Elijah Fitts’ Pick Six, 80-Yard Touchdown Lead Upperman To 40-7 Win At Stone Memorial

By Michael Lindsay

The UC #1-ranked Upperman Bees improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Region 4-4A play Friday evening in Crossville as they ran away with a 40-7 win at Stone Memorial.

“The big push this week after watching the film last week was we have to play better team football,” said Upperman head coach Adam Caine. “Our effort and energy were really good. They (Stone) are a good football team. We knew they were going to come at us so we knew it would be a battle.”

Upperman’s Elijah Fitts touched the ball twice Friday, but that’s all he needed to find the end zone twice as he took a 100-yard pick-six and an 80-yard reception to the end zone for touchdowns.

“The pick-six changed the game dramatically,” said Caine. “They were driving and their quarterback is a really good player.”

Senior quarterback Bronzden Chaffin went 8-11 for 191 yards and a touchdown through the air while rushing for 64 yards in the win.

Upperman found the end zone twice in the first quarter as Carmine Phillips and Chaffin rushed in a touchdown each to give the Bees a 14-0 advantage after one period.

Stone Memorial threatened to start the second quarter as they drove inside the 10-yard line before Fitts intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it down the sideline for a 100-yard pick-six to give Upperman a 21-0 lead with 11:31 remaining in the second period.

The Panthers got on the board on their next drive as Noah Potter hit Kadyn Page for a 28-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-7 with 7:46 left in the frame.

The Bees weren’t done in the first half though as Phillips punched in a one-yard touchdown with 1:20 left in the second quarter to make the score 27-7 Upperman at halftime.

Upperman controlled the second half as Fitts took a short pass 80 yards to the end zone late in the third quarter followed by a Colton Johnson one-yard rush on the first play of the fourth quarter to make the final score 40-7.

The Bees will host Beech next week while Stone Memorial travels to Loudon.