BY BRIAN HAMILTON
NEWPORT – Morristown West came into Newport and handed Cocke County a 41-0 loss in a non-region game Friday night. The Fighting Cocks barely eclipsed 100 total yards in the contest.
“We made a million-and-a-half mistakes tonight and they made us pay for them,” Cocke County head coach Scotty Dykes said. “Poor execution on our part. We had plays and just didn’t make them.”
Morristown West took a 7-0 lead when Hunter Delaney went into the end zone for a one yard score with three minutes left in the first quarter.
The Fighting Cocks’ defense would play stout throughout most of the first half until Trojans’ quarterback Malakhi Isom hit Luke Yandell for a 5-yard touchdown for a 14-0 Morristown West lead with 5:42 left in the second quarter.
Delaney scored his second touchdown of the night on another one yard run, increasing the Trojans’ lead to 21-0 with 3:05 left in the second.
Caleb Santana booted a 25-yard field goal through the uprights as time expired in the first half, giving Morristown West a 24-0 halftime lead.
The Trojans’ Noah Tripucka found Brett Blair for a 29-yard touchdown early in the third quarter to put Morristown West up 31-0. Tripucka later hit Brayden Poling for a 20-yard score, pushing the lead to 38-0 with 6:33 remaining in the third quarter.
The final score of the night was a 34-yard field goal by Santana with 8:10 remaining, giving the Trojans a 41-0 win.
Morristown West racked up 430 total yards, while holding Cocke County to just 111.
Noah Tripucka led the Trojans with 142 yards and two touchdowns on 11-of-15 passing, while Malakhi Isom was a perfect 5-of-5 passing with 90 yards and one score. Cocke County’s Baylor Baxter threw for just 50 yards on 4-of-12 passing.
Hunter Delaney ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries for Morristown West, while Roman Stewart led the Fighting Cocks with 59 yards on 12 rushes.
Cocke County (1-5, 1-1 Class 5A Region 2) will travel to Knoxville Central (3-2, 2-0) for a region battle on Friday, while Morristown West (4-2) will travel to Bristol to face Tennessee (1-3).