Jones to Sellars Combo Markets Unicoi County's Whipping of East (2024)

ERWIN – It was a Sellars market Friday night at Gentry Stadium and Kolby Jones cashed in.

Jones passed for 274 yards and five touchdowns, including four to Garrett Sellars, and Unicoi County celebrated homecoming with a 55-3 romp against Sullivan East.

Jones, who didn’t play in the second half, made his first career start last year in a 26-13 loss at East. Payback was a beast.

“That was a huge game for us and we jumped on them from the start,” Jones said. “I’m super proud of my guys. It’s really simple sometimes when you have a guy like Garrett, who, if you get the ball to him, he’s gonna make something extra happen. … It was a huge revenge game for us, and to do it in that fashion is really exciting.”

Unicoi County improved to 3-0 on the season while East fell to 1-3.

Koda Cutlip, an athletic 6-foot-3 senior, had three catches for 68 yards. Among those was a 22-yard TD reception that featured some crowd-pleasing yards after the catch. It gave Unicoi County a 27-3 lead with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.

Sellars also made a number of would-be tacklers fail after he caught a ball in the flat for his 79-yard score. His 22-yard TD reception and Jose Lopez’s PAT kick stretched the lead to 41-3 with 5:13 left in the first half.

You wondered if the aerial eruption gave Sullivan East assistant Hal Mumme, the former Kentucky head coach, flashbacks to when he had Tim Couch spinning balls for the Wildcats.

Of course, the Blue Devils can travel by air or ground. Unicoi County’s touchdowns in the first half included Bransan Salts’ 24-yard score.

“Bransan is still running his heart out every time the ball is put in his hands,” Jones said. “He’s playing really well.”

Salts finished with three carries for 61 yards.

“It was good to see Garrett have a good night and Kolby have a good night,” Unicoi County coach Drew Rice said. “Koda and Garrett give us athleticism and size on the outside, and Bransan’s had a great year so far. And I’m really pleased with the offensive line.”

The Patriots scratched the win column with a defeat of Volunteer last week, and believe it or not, they came out clicking at Unicoi County. East took the opening kickoff and drove to the 1-yard line.

But a penalty forced the Pats to ultimately opt for a 29-yard Jose Valencia field goal. It wasn’t exactly what East had in mind when quarterback Peyton Lingerfelt ripped off a 27-yard run to the Blue Devils’ 2-yard line, but still, the Pats had a 3-0 lead and had chewed 5:32 off the clock.

However, three plays later, Sellars caught a 79-yard TD pass, and it triggered a 41-point barrage in a 12:37 stretch.

“Our guys are really dedicated,” Sellars said. “We all strive to complete our end goals for the season and we just have fun out there. All those big plays are just a result of all 11 guys doing their job. We work great as a team and the results are definitely showing.”

Unicoi County outgained East, 428-154, and the Devils relied on reserves after intermission.

“The bottom line is Unicoi’s a really good team,” Sullivan East coach J.C. Simmons said. “They’re really tough and physical. And it’s homecoming. They wanted to win that game more than we did, for sure.”

Unicoi County scored two touchdowns in the second half thanks to sophomore Blaze Rice and swift junior Shawn Menkowitz. Rice scored from 41 yards out and Menkowitz bolted in for a 7-yard score.

“They got us last year and they’re always well coached,” Rice said. “I’ve got a ton of respect for Coach Simmons and their staff. And that’s a 4A football team.

“Like I said, I think our guys were locked in. We’ve been locked in for two weeks now, and hopefully we’ll continue to be locked in. It’s good to see us showing what we can do when we’re firing on all cylinders.”

Sullivan East lost a cylinder when quarterback Peyton Lingerfelt was knocked out of the game late in the first half and didn’t return. The Patriots had already lost their backup quarterback in a JV game this week. So converted running back Bentley Key was calling signals against the Devils in the second half.

Lingerfelt ran nine times for 34 yards and passed for 73 yards. Key passed for 35 yards.

Simmons is guardedly optimistic about getting Lingerfelt back next week at Grainger.

“I think he’ll be back,” Simmons said, “but it’s up in the air right now.”

Unicoi County also played its backup quarterback in the second half. Sophomore Gunner Peterson completed 3 of 6 passes for 35 yards.

“It was good to get Gunner in there in the second half,” Rice said. “It flies out of his hand.”

Brady Simmons and Jack Swinehart had sacks for Unicoi County. Sellars and Matthew Whitson each made an interception for the Devils.

“Hats off to Unicoi,” Simmons said. “They were just bigger and better than us right there tonight. We’ve just gotta come back and regroup and try to get healthy after this one.”

Unicoi County will visit West Greene on Friday while East will travel to Grainger.

First Quarter
(6:28) SULLIVAN EAST -- Jose Valencia 29 FG, 3-0
(5:50) UNICOI COUNTY -- Garrett Sellars 79 pass from Kolby Jones (Jose Lopez kick), 7-3
(4:28) UNICOI COUNTY -- Garrett Sellars 69 pass from Kolby Jones (Jose Lopez kick), 14-3
(2:12) UNICOI COUNTY -- Bransan Salts 24 run (Jose Lopez kick), 21-3
(0:16) UNICOI COUNTY -- Koda Cutlip 22 pass from Kolby Jones (kick failed), 27-3

Second Quarter
(9:46) UNICOI COUNTY -- Garrett Sellars 36 pass from Kolby Jones (Jose Lopez kick), 34-3
(5:13) UNICOI COUNTY -- Garrett Sellars 22 pass from Kolby Jones (Lopez kick), 41-3

Third Quarter
(7:20) UNICOI COUNTY -- Shawn Menkowitz 7 run (Jose Lopez kick), 48-3

Fourth Quarter
(4:33) UNICOI COUNTY -- Blaze Rice 41 run (Jose Lopez kick), 55-3