Signal Mountain came away with a 25-14 victory Friday night in a hard-fought Region 3-3A football battle with Brainerd.
Trailing late in the first quarter, Signal's Eagles drove 67 yards in six plays, highlighted by a 7-yard touchdown run by Collin Farr, to take a 7-6 lead.
On its next possession, Signal Mountain (2-5, 1-2) again sustained a drive for a touchdown. This time it was a 10-play, 83-yard march finished by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Tom Vatter to Drew Lowry midway through the second quarter. However, kicker Scott Payne's extra-point attempt was blocked by the Panthers, holding the Eagles' lead at 13-6.
Signal Mountain then surrendered the lead by allowing Joseph Norwood to score on an 84-yard screen pass on the next possession. Norwood would then score on a 2-point conversion to give Brainerd (1-6, 0-3) a 14-13 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, it was Vatter connecting on a 30-yard field goal that gave the Eagles the lead for good at 16-14.
The most pivotal moment of the game came early in the fourth quarter when Payne boomed a 53-yard punt to the Panthers' 1-yard line. On the very next play, Brainerd quarterback LaDarrius Freeman was stuffed in the end zone for a safety, making the score 18-14.
"That's the reason there's three phases to football. Special teams is huge. It's special for a reason," said Eagles coach Josh Roberts. "When you have a guy like that who can flip the field that far and pin a team like this all the way back there - you pin them back, and it changes things all of a sudden. He's been a weapon for us all year, kicking in the end zone. His punts - pinning them down there - it just complements our team and shows the type of work he put in in the offseason."
On its ensuing possession, Signal Mountain drove the ball 62 yards on seven plays for the final score of the game. Lowry ran 8 yards to the end zone.
"We talked about it. We wanted to make them one-dimensional. We wanted to shut down the run, make them throw a little bit," Roberts said. "Our guys really started using their technique a little bit more.
"I'm an offensive guy. When you penetrate back there, it messes up some stuff. We went no-huddle a lot tonight. The idea is that any time you've got a team that plays a lot both ways, you want to wear them down. It's not for the first half, it's for later in the game. At the end we just told them, 'Line, it's on you. Sam (Gault), it's on you. We're not going to throw the football. You guys get us first downs.'
"Our line is coming along from where we were earlier in the season. They're getting better, and that's all we ask of them. And Sam's been a player for us all year."
Contact Thomas Black at sports@timesfreepress.com