Jr. Cyclone seventh-graders seize first victory of season

Photo by Kristen Luther T.A. Dugger quarterback Jordan Meredith passed for a touchdown and ran for another against Church Hill.

By Ivan Sanders
STAR STAFF
isanders@starhq.com
Like a kid waiting with anticipation on catching his first fish, the T.A. Dugger seventh grade Jr. Cyclones were antsy to taste its first victory of the 2003 season.
The win finally came on Monday evening at Brown-Childress Stadium against the visiting Church Hill Panthers, as Jordan Meredith led the team with his arm and running to give the Jr. Cyclones a 14-0 shutout.
Both teams struggled in the first half, as neither one had more than 10 yards of total offense for the first 16 minutes of action. TAD received a gift from the Panthers for a safety, as the ball went sailing over the punter's head from the six-yard line to forge the Jr. Cyclones ahead in a baseball score of 2-0 at intermission.
TAD coach Daniel Proffitt seemed to light a fire under his squad during the break. The Jr. Cyclones took the opening kickoff to its own 43-yard line, then, on the first play from scrimmage, Meredith connected with Zach Montgomery on a 57-yard touchdown bomb to stake the 'Clones to a 8-0 advantage.
The extra point failed.
Meanwhile, the Jr. Cyclone defense was able to cage the Panthers offensively, allowing a final offensive total of minus-22 yards of offense for the contest.
The defense actually gave TAD its second opportunity to score a touchdown on the night, and once again Meredith was in the mix.
After hitting Vic Deloach with a 13-yard pass, Meredith scrambled around the left end and found paydirt from nine yards out with 3:14 left in the third period. Again, the extra point attempt failed and the score stood at 14-0.
With Zach Coggins, Andy Harden, Jared Lyons and Dalton Williams flying around the Panther ball carriers for most of the night, Church Hill was unable to get any type of momentum established to even smell the end zone.
Coggins finished with eight solo tackles, two assist, one sack, and one caused fumble for a very productive evening. Lyons and Harden pitched in with three solo hits each while Williams was like a fox after a rabbit, sacking the Panther quarterback twice in the contest.
Kendall Wash recovered a Panther fumble as well.
Offensively, Deloach had two receptions for 18 yards, and Montgomery added the solo reception for the touchdown and 57-yard total.
Meredith contributed five rushes for 20 yards, including the touchdown run. TAD finished the night with 103 total yards for the contest.
Penalties hurt the Panthers, as they were flagged nine times for 55 yards while TAD managed to get called for only two offenses for 10 yards.