It wasn’t the prettiest at times, but Elizabethton survived and advanced.
The Cyclones overcame a slow start to take a 28-14 victory over Chattanooga Howard on a gloomy evening at Citzens Bank Stadium.
With the win, Elizabethton advanced to play Anderson County – who ended the Cyclone season last year. The game will be held at Anderson County.
On Friday night, Howard looked poised to take the upset.
After the Tigers took an early 6-0 lead and was driving deep into Elizabethton territory. The Cyclones, however, stopped Howard on fourth down. That set-up a 90-yard touchdown pass from Carter Everett to Corey Russell. Jaxton Holly added the extra point to give EHS a 7-6 advantage.
Elizabethton fell victim to the way the ball bounced later in the quarter as a fumble was kicked into the end zone and recovered for a safety. That gave Howard an 8-7 advantage at the half.
In the second half, the Cyclones started to get things going.
Russell scored on a five-yard run in the third quarter to give EHS a 14-8 advantage, but Howard answered with a short touchdown run of their own to tie the game at 14-14.
Elizabethton went up for good when Parker Hughes caught an Everett pass for a 23-yard touchdown to give EHS a seven-point lead.
The final Elizabethton score came in the final minute of the contest. Howard, after being charged with multiple personal fouls, refused to line-up for defense, and the Cyclones added a Russell touchdown and extra point.
After another Tiger personal foul, the refs called the game with just under 30 seconds remaining.
Russell finished with 157 yards on 27 carries, while also added 121 receiving yards on four catches. Everett finished with 199 yards on 12-of-21 passing.
