Smoky Bears Make a Statement: Sevier County Blanks Cocke County 69-0 in Record-Breaking Night

Chad Wells

Oct 4

7 min read

On a night when Sevier County kept the visiting Cocke County Fighting Cocks scoreless, the night will be remembered for Cooper Newman breaking the TSSAA Career Passing Touchdowns record and Jaxson Perry establishing a new school record for Most Tackles For a Loss at Lon C. Burchfield Stadium on the Sevier County High School campus.

The Smoky Bears quickly took the 7-0 lead against the struggling Cocke County team, as Newman connected with Parker Newman on the fourth play of the game for a swift 13-yard touchdown pass, with just over a minute gone in the match.

The Sevier County defense went to work quickly, forcing a quick 4-and out, sending Newman and the offense back onto the field looking for more points.

The Smoky Bears started their ensuing drive from their own 48 yard line following the Fighting Cocks punt after the nice roll out.

Brayden Maples took the handoff on first down and rumbled for 15 yards, gashing the Cocke County defense to set the Smoky Bears up on the visiting team's 38-yard line, before Newman hit Aven Mitchell for a quick 8-yard pass.

Sevier County struck again, as Newman found Jaxson Perry on the short play-action pass, but Perry did the rest of the work, taking it 30 yards for another Smoky Bears' & record-tying touchdown. Aiden Ottolini would knock home the PAT, and the score was 14-0 with 7:05 remaining in the opening quarter of play.

The purple and white defensive squad once again proved effective against the Cocke County offense. On first down, linebacker Brayden Russell charged into the backfield and tackled the Fighting Cocks' running back for a loss before forcing another 4-and out.

The Sevier County drive started on the Fighting Cocks own 31 yard line after the short punt and return from Zach Banks.

Newman found Maples on the quick screen pass, with Maples taking it the distance for the 31 yard touchdown and touchdown #132 for Newman, surpassing the state record for passing touchdowns previously held by Charlie High of CAK.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a little bit of those nerves, but I was glad I was able to get it in the first quarter and get it over with. It was just a special group that I was able to get it done with as well, and that was just the cherry on top," Newman stated of getting the record early in the game.

"I'm glad that he got to do it on his home field in front of a full crowd, the kid wants to win and the more touchdown passes he's throwing the more we're winning." Coach Todd Loveday said of Newman's record.

The Smoky Bears defense again forced a 4-and out and another short punt left Sevier County with another short field starting their ensuing drive on the Cocke County 44 yard line.

Newman found Diego DeCoursey for a quick gain, the play was negated however by an illegal formation penalty backing the Smoky Bears up 5 yards to the 49.

On the next play, the Smoky Bears handed the ball to Alexis Martinez, who broke free and ran 49 yards for a rushing touchdown for Sevier County. Ottolini's PAT was successful once more, bringing the score to 28-0 in favor of the Smoky Bears with 4 minutes left in the first quarter.

Sevier County would jump offsides on 1st down but the Smoky Bears would come away with the ball after Russell would force the Fighting Cocks fumble before Parker Newman would scoop the ball and return the ball down to the Cocke County 4 yard line.

The ball was moved back to the 35 yard line following a block in the back penalty on the fumble return by Newman.

The Smoky Bears were unstoppable, with Newman once again linking up with Newman on a deep pass along the far sideline, resulting in a stunning one-handed catch for a touchdown. The PAT attempt was blocked, bringing the score to 34-0 with 3:33 remaining in the first quarter.

After another quick 4-and out, Sevier County took over on the Cocke County 40 and immediately went back to work.

Newman found DeCoursey once again for 14 yards on 1st down and 25 yards on 2nd down before being tackled at the 1-yard line.

On the following play, Newman connected with Elijah Valentine on the H-Back screen for a 1-yard touchdown, marking Newman's fifth touchdown of the evening and the 134th of his career. Ottolini's PAT was successful, bringing the score to 41-0 with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter.

The subsequent drive for Cocke County began with Jaxson Perry equaling the school record for tackles for a loss on first down, a record originally established by Scott Nelson.

On the next 2nd down play, Cocke County turned a broken play into their first 1st down of the game, reaching their own 40-yard line just before the first quarter ended.

Perry set a new school record for the most tackles for a loss, reaching 37, on the first play of the second quarter.

"It means all the hard work I've put in has paid off, but it's not more about me, I think it's more about my teammates and our goals, it's me contributing to the team and helping them out and realizing its a team game." Perry said of his new school record.

The Smoky Bears once again took over following the Cocke County punt, this time on their own 32 yard line.

On 1st down, Newman delivered a quick screen pass to freshman Conner Nottage, who then took it 48 yards along the near sideline to reach the Fighting Cocks' 20-yard line.

On 2nd down, another quick pass was made to Banks from Newman, who carried it 20 yards for a Smoky Bears touchdown, bringing the score to 48-0 in favor of Sevier County less than 2 minutes into the 2nd quarter.

The Sevier County defense once again stood firm, forcing yet another 4-and out and forcing another Cocke County punt.

Deegan Harmon fielded the punt on his own 48 yard line before advancing the ball to the Fighting Cocks 31 yard line for 27 yards.

The Smoky Bears made mass substitutions bringing in Tate Hutchins in at quarterback as well as a host of new skill position players.

David Shultz advanced the ball 9 yards on the first down to the 22-yard line, and then Colton Franklin carried the pop pass 15 yards down to the Cocke County 7-yard line.

Hutchins connected with Mitchell on the H-Back screen, which Mitchell carried the rest of the way for another Sevier County touchdown. The PAT was successful once more, increasing the score to 55-0 in favor of Sevier County with 7:42 left in the half.

The Smoky Bears forced another quick drive from Cocke County before getting the ball down to the Fighting Cocks 7 yard line before time expired in the first half with Cocke County already requesting the running clock.

Sevier County took possession of their 1st drive in the 2nd half on the Cocke County 12 yard line following the 4-and out stop by the Smoky Bears defense.

Shultz took the opening play around the far side for 11 yards before plunging into the endzone on the next play to give the Smoky Bears the 62-0 lead with the clock rolling for the remainder of the game.

With the clock rolling, the Smoky Bears next possession began on their own 30 yard line with 9 minutes remaining in the game.

Tate Hutchins took the opening play around the right side for 30 yards, Jerimiah Anderson gained 9 yards on the next play around the left side of the field.

Hutchins would hit Mason Akers for an 18 yard gain down to the 12 yard line, after a nice stiff arm to break himself free from the Cocke County defender.

Isaac Taylor Stanley would gain 6 yards on 1st down before Boone Sutton took over at QB and rushed down to the 1 yard line on the next play.

Sutton capped the drive with a tough 1 yard run for the Smoky Bears touchdown with 3:47 remaining in the game. Colton Marine was true with the PAT to push the score out to the final score of 69-0 Sevier County.

"The staff and the players had to learn a little bit together, it's easy to say flush it and move on, it's only one game, but we've not had many weeks of practice the last 3 years coming off of a loss." Loveday said of how the team responded following their loss to Greeneville the week prior.

Sevier County (5-1 overall, 3-0 district) is set to visit Grace Christian Academy (6-0 overall, 4-0 district) on Thursday evening for a highly anticipated matchup. The Rams previously triumphed over the Smoky Bears in 2025 with a score of 33-31.

Individual Performances:

Passing: Cooper Newman: 12-15 / 261 yards / 6 TD's

Tate Hutchins: 6-6 / 61 yards / 1 TD

Rushing: Brayden Maples: 1 carry / 14 yards

Tate Hutchins: 1 carry / 29 yards

David Shultz: 4 carries / 29 yards / 1 TD

Alexis Martinez: 1 carry / 49 yards / 1 TD

Boone Sutton: 2 carries / 5 yards / 1 TD

Receiving: Diego DeCoursey: 2 rec / 39 yds

Parker Newman: 3 rec / 70 yds / 2 TD's

Jaxson Perry: 1 rec / 30 yds / 1 TD

Aven Mitchell: 2 rec / 15 yds / 1 TD