

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