Never-say-die Heritage rallies at home
The Heritage Generals made plenty of big defensive plays on Friday night, but none bigger than the last one.
Trying to hang on to a onepoint lead with less than a minute to play and the ball at their own 31-yard line, the Navy-and-Red stopped Christian Heritage quarterback Christian Thomas by an eyelash on a fourth-down keeper before taking a knee close out a heart-stopping 25-24 victory over the Lions at Jeff Sims Stadium.
The final play capped a late second-half rally by the home team, who found itself trailing 24-13 after Lions kicker Carson Russell booted a 25-yard field goal with 2:17 left to play in the third quarter.
“They just play hard, man,” said head coach E.K. Slaughter. “They absolutely play their guts out. Our defensive staff does an incredible job too, but there’s no substitute for dadgum heart and effort and that’s what we’re about every single play.”
After an exchange of punts led to a return by J.D. Black to the Christian Heritage 38yard line with 7:20 remaining, quarterback Kaden Swope lofted a post pattern pass toward Tyler Cheatwood, who got a step on his defender. Cheatwood made the overthe-shoulder catch in stride in the back of the end zone to cut the Lions lead down to 24-19, although a conversion try came up short.
Christian Heritage took over at its own 20-yard line and proceeded to march straight down the field. The drive would reach the Heritage 26 and Thomas appeared to have a first down following a 14-yard, fourth-down scramble.
However, while looking to avoid a tackle, Thomas was flagged for hurdling a defender near the sideline and the ensuing personal foul backed up the play. The Lions then elected for a pass play on fourth-and-7 from the 29, but the throw fell incomplete and the Generals took over at their own 29-yard line with 2:38 remaining.
On the very next play from scrimmage, Swope dumped off a screen pass to running back Paxton McCrary, who got to the outside and sprinted down the sidelines before outrunning the defense for a 71-yard touchdown. A conversion pass missed its mark, but Heritage regained the lead with 2:25 to play.
The Lions drove the ball from their own 25 down to the Heritage 31 in the final 2:17. But an incomplete pass on third down forced Christian Heritage to go for it on fourth-and-two from the 31.
The chains were brought out for a measurement following the gang tackle and bedlam erupted on the Heritage side of the field as the officials signaled that the play had come up just shy of the line to gain.
“Just had to find a way to win,” Slaughter added. “Pax made a huge play and got a couple of blocks on the edge. Just awesome. It was an awesome night.”
Swope finished 12 of 32 on the evening for 238 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Max Owens had three catches for 94 yards, while McCrary hauled in two catches for 83 yards. Cheatwood finished with 58 yards on two receptions.
McCrary had 39 of
For the first time since they blanked county rival Gordon Lee back on Aug. 31, 2018, the LaFayette Ramblers celebrated a shutout on Friday night as they walked into Tommy Cash Stadium and revved their way to a 39-0 victory, spoiling Homecoming for the Warriors.
LaFayette jumped out to a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and boosted its advantage to 32-0 at the break. They would tack on one final touchdown in the fourth quarter to win the Region 6-AAA opener for both teams.
The Ramblers ran just 36 plays and picked up 174 yards. Quarterback Zach Barrett went 5 of 9 in the air for 98 yards, including a 43yard pass to Sam Hall and a 40-yard pass to Trey Taylor.
Jacob Zwiger carried the ball 12 times for 39 yards, but found the endzone a careerhigh four times, while Jaylon Ramsey had 11 carries for 28 yards and a touchdown, while Jacob Brown connected on all five of his extra-point attempts.
The Rambler defense recorded a pair of safeties. Lane White had 2.5 sacks and one tackle for loss, while Cody Davis had three tackles, 1.5 sacks and recovered a fumble.
Will Carroll was 8 of 23 for 50 yards for LFO, while he picked up 60 yards on 15 carries. Keenan Walker caught three passes for 27 yards and Gabe Helton had one reception for 15 yards.
Helton also had four tackles for the Warriors. Benji Valdes picked up three tackles, one for loss, with seven assists, while Tyler Frady and Ladarrius Bunch each collected two tackles, with one for a loss, and two assists.
LaFayette (2-1, 1-0) will be back at home to take on Murray County this Friday night, while LFO (0-2, 0-1) will head to Ringgold face the unbeaten Tigers in their annual grudge match.