You can feel the excitement in the air! Football time is here. The Fulton Falcons open season 66 Saturday night against Morristown East in the nightcap of the Citizen Tribune Kickoff Classic. Kickoff will be at approximately 8pm. WKCS will have the live broadcast on 91.1 FM and online at wkcsradio.org. Morristown will have a brief ceremony to honor the Zaevion Dobson family immediately following the first game of the day.
The Hurricanes are coming off a disappointing 3-8 campaign in 2015. They did save their best for last in 2015, almost pulling off an upset of Knox West in the 1st round of the Class 5A playoffs. East played the Rebels off their feet before losing 20-14. Morristown East returns seven starters on offense and five on defense for Coach Dewayne Wells. Coaches in Region 1-5A have predicted in the preseason poll that the Hurricanes will be playoff bound in 2016.
Much of the Hurricane offense runs through senior QB Dylan Noe. He is a three year starter who has missed parts of the last two years with injuries. Noe is a threat in both the passing and running games. He threw for 1200 yards and ran for 427 yards in a shortened 2015 season. His return from an early season injury sparked the Hurricanes in the latter part of last year.
Noe has plenty of capable receivers to throw to including Ben Crawford, a 6'3 transfer from Ooltewah. East will have a capable running game with Nate Smith and DJ Hodges. Up front, the Hurricanes return only two starting offensive linemen.
Expect East to be tough in the front seven on defense. They return three LBs and two defensive linemen. Brad Moshier leads the returning linebacker corps after recording 66 tackles and five sacks last year. The Hurricane secondary is expected to have many new faces this year
East lost to Jefferson Co. 7-0 last week in the IMAC jamboree. The Patriots controlled the football, allowing East only eight offensive plays in the one quarter scrimmage. The highlight was a 14-yard scramble by Noe.
As you get ready to enjoy tonight's game, here is our Fulton Football Flashback. Fulton opened the 1959 season on the road at Sevier Co. and tied the Bears 13-13. Fulton is wearing the dark jerseys in the film.