It's a ‘No. 5’ nightmare for Lions vs. Mt. Juliet Christian
KNOXVILLE — Concord Christian School defensive players may be having nightmares about Mt. Juliet Christian Academy’s “No. 5.”
Darius Hylick, Mt. Juliet junior running back, scored seven touchdowns that included runs of 59 and 25 yards, as the Saints dominated the Lions from the start and won 47-7 at Christian Academy of Knoxville Friday evening, Sept. 1.
“Really, when you look at the game in totality, it comes down to one player making a difference for a program, as in No. 5 for Mt Juliet Christian,” Troy Fleming, CCS head coach, said about Hylick’s combination of speed and power overwhelming his team’s defense.
“A lot of those came off of missed tackles,” Fleming added. “… There were quite a few times where we were putting them in position to make tackles for losses, tackles at the line of scrimmage, and we just didn’t do it.
“We just came up short on gang-tackling as a unit, which we preach.”
The Lions’ TD came thanks to a freshman connection: a 30-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter from freshman quarterback Gage Maynard to freshman running back Sam Kniss.
“I felt my freshman quarterback, Gage Maynard, played outstanding for the position he was put in,” Fleming said. “The offensive line struggled with some run blitzes and blitzes in-general.”
However, “Gage was able to extend plays long enough to make some plays for the skill guys,” Fleming added. “I thought Rafe Keyes did well from the backside as our X receiver on one-on-one match-ups.”
Jason Klenkel, a junior, converted the CCS extra point.
With this Division II-A East Region victory, the Saints improve to 3-0 overall. Concord Christian, still looking for the program’s first win in its third season competing in TSSAA varsity football, falls to 0-3.
