BRANDON KEYS

Sports Editor

The Sequoyah Chiefs made a statement on Friday night.

That statement was this: 2012 is going to be a lot different. After a 21-0 win last season at home against Rockwood, the Chiefs took to the road and handled the Tigers by a score of 41-14.

A commitment to the weight room and Jay McDonald's program, have prepared the Chiefs for a strong season. That was apparent Friday night as they utterly dominated the game. It started in the first quarter as Drew Carson hit the gas on a 40-yard touchdown run. After Luke Knott recovered a fumble, Casey Coon had 6-yard run combined with Blake Huffman's 2-point conversion gave the Chiefs 14-0 lead.

Knott was all over the field, racking up six tackles to go along with the fumble recovery and the interception. He wasn't the only Chief to star on defense. Blake Huffman and Brian Tilley picked right up where they left off in 2011. Huffman had two interceptions, one he returned for a 66-yard score, while Tilley led the team in tackles, as he did in 2011 with 11 and had an interception, tipped courtesy of Evan Torbett. Forrestt McKane added a sack late in the game.

Knott's interception led to a King and Huffman connection for a 40-yard strike. Chiefs were up 21-0 and it was still in the first. After a 33-yard touchdown pass to Garret Dalton the Chiefs were up 27-0 in the 2nd quarter. Huffman then picked of Coffer for the 66-yard interception touchdown run.

After the half the Tigers woke up, and scored twice on running plays from Jake Long and Kyron Inman. The Chiefs proved to be too much in the end as the offense racked up 512 yards of total offense. Brett King had a field day going 13-17 for 270 yards and three touchdown passes. Two of those were to Garrett Dalton, who had 9 catches for 182 yards. Not too bad either. The offensive line knew they would miss Shane Wilburn, who is still getting back to full strength after his ACL surgery, but they did well on the night allowing just one sack. 

The Chiefs will travel to Tellico Plains next week for a big county matchup.