Cavaliers Improve, Despite Loss at Mt. Juliet

By Ryan Eberle

Last Friday the Cavaliers had much to be excited about, except for the final outcome of the game.  The Cavaliers came into the game as a huge underdog, predicted by some people to lost by as many as 40 points to 6A No.7 ranked Mt. Juliet.  Mt. Juliet (6-1) had only one loss coming into the game, which came against Beech who had previously beaten the Cavaliers 56-0.
However, despite everyone’s expectations, Cookeville was the team that came out firing on all cylinders.  The Cavalier defense forced a quick 3 and out, and on the very first offensive play for the Cavaliers Ryan Eberle hooked up with Chase Mabey for a 60-yard completion all the way to the Mt. Juliet Golden Bears 8 yard line.  Unfortunately after a penalty and some miscues on offense, the Cavaliers missed a field goal and an opportunity to score first.  Then, it was the Golden Bears who went on a role, scoring twice and taking a 14-0 lead heading into the 2nd quarter.
Even though most people had written Cookeville off by this point, Cookeville had learned from the Beech game.  With a couple scores of their own and a last second field goal by Tyler Wright at the half, the Cavaliers had come within 8 points of Mt. Juliet and would receive the ball first in the 2nd half. 
The Cavaliers made the most of their first drive of the 2nd half, with an 8-minute, 15-play drive which resulted in an Alex Sklavenitis touchdown.  Then after a successful fake field goal pass to Blake Thurman, the Cavaliers were tied 24-24 and had silenced the Mt. Juliet homecoming crowd. 
Unfortunately the Cavaliers caught some tough breaks in the 4th quarter, and after a very controversial helmet-to-helmet penalty the Golden Bears had a 2-touchdown lead.  The Cavaliers though were not ready to quit just yet.  After driving down to the Golden Bears 2 yard line, the Cavaliers had 4 downs to score and draw within 1 score of Mt. Juliet.  Unfortunately, for the first time all night, the Cavaliers couldn’t come up with a big play when needed and turned the ball over on downs with a minute to go in the game.  Then the Golden Bears just needing to knee the ball and run out the clock, decided they would try to boost their rankings in the state and ran the ball in for another touchdown, effectively running up the score and showing just how un-classy they were. 
The Cavaliers will now face another tough test this week at home against previously ranked 6A No.8 ranked Riverdale.  It will be the senior night for the Cavaliers and their last regular season home game.  Riverdale has been the one game that has eluded the Cavaliers for years, but this year could be the year as Riverdale already has 3 losses and the Cavaliers will have home-field advantage on their side.