Elizabethton claims first region title since 2009

TUSCULUM — A Cyclone blew through Tusculum University on Thursday evening. Elizabethton claimed its first region crown since 2009 with a 3-1 win over Greeneville, the first time the Cyclones have beaten the Greene Devils in recent memory. "It feels excellent. I played out of my mind," Elizabethton senior Drake Teague said. "This is a great group of boys. We can really do more than this this season. We came out here with a lot of heart, we just wanted it way more than them." Elizabethton (11-4-4) will now host either Fulton or Gibbs in substate action on Saturday, with a win sending the Cyclones to Murfreesboro for what is believed to be the first time in program history. "We love home games, they have to travel to us now," Teague said. "We have just got to beat the next team up. That is all it is, next team up and we are going." Thomas Lambert put the Cyclones up 48 seconds in the match, slipping the ball past Greeneville goalkeeper Gannon Cogdell for the early lead. "He got our intensity up," Teague said. "Everybody wanted to get going after that." That would be it for scoring for the first half, but Greeneville was able to tie it up in the 52nd minute on a header by Remi Elyze-Vital off a corner kick from Samuel Gourley. "We were moving the ball well. That is how it happened," Elizabethton head coach Doug Schulz said. "Then we got away from that just like we talked about. We were playing timid and standing and watching and not getting wide and not moving the ball. We started kicking it long and that is when we started freaking out and getting tired and gave them chances." Not a problem for the Cyclones. "It woke them up. They wanted it real bad," Schulz said. "I think they wanted it more and they had the confidence to get there." Leading the way as always was Teague, who seemingly never stops moving and is constantly making things happen for the Cyclones. "He has go a motor on him. I think he has missed five minutes of playing time in four years," Schulz said. "He is the motor of our team and he makes so much happen. He wants to play everywhere on the field and he can. He just creates so much as a striker up there and draws fouls and wins ball, he just does so much for us." Six minutes after Greeneville (13-6-2) tied it up Teague got the ball 18 yards in front of the goal and kicked it past Cogdell to put the Cyclones up to stay. "This is great win for us. We came in, they thought they were going to beat us like they have for the past 10 or 15 years," Teague said. "We just came in, shut them down, played with more intensity…It was a great game to play in... love these boys. I love being part of this team." While the Elzabethton defense of Connor Blevins, Jackson Miller and Holsten Smith worked the keep the ball away from Cyclones' goalkeeper Tucker Taylor, the Cyclones got an insurance goal at the 74th minute when Zach Curtis connected off a rebound for the final margin, bringing a smile to Schulz, whose Cyclones have won their last four games by a combined score of 28-2, having won the District 1-AA and Region 1-AA crowns. "Just the way they were playing using the entire width of the field and playing our wingers like we have been trying to get them to do," he said. "Just being more vocal with communication and just to see the team chemistry come together as well. That is big. We have had some struggles with that in the past and now we are all clicking." While Greeneville, which has won 12 of the last 15 region titles, will visit either Gibbs or Fulton on Saturday, the Cyclones will welcome one of them to Citizens Bank Stadium on Saturday at a time to be announced. "I was focused on Greeneville and I didn't even look at the bracket to see who we were going to play," Schulz said. "Now I am going to focus on that. I am going find out the time and everything and we are going to focus on it." Win that one, and the Cyclones are heading to Murfreesboro. "This is my last year coaching here. What a way to finish," Schulz said. "I am just so proud of them. It is pretty emotional moment for me, but it is not about me, it is about them and I just want them to have a season of a lifetime for them. That is it."