TRENTON, Ga. - With a Georgia playoff berth on the line and his offense struggling to maintain drives, Dade County football coach Bradley Warren decided to abandon any thoughts of a finesse game.
After switching from the wing-T formation and its sometimes slow-developing plays, the Wolverines went to the power game, unleashing tailbacks Zac Freeman and Teddy Cole on the unsuspecting Gordon Lee defense.
The two combined for 202 yards rushing in the second half as Dade (6-4) pulled away for a playoff-clinching 30-14 win. As the Region 7-AA's fourth seed, the Wolverines will travel to Region 6 champion Greater Atlanta Christian next week.
"In the second half we got out of the wing stuff and went to the I-formation and more downhill running, and that helped us out," said Warren, whose team suffered through a 2-8 season a year ago. "We felt like if they stayed in that 4-4, 6-2 look that the line of scrimmage was going to be tough, but if we broke that we could make some big plays."
It was the Trojans (4-6), though, who were sharp at the start. Quarterback Caleb O'Neal broke off a 70-yard touchdown run on the game's first play, and following a fourth-down defensive stop, Gordon Lee had the ball at the Dade 20 after an 37-yard pass from O'Neal to Nick Wilson.
However, the drive was halted on a fumble, the first of four Trojans turnovers. Later in the opening quarter, they kept the ball for nine minutes, but the 15-play drive ended when O'Neal's third-and-long pass was intercepted by Trey Whitehead.
The Wolverines then took advantage, driving 89 yards in nine plays, with Houston Poston hitting a leaping D.Q. Cole for a 26-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 7 going into halftime.
The second half was all Dade, starting with a 74-yard drive to open the third quarter. Freeman ripped off runs of 23 and 24 yards, and Teddy Cole finished the drive on an 8-yard run, the first of three consecutive touchdowns for the physical senior.
A fumble three plays later set Dade up at the Gordon Lee 11, where Teddy Cole needed just one play to make it 21-7. After the Trojans' next drive stalled at midfield, he broke the visitors' backs two plays later with a multi-tackle-breaking 45-yard touchdown run for a 27-7 lead.
"My line just opened up big holes, so they get the credit," said Teddy Cole, who finished with 143 yards. "We went to the locker room at halftime and settled down, and in the second half we went to work.
"This is what our community needed coming off a very bad season. We worked very hard in the offseason and there are a lot of guys in that locker room with very big hearts, and it showed again tonight."
The speedy Freeman led all rushers with 178 yards. O'Neal had 134 yards rushing - but just 14 in the second half - and 169 passing to lead Gordon Lee.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.