CHURCH HILL — A momentous stand to start the fourth quarter, Unicoi County’s football team turned defense into offense, putting away Friday’s game with most of the final period left to play.
Following a tumultuous last two weeks, Unicoi County got back in the win column with a 41-27 triumph over Volunteer on Friday in its first trip to Church Hill since 1997.
The losing streak for Volunteer (0-6) ballooned to 21, dating back to 2022.
“We’ll always take a win and that’s a good football team,” Unicoi County coach Drew Rice said. “Their record might not show it, but that’s a good team. They’ve got good athletes and they certainly made it hard on us.”
Unicoi County stopped Volunteer with 10:46 left to play on fourth down deep in its own territory and less than 10 plays later, Koda Cutlip caught a 56-yard touchdown pass to put the Devils up by three scores.
“We challenged the defense at halftime and both lines,” Rice said. “I thought we had some penalties that were uncharacteristic and unusual for us. The defense definitely responded to it in the second half and played so well in the second half.”
Added Volunteer interim coach Mike Castle: “We felt like if we could’ve scored right there then we might’ve had a shot. We had a penalty that took us out of that, though. Those are the things that we’ve got to overcome because we can’t get in a situation when it’s third-and-20. We have to stay ahead of the chains.”
Unicoi County junior quarterback Kolby Jones racked up 207 yards — 108 yards passing and 99 yards on the ground — of total offense with five total touchdowns — including four rushing scores.
The Devils (5-1) rolled up 547 total yards, though they had 120 yards in penalties as well. Senior running back Bransan Salts had 21 carries for 184 yards and a touchdown.
With the win, the Devils clinched a seventh consecutive non-losing regular season for the first time since 1983-89.
“Kolby does what he does,” Rice said. “He erases a lot of mistakes whether it be a call or on the field. He’s a big-time player and we’re certainly fortunate to have him. He bails us out a lot.”
Volunteer junior quarterback Keelin Releford had quite the game in defeat, finishing the game with four passing touchdowns on 15-for-26 passing and 205 yards. He also had 98 yards rushing.
“We’re going to leave (Releford) back (at quarterback) until (Jameson) Mowell is back,” Castle said. “We don’t know if that’ll be this year or next year, but he can certainly make things happen.”
Added Rice: “He’s really good and it’s kind of a double-edged sword. We tried to contain and then he would burn us passing, but then he would hurt us running, too.”
The Falcons had 21 first downs, but had 95 yards in penalties. Unicoi County had 23 first downs.
Isaiah Ward had three catches for 36 yards with two scores.
Owen Fleenor and Brock Mowell had the other two scores for Volunteer.
The Blue Devils opened up the scoring with back-to-back scoring drives as Jones had a 7-yard score on second-and-goal with 7:20 left in the first quarter.
The next drive was a game-breaker as Jones had a 46-yard scramble on fourth-and-4 as the first quarter came to a close.
Volunteer responded in a big way with three out of four scoring drives in the second quarter.
“It doesn’t help to say that we’re laying a foundation with the seniors we’ve got, but that’s what we’re doing,” Castle said. “We had nine to start and now two of them are hurt and there were times tonight where none of them were on the field.”
Unicoi County will be back at home for the first time in a month next week against Claiborne. Volunteer will host Elizabethton for homecoming.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |
Unicoi County | 14 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 41 |
Volunteer | 21 | 6 | 27 |
First Quarter
UNICOI COUNTY -- Kolby Jones 7 run (Jose Lopez kick), 7-0
UNICOI COUNTY -- Kolby Jones 46 run (Jose Lopez kick), 14-0
Second Quarter
VOLUNTEER -- Owen Fleenor 12 pass from Keelin Releford (Jackson McLain kick), 14-7
UNICOI COUNTY -- Kolby Jones 1 run (Jose Lopez kick), 21-7
VOLUNTEER -- Brock Mowell 15 pass from Keelin Releford (Jackson McLain kick), 21-14
UNICOI COUNTY -- Branson Salts 29 run (Jose Lopez kick), 28-14
VOLUNTEER -- Isaiah Ward 2 pass from Keelin Releford (Jackson McLain kick), 28-21
Third Quarter
UNICOI COUNTY -- Kolby Jones 6 run (kick blocked), 34-21
Fourth Quarter
UNICOI COUNTY -- Koda Cutlip 56 pass from Kolby Jones (Jose Lopez kick), 41-21
VOLUNTEER -- Isaiah Ward 2 pass from Keelin Releford (pass failed), 41-27
Unicoi County | Volunteer | |
First Downs | 23 | 21 |
Rushing Att-Yards | 35-310 | 24-115 |
Passes Comp-Att-Int | 7-12-1 | 15-26-1 |
Passing Yards | 108 | 205 |
Total Plays - Offense | 47-418 | 50-320 |
Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 1-0 |
Penalties-Yards | 10-125 | 9-95 |
Punts-Average | 0-0 | 1-34 |