Friday was a monumental day in the history of the Coahulla Creek High School football program.
The Colts, winners of just 15 games in their first 10 seasons heading into this year, improved to 6-2 with a 14-10 home win over Bremen in Varnell. Coach Danny Wilson’s team also clinched the program’s first postseason berth and is 4-1 in GHSA Region 6-AAA with two games remaining in the regular season.
It also happened to be Wilson’s 100th career win as a head coach. The former Colts defensive coordinator is in his third season leading the Whitfield County program after previous stints in Tennessee heading up Cleveland, Maryville Heritage and South Pittsburg.
Senior quarterback Kace Kinnamon connected with Manny Dominguez for the winning touchdown with just less than eight minutes remaining, and the Coahulla Creek defense made the lead stand against the Blue Devils (4-4, 3-2).
“The big thing tonight was the stops we had on defense,” said Wilson, who mentioned Karim Bradley, Will Douglas, Nate Tilley and Robbie Wiggins as a few of his defensive stalwarts.
“We started out the winning drive being able to run the ball with Payton Gordon and Karim Bradley, and the touchdown was a nice over-the-shoulder catch by Manny Dominguez. Obviously, this means a lot to our guys, but also for our school and the entire Colt community.”
Heritage 40, Northwest Whitfield 36: The Generals secured a huge Region 7-AAAA win and are in line to earn a home playoff game.
Kaden Swope passed for 214 yards and three touchdowns — two of them to Tyler Cheatwood (61 and 44 yards) — and Paxton McCrary had a pair of touchdown runs to pace Heritage (7-1, 2-1) offensively. Cheatwood was also impactful on defense with an interception and a fumble recovery to go with several pass breakups.
Caden Walling had an interception return for a touchdown and Payton Newman scored on a catch for the Generals.
For Northwest (5-3, 1-2), senior quarterback Owen Brooker passed for 299 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for three scores.
Dade County 33, Chattooga 7: Brody Cooper passed for 151 yards and a touchdown on just four completions to go with 59 rushing yards and a score to lead the Wolverines (5-3), who improved to 2-2 in Region 7-A (Division I).
Braylon Sullian had 97 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, and Zeke Wheeler scored on a 12-yard run and a 62-yard catch as Dade put up 371 total yards. The Wolverines held Chattooga (1-8, 0-5) to 79 yards.
Christian Heritage 56, Asheville Christian 6: The Lions (4-5) won big in North Carolina as senior Eli Thomason rushed for more than 200 yards and scored five touchdowns, giving him 1,000 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. Jaylon Gay eclipsed 100 yards in the game and had two touchdowns.
Cedartown 48, Sonoraville 0: The state-ranked No. 1 Bulldogs (8-0, 3-0 Region 6-AAA) got two touchdown passes from Reece Tanner and one touchdown rushing and receiving each from Khamarion Davis and Harlem Diamond. Cedartown needs one win in its final two games to clinch the region championship.
Sonoraville (5-3) took its first loss in three region games this year.
Trion 42, Pepperell 14: Toby Maddux rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns and caught seven passes for 106 yards to help the Bulldogs (7-1) clinch a playoff berth as they reached 4-0 in Region 7-A (Division I).
Maddux scored on runs of 55, 48 and 1 yard, with backfield mate Logan Eller adding 122 yards and a touchdown run as Trion racked up 505 total yards. Kade Smith passed for 178 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Bulldogs, who will play at Darlington for the region championship on Nov. 4.
Ringgold 42, Ridgeland 14: Peyton Williams had four touchdown runs (16, 22, 38 and 15 yards) as the Tigers (5-3, 4-1 Region 6-AAA) rolled on the road, clinching a playoff berth in the process.
Chase Watkins passed for one touchdown and ran for another for Ridgeland (0-8, 0-5).
North Murray 35, Model 28: The Mountaineers (6-3, 4-1 Region 6-AAA) clinched a playoff berth as Judson Petty had two touchdown runs, one touchdown catch and threw for a score on a halfback pass. Jadyn Rice had a pair of touchdown catches for North Murray, which will play for the region title at home against Rockmart on Nov. 4.
Other area scores:
Adairsville 42, Gordon Lee 28
Fannin County 49, Murray County 6
TENNESSEE
Bradley Central 30, Rhea County 10: Alex Walker was 8-of-12 passing for 112 yards and a score to lead the Bears (7-2) to the nonregion win. J’Alan Terry carried 16 times for 64 yards and a touchdown, while Marcus Goree Jr. had a 69-yard interception return for a score and Finn Mertens returned a blocked field-goal attempt 99 yards for a touchdown.
Ethan Davis ran 25 times for 154 yards for the Golden Eagles (2-7), and Caleb Carr added 93 rushing yards and a score.
McCallie 55, West Toronto 0: The Blue Tornado (7-2) raced out to a 35-point lead after the first quarter and held their visitors from Canada to 67 total yards.
Jay St. Hilaire threw for two touchdowns, and seven ball carriers totaled 103 rushing yards. Carson Lawrence had two interceptions to lead the McCallie defense.
Silverdale Baptist 20, Knoxville Grace 3: Turner Junkins was 12-of-18 passing for 165 yards and a touchdown to lead the Seahawks to the Division II-AA East Region win. Caleb Greco ran for 163 yards, and Cameron Bowen caught eight passes for 107 yards.
Nate Hampton led the Silverdale defense with six tackles and an interception. The Seahawks (6-3, 3-2) put the game away with 10 fourth-quarter points.
Marion County 33, Signal Mountain 7: The Warriors rolled up 359 total yards, including 244 through the air by Tilton Pickett, in the nonregion win. Brody Leonard led Marion County (5-4) in rushing with 69 yards, and Sam Pickett caught five passes for 140 yards.
Rip Hutcherson ran for 130 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles (3-6), and quarterback Cash Keene was 16-of-31 for 99 yards but was intercepted three times, including one that was returned 95 yards for a score.
Sequatchie County 31, Whitwell 13: The Indians jumped out to a 17-0 lead by halftime and outgained Whitwell 346-269 in total yards. Sequatchie County (6-3) took advantage of four turnovers by the Tigers (7-2) for the nonregion win.
McMinn County 14, Loudon 0: Caden Hester threw for 114 yards, including a 91-yard touchdown, and also ran for a score, and the Cherokees (7-2) gave up just 155 total yards in the nonregion win.
Other area scores:
Brainerd 22, Ooltewah 21
Chattanooga Christian 69, Republic 0
Cleveland 24, Giles County 10
Central 19, East Ridge 14
Copper Basin 33, North Georgia 6
Hixson 21, Soddy-Daisy 14
Knoxville Webb 42, Boyd Buchanan 7
Monterey 36, Bledsoe County 28
Notre Dame 35, Christian Academy of Knoxville 30
Polk County 35, Lookout Valley 0
Rockwood 49, McMinn Central 39
Sale Creek 53, Cosby 14
Upperman 24, Walker Valley 17
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.