South Drops Vikings, 28-8, Claims Fourth Straight MLC Crown

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Tennessee High still had a chance.

The Vikings were down 14-0 to the Sullivan South Rebels with less than six minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Tennessee High had committed three turnovers and failed on two fourth-down conversion attempts.

And while the Vikings had played flat and tight, Rebels quarterback Bradley Davenport had consistently picked apart the outside edges of Tennessee High’s defensive secondary with ease.

But the Vikings had hung close, withstood the roar of South’s spread offense, and still had a chance.

Then South running back Taylor Fletcher broke off a 60-yard touchdown run down the left sideline.

Fletcher took a handoff from Davenport behind the line-of-scrimmage on third-and-four, cut left, sprinted toward the left hash-mark and was gone.

It was 20-0 Rebels when Fletcher crossed into the end zone.

The Vikings’ chance was erased. As were any hopes of stealing the Mountain Lakes Conference away from Sullivan South.

The Rebels finished with a 28-8 victory on Friday night at the Stone Castle, claiming their fourth consecutive MLC championship.

“Our [senior] class has gone four years without a conference loss. It’s pretty special,” said Fletcher, who finished with 140 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries. “We had to take a deep breath – you can’t be weighted down in these situations. We were trying for an undefeated season, conference championship, four-peat – all those things can weigh you down. Sometimes you have to just lay back and just play football.”

Keenan Shepard ran for 88 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries for the Vikings (7-3, 6-1 MLC). But Shepard’s strong performance was the lone bright spot for Tennessee High’s offense.

The Vikings picked up just seven first downs and punted four times. And Tennessee High quarterback Taylor Harmon was held to 6-of-17 passing for 36 yards and threw two interceptions.

“We came out … we was thinking too hard,” Shepard said. “We was tight.”

While Fletcher split the interior of the Vikings’ defense, Davenport sliced away at the sides.

Davenport found an early rhythm and locked in, completing 15 of 23 passes for 111 yards, and running for 50 yards and a TD on seven carries.

The Rebels’ (10-0, 7-0) QB expertly mixed out routes, crossing patterns and slants.

And while the Vikings’ secondary played loose, giving South’s wide receivers a consistent 3-5 yard cushion, Davenport fired away.

“They just laid back and we just picked them apart,” Davenport said. “The way their defense was, they couldn’t cover [us]. … We had the perfect routes called and we just picked them.”

The Rebels struck first, taking a 6-0 lead on a 9-yard touchdown by Fletcher run with 11:31 left in the second half.

South then found the end zone again less than two minutes later.

Tennessee High fumbled a kickoff on its own 9-yard line and the Rebels recovered. Three plays later, Davenport scored on a 1-yard run up the middle, giving the Rebels a 13-0 advantage with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter.

While South’s offense racked up yards, mixing a mid-range passing attack with draw plays, Tennessee High’s struggled.

The Vikings fumbled three times in the first half, losing one. And four of Tennessee High’s five first-half drives ended with either a failed fourth-down conversion or an interception.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t go the way you hoped it [would] go,” Vikings coach Greg Stubbs said. “We thought we had a good plan. I don’t think we executed the plan as well as we should have. … [South] is a championship-caliber football team. When you go toe-to-toe against those people, you’ve got to do some things. And we didn’t do those things tonight.”

The Vikings will face off against Morristown West at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7 at the Castle in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs, while South will host Cherokee.

“Morristown West is a championship-caliber program. They’re going to come over here with fire in their eyes,” Stubbs said. “We’ve got to come and do the deal. Tonight, we didn’t do the deal.”

btsmith@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2569

Sullivan South 0 14 7 7—28
Tennessee High 0 0 0 8—8
Scoring Summary
SS—Taylor Fletcher 9 run (Taylor Willingham kick)
SS—Bradley Davenport 1 run (Willingham kick)
SS—Fletcher 60 run (Willingham kick)
SS—Fletcher 2 run (Willingham kick)
TH—Keenan Shepard 1 run (Matt McClellan pass from Taylor Harmon)
Team Stats
First Downs: SS 15, TH 7; Rushes-Yards: SS 23-206, TH 28-128; Passing Yards: SS 111, TH 36; Comp.-Att.-Int.: SS 15-23-1, TH 6-17-2; Fumbles-Lost: SS 3-1, TH 4-1; Penalties-Yards: SS 3-45, TH 2-10; Punts-Average: SS 1-35, TH 4-28.