CROSSVILLE, Tenn. - The East Hamilton Hurricanes traveled Friday night to the Cumberland Mountain plateau to face the undefeated Stone Memorial Panthers with a Region 3-4A title on the line.
Stone came into the game 9-0 while East Hamilton was 6-3 but still had a shot with a win and some help to claim the top seed from the region.
The two teams were very different schematically but pretty evenly matched, and the game went to the wire with Stone getting the win 14-7.
East Hamilton won the toss but deferred to the second half, giving Stone Memorial the ball first. Cody Wyllins took the opening kick out to the 31-yard line, and then he took the first handoff for 37 yards to East Hamilton's 32. Wyllins got 12 more yards to the 30, and Stone eventually got to the 3 but was facing fourth down when quarterback Austin Helton drew the defense offside for a first-and-goal inside the 2.
Wyllins took it in for the game's first score with 7:30 left in the first quarter. The Panthers then tried a pooch kick, and the Hurricanes started with good field position at their own 40 but had to punt.
Stone's second offensive series started at the 20, and they would begin to move the ball on the ground down the field. Ethan Pierce and Wyllins picked up first downs and on a fourth-and-5 at the East Hamilton 30, Helton hit Wyllins on a screen pass and he raced to the 1-yard line.
The Hurricanes dug in, but Wyllins scored again to make it 14-0.
East Hamilton fielded another pooch kickoff and started from its 44, and tailback David Whiteside led a drive to the Stone 16, but sacks by Austin Seiber and Keith Martin got the back for the Panthers.
The hosts never scored again but remained undefeated as they held the Hurricanes to a third-quarter touchdown featuring a big pass play from Nick Woods to Jordan Gorman, some Whiteside runs and a 1-yard Woods sneak for the score.
Starting with 6:25 to go in the game, East Hamiton ran the ball, mostly with Whiteside, and was able to move the ball as the clock continued to click off. The Hurricanes had a first-and-10 at the Stone 12-yard line with 59 seconds left in regulation, but Woods passed incomplete in the end zone on second- and third-and-11, and the Panthers knocked down the fourth-down pass, securing an undefeated regular season and the outright region championship.