The Sweetwater Wildcats' winning streak over the Sequoyah Chiefs continues. The Cats pushed their winning streak over archrival Sequoyah to 10 games with a 17-7 victory on Thursday night in the season finale for the Wildcats.
Sequoyah saw its record drop to 0-10 for the first time in school history with the loss, but the Chiefs will have one more chance to get a win on Tuesday as they host Greenback. Sweetwater finished the season with a 2-8 record and finished 2-2 in District 5-AA. Though Thursday's game did not have the playoff implications many expected before the season began, both teams played as if a state title was on the line.
But it was the play of Sweetwater's Gavyn Davis that made the difference as the sophomore rushed, passed, and caught his way past the Chiefs. Davis followed a big game against Notre Dame with another solid outing on Thursday night. Early on, however, it seemed as though offensive success might be hard to come by for each team. It took 11 plays before either team was on the positive side of the yardage count when Dante Johnkins gained six yards.
But the Chiefs didn't have the same luck, and on their second offensive series, a big loss resulted in the game's first points. Sequoyah's Jakob Bubel mishandled a snap on a punt that resulted in a 15-yard loss and set the Wildcats up in excellent field position at the Sequoyah 40.
On the next play, the Wildcats used some trickery as Davis flipped the ball to receiver Shane Cox before Cox, who began the season as Sweetwater's quarterback, completed a 32-yard pass to Davis. Davis picked up four more yards on the next play, but that was as close as Sweetwater could get and had to settle for a 24-yard Trent Walker field goal, giving the Cats a 3-0 lead with 2:01 remaining in the opening quarter.
Sweetwater carried that lead into the second quarter, but quickly expanded it as Davis was 3 of 4 through the air for 45 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to Cox on fourth-and-4. Walker missed the extra point, but Sequoyah was flagged for running into the kicker and Walker hit the second try to give the Cats a 10-0 lead with 10:56 to go in the half. Sequoyah went three-and-out on its next drive and Sweetwater looked to expand the lead before the half.
However, Brad Shelton picked off a Davis pass at the Sequoyah 7 that set the stage for a 16-play, 93-yard drive that cut the Sweetwater lead to 10-7. Blake Huffman carried the load on that scoring drive, rushing seven times for 40 yards, including a 1-yard run for the score. Cody Stewart also found some success on the drive, rushing four times for 15 yards while Brandon Bell caught a 30 yard pass from quarterback Trey Dyer to set the Chiefs up deep in the Wildcats' territory.
Kince Rodgers' nailed the extra point to bring the Chiefs within three points. The Wildcats attempted to add another score before the half, moving the ball to the Sequoyah 30 before Dyer intercepted a Cox pass to end the Sweetwater threat. The teams played to a stalemate in the third quarter with neither team able to gain the upper hand. The Wildcats used a balanced attack late in the fourth quarter behind Davis, Johnkins, and Josh Moser to secure the win.
Sweetwater went 47 yards in eight plays, with Johnkins going 1 yard for the touchdown. A good kickoff return gave Sequoyah the ball at the 50, but four straight incompletions from Dyer ended the drive and Sequoyah's comeback hopes. The Chiefs will look for a win to cap the season on Tuesday as they host Greenback, where current Sequoyah coach Bill Satterfield won a state championship.
The varsities for each team will play and the game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at the Chop House.
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