High expectations for the Elizabethton football team in 2024

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — The high school football season is less than a month away and teams continue to go through practices before the opening kick-off.

Friday morning in Elizabethton, the Cyclones under head Shawn Witten had media day bright and early.

The Cyclones are coming off a season in which they went 9-1 in the regular season before falling in the second round of the playoffs with quarterback Rhett Slagle returning and a handful of other guys. The Cyclones like every year have high expectations for this team especially since the majority of their games will be at home.

“We were road warriors last year, but a lot of games on the road,” Witten said. “We only had three home games last year. So, you know, our first several games are home this year. So we’ve got six home games. So we’re excited about that and you know, the opportunity to play in front of my home crowd, you know, where we pour out our blood, sweat, and tears out here on the practice field, so we’re excited about that.”

“The offense looks pretty strong. Our O-line should be strong. I think we should have a bunch of playmakers,” junior quarterback Rhett Slagle said. “Everybody should just be able to do their job and we should all get it done.”

“Our linebackers have mostly stayed the same with Cameron Smalls being a being the new outside linebacker and we’re just on fire playing on carrying on the fire we had from last year,” senior defensive tackle Landon Hughes said.

Like every season, the Cyclones will host Science Hill at home in the season opener on Aug. 23.

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