Miscues cost Cannon

DAVID HUNTER
Cannon Courier

Even though playing tough hard football, untimely miscues cost the Lions their first win of the season as they dropped a 37-14 decision at Grundy County on Sept. 4.

The bad luck started on their first offensive possession when the Lions attempted a fake punt deep in their territory, but were stopped on their own 4 yard line.

The Yellow Jackets scored on the very next play as Kevin Castro punched it in from the 4 with 8:52 left in the opening quarter.
The Lions turned over their next possession as Brady Page threw an interception, which was returned to the CCHS 42. Josh Wingo later ran for a 22-yard touchdown to put the Yellow Jackets up 13-0 with 4:32 left in the first quarter.

The Lions answered with a score of their own when Page found Bo Bryson from 12 yards out, and Livia Walker added the extra point to cut the Yellow Jacket advantage to 13-7 with 11:52 left in the first half.

But it took only two plays for the Yellow Jackets to score again as Ethan Nunley popped in ,with less than a minute gone off the clock, from 20 yards out to make the score 19-7 in . He added another score this time from 60 yards out to make it 25-7 with 6:17 left in the second quarter.
Both teams traded fumbles on their next offensive possessions but neither team turned it into points before the halftime break.

The second half started the much the same way the first half ended with both teams trading turnovers as Page threw an interception, but Bryson answered on defense as he recovered a fumble to give the Lions a chance to get back in the game.

Jeremy Litchford took a turn at running back for the Lions, and he punched it in from the GCHS 5 and Walker added the extra point to trim the Yellow Jackets lead to 25-14 with 4:39 left in the third quarter. However, the Lions got no closer and the Yellow Jackets pulled away for the win.
Austin Brock fumbled the ball deep in Yellow Jacket territory with a minute left in the third as the Lions missed an opportunity to claw back in the game. Two plays later and the ball at the Yellow Jackets 5, James McDaniel broke the game and the Lions heart with a 95-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left in the third to end any chance of a Lions comeback to make the score 31-14.

The Yellow Jackets added a 37-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to end the scoring and they dropped the Lions to 0-3 on the season, while improving to 1-2 on the season.

GCHS ran for 240 yards, while only throwing the ball four times with one completion for two yards. CCHS answered with 198 yards rushing and 75 yards passing with one touchdown pass and an interception.

Brock ran for 100 yards and had three receptions for 17 yards, while Litchford added 62 yards with a touchdown. Bryson added three receptions for 58 yards and a score.
The Lions will again try for their first win of the season on Sept. 11 at Red Boiling Springs with kickoff at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs are a Class A squad, but qualified for the playoffs last season.

You can contact David Hunter at dhunter@cannoncourier.com and @cannoncourier on twitter