By Daniel Lewis
Correspondent
KNOXVILLE – The weather was cold, the crowd was sparse and neither team could get much going on offense Friday night.
But Ben Winters, Fulton High’s new all-time leading passer, made plays when it counted to lead the Falcons over Chattanooga Central, 20-7, in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs.
Star: Fulton quarterback Ben Winters overcame an interception TD with two scoring passes and set his school record for career passing yards.
Winters passed former Fred Smith’s record of 4,830 career yards with 4,850.
“I’ve been saying for a long time that high school players don’t come much better than Ben Winters,” Falcons coach Buck Coatney said.
The Falcons (7-4) move on to play undefeated Greeneville next week in the second round.
“I’m just thankful to still be practicing next week,” Coatney said. “We need to get better and get healthy and we will have a tough challenge against Greeneville, but it’s just great to still be playing.”
Fulton’s first score was set up by a great special-teams play. Sophomore Chris Appling hit a career-long 64-yard punt that backed up the Purple Pounders inside their own 10-yard line.
Fulton linebacker Fred Elder then pounced on a fumbled snap in the end zone to put the Falcons up 6-0 early in the first quarter.
The Pounders (6-5) answered with a big defensive play minutes later.
Cornerback Demarcus Rogers stepped in front of a Winters pass and ran it back 71 yards for a 7-6 Central lead.
Fulton went into halftime trailing by that same score despite outgaining the visitors 117 to minus-27.
Winters capped a 13-play, 37-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Micah Pitchford on fourth-and-goal to give the Falcons the lead for good.
“Their run defense was pretty stout, so the coaches just made a great call on that fourth-and-goal pass and we executed it,” Winters said.
Winters found Pitchford again on the two-point conversion to give the Falcons a 14-7 lead.
Winters then extended the lead when he hit Elder on a 20-yard touchdown pass. That capped a 12-play, 7-minute drive.
“We were 2-4 to start the season and people said we were done,” Coatney said. “I’m so proud of the way our guys have fought back – that’s what it’s all about.”