Eagles soar over Bulldogs
 Southern Gap scored on its first offensive play and never slowed down in a 71-34 win over Tazewell.
Behind a veteran offensive line, the Eagles scored on their first four possessions and added a pick six to get in front 34-7 midway through the second period. Tazewell battled back behind a remarkable performance from Robbie Galloway, who threw three touchdown passes in the first half.
The Bulldog defense had no answers for the Eagle ground that produced 538 yards rushing for the game. 396 of that came in the first half as Southern Gap put fifty points on the board.
Blankenship finished the game with 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Aiden Baker was the touchdown maker, accounting for five in the game and 185 yards. “They jumped on us early and it just became a scoring fest, Big 12 football there for a while,’ Tazewell Coach J’me Harris said.
The Eagles also got sixty-two yards rushing and a touchdown from Gunner Baker. Brayden Whited returned an interception for a score. Harris said the “War Pigs,’ Southern Gap’s front line was as good as advertised.
Blankenship and the Bakers cleared the frontline and weaved their way through the Tazewell secondary. “They are a good football team and they are well coached. They have a veteran line and we are young up front. They did a really good job’ Harris said.
It was a game of big plays as Southern Gap had 538 yards but just nine first downs. Tazewell got the bulk of its offense from Galloway, who finished his second game as a starter with 358 yards passing and five touchdowns.
Chase McDonald, Dejuan Viney and Ellis Day were on the receiving end of his tosses.   “Last week we didn’t give him a lot of opportunities to be successful. This week we opened it up a little more. He had a good week of practice.
We got a lot of good reps with him against a good football team. We can go back and study the film and show him what he needs to do to get better,’ Harris said.
Harris said his team did not have a good week of practice, and it carried over to the game. In addition to giving up 538 rushing yards. The Bulldogs suffered three interceptions and several dropped passes.
Southern Gap shut down the Bulldog running game but for the second week in a row, gave up big plays through the air. The Eagles, who have now won four in a row, and are 5-2 overall, get next week off before closing the season against Riverview, Eastside and Wise Central.
Tazewell, now 3-3 in the year finishes the season with district games starting with Marion for Homecoming next week. While the loss to Southern Gap may have impacted the Bulldogs playoff chances, they remain undefeated in district play.
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