Gridiron Football Preview-Elizabethton Star 2020 | Seite 5

prime example.
“He was a backup quarterback
as a freshman, he played
linebacker in his sophomore and
junior year, and was an All-State
defensive end his senior year,”
Witten continued.
“You have just got to develop
them and put them in the right
situation. They have to believe in
the system and it helps in having
people that have been there and
done that.
“When our kids look at us,
we have been there and we have
done that. We have the experience
and we hope that they listen to
us. We ask our kids to put a lot of
time and effort into it and we as
coaches do the same thing.”
Witten was asked if entering
the new season if he finds himself
looking back at a particular time
or moment from the 2019 season
that pushes him harder for the
2020 season.
“I think that you have to with
the Cookeville game and our
home crowd. In the last seven
weeks we played six of those at
home,” commented Witten.
“We picked up some steam
after we kicked the winning field
goal against Greeneville and
then from there on we played one
game away from Citizens Bank
Stadium at Sullivan Central.
“It has to be the crowd and
community support. You can’t
do this without the community
support. You can’t buy the things
that we need if you don’t have
the community support,” Witten
noted.
“Last night was our ring
ceremony and that doesn’t take
place unless you have a support
system in place whether its Ed
Alexander or Dr. Gardenhour or
now Richard VanHuss.
“You have to believe in the
program and you have to believe
in the community. They want to
see a product on the field to compete
for a championship.”
It’s easy to see why when
football players enter the program
at Elizabethton, they know before
they even put on their first set of
equipment what is required of
them when doing so.
2020 will be no different as
this team of players has one thing
in mind and that is winning
back-to-back championships.
Anything else would be a disappointment.
“The kids come in understanding
the expectations and it
goes back to the fact that good
things happen to good people and
good things happen to those that
work hard,” Witten said.
“You have to have people all
in – people that bleed orange and
black.”
Witten said that not only do
his players and coaches have that
expectation, but the community
also proved that last year as well
at Cookeville.
“Out of all the years that they
had the state championship, we
had the largest crowd,” Witten
said of the over 6,000 people that
showed up to witness the Cyclones
take the title.
“It’s a privilege when you put
on the orange and black. Tradition
never graduates.”
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