Maryville wins shootout with Cleveland, 59-38

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - If you like offense, Cleveland High School was the place to be Friday night.

Cleveland lost to visiting Maryville 59-38 in a Region 2-6A football game that had nearly 1,000 yards of combined offense.

Maryville (6-1, 3-0) was dominant throughout the first half, scoring on each of its possessions with five touchdowns and a field goal.

The Rebels' first touchdown came before the fans were settled in their seats, when senior running back Isaiah Cobb blasted up the middle for a 50-yard run on the second play from scrimmage.

The start got worse for Cleveland (5-3, 2-2) when a bad pitch by quarterback Kellye Cawood was recovered by Michael Jones on the Blue Raiders' 14-yard line. Cleveland held the Rebels to a 31-yard field goal, but Maryville had a 10-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

"The difference between Maryville and everyone else is that when the ball is snapped, all 11 guys are at max speed," Cleveland coach Scott Cummings said. "The reality of it is, if we have the right mindset about it, this game can be really good for us because it can make us better."

The lone bright spot in the first quarter for the Blue Raiders was an 80-yard touchdown run by senior Keegan Jones, which came with two minutes left and trimmed Maryville's lead to 17-7.

Maryville answered Jones' touchdown with Cobb's second touchdown of the night, this time from 2 yards just before the end of the quarter to give Maryville a 24-7 lead.

"The fast start was huge," Maryville coach Derek Hunt said. "Especially against a team like Cleveland that can put up so many points in a hurry, getting a head start is key."

Cobb had eight rushes for 105 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter and finished with 123 yards on 12 carries.

Midway through the second quarter, Cleveland's Micaleous Elder made a one-handed touchdown grab on an 11-yard pass from Cawood. Elder finished the game with 16 rushes for 96 yards, five catches for 92 yards and four touchdowns.

The Blue Raiders' Harshil Patel kicked a 40-yard field goal just before halftime, but Maryville had a commanding 38-17 lead.

While the second half was much closer, some of it was played with a running clock as Maryville went up 59-24 early in the fourth quarter. Two late Cleveland touchdowns made the game closer but were not be enough.

"The reality of it is that we have to quit having busted assignments," Cummings said. "We have to clean it up and grow from it. We've got to swallow it and come to work next week."

The Blue Raiders finished with 486 total yards of offense, while Maryville edged them by a yard with 487.

Jones had 19 carries for 188 yards. Cawood finished 10-for-21 passing for 147 yards.

Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com.

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