Bledsoe earns home game for postseason
The final Friday night of Tennessee prep football’s regular season was kinder to some Chattanooga-area teams than others.
Bledsoe County held off stubborn Polk County 28-21 at home in dramatic fashion, and combined with Meigs County’s 35-32 win over visiting Marion County, that secured second place in Region 3-2A and a first-round game at home when the playoffs start next week.
Those results also leave Meigs with third place as Polk takes the region’s fourth and final playoff spot, eliminating Marion.
After Polk tied the game on a 99-yard pass with one minute remaining, Bledsoe answered as Hunter Clark had runs of 32, 8 and 19 yards. On his last carry, Clark was caught at the 1-yard line and fumbled into the end zone, where Eli Tabor recovered for the winning touchdown with 20 seconds remaining.
Clark finished with 235 yards on 31 carries to go over 1,500 for the season, and Bledsoe quarterback Jonathon Thomas threw for 73 yards.
For Meigs, Meadows finished with 116 of the team’s 231 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers outgained the Warriors 325-246 in total yards. After scoring to take a 28-24 lead in the second half, Meigs executed an onside kick and added another score off the recovery to extend its lead to 11.
However, Marion returned an interception to the 10-yard line, then scored with just more than three minutes remaining to trim the deficit to three. But then Meigs recovered Marion’s onside kick attempt and ran out the clock for the win.
› McCallie 47, Pope John Paul II 21: The Blue Tornado outscored the visitors 19-0 in the fourth quarter to put the game away and secure the third seed from Division II-AAA’s East/Middle Region. Jay St. Hilaire threw for 238 yards and four touchdowns, and Ja’Von McMahan ran for 125 yards and two scores for McCallie.
› Maryville 48, Bradley Central 13: A 21-3 scoring run in the third quarter put the Rebels in control as they secured the Region 2-6A championship with the win. Gage LaDue ran for 248 yards and three touchdowns for Maryville. With the loss, the Bears finish fourth in the region and will travel in the first round next week.
› Silverdale Baptist 33, CAK 20: Brett Rogers threw for 192 yards and a touchdown and ran for 136 yards to lead the Seahawks to the DII-AA East win.
› Lookout Valley 37, Sale Creek 7: The Yellow Jackets took third in Region 3-1A with the decisive win, relegating the Panthers to fourth.
› Sweetwater 24, McMinn Central 17: The Wildcats won the Region 3-3A title, while McMinn Central finishes third. Also, with Loudon’s 23-14 win over Kingston, Loudon finishes fourth and eliminated Brainerd from the playoff picture.