Sullivan South hopes to prevent early lull vs. Morristown West

Sullivan South coach Stacy Carter gathered his Rebels around and laid it on the line.

"We need this win bad," Carter said. "Y’all have a heck of a chance to do something special.

"The team that is satisfied is the team that is finished. The team that is finished is a team that loses. Are y’all satisfied? Are y’all finished?"

"No!" shouted back a tight crowd of red, white and blue Rebels, all on one knee.

South takes on Morristown West (7-4) at 7 p.m. tonight at Death Valley Stadium in the second round of the Division I-4A state playoffs.

Needless to say, the Rebels (10-1) are ready.

"I think we’ve fixed some of our problems and we all feel pretty good," said South sophomore defensive back/wide receiver Ty Garvin. "We’ve had a good week of practice and the defense is coming together."

That’s good news for the Rebels.

Because if South has had one soft spot during its recent nine-game winning streak, it’s the Rebels’ tendency to give up big early leads.

Elizabethton put up 14 points against South on Oct. 25 before the Rebels found the end zone, and Tennessee High took a 13-0 lead over South on Nov. 2.

The trend continued again last Friday, when the Rebels watched Morristown East open up a 21-0 advantage before South decided to start playing football.

Granted, the Rebels and their Curt Phillips-led offense eventually outscored their last three opponents 127-56.

But Carter knows South has been toying with the devil.

"We’ve got to come out ready to play from the first whistle," Carter said. "If we fall behind big against [Morristown West], we’ll be in a hole we can’t get out of. And we can’t be one-dimensional, either."

The Rebels run a motion-heavy defense predicated on youth and speed. And South defensive coordinator Bill Church said the Rebels simply might be coming out of the gate too hyped-up, leaving them prone to big plays.

South sophomore middle linebacker Clint Phillips agreed.

"Everything we do is based off our speed and the freedom the coaches give us on the field," Phillips said. "I think we’re still learning as we go. But, you know, there’s absolutely no reason we can’t shut a team down in the first half. I know we can do it."