Loudon 37, Signal Mountain 21Star: Loudon running back Josh Jackson had 209 yards and 4 TDs.Up next: Loudon faces the Hixson-Livingston winner; Signal Mountain finishes the year 9-3.
LOUDON, Tenn. – Big plays are a great cure for 20-degree temperatures, and unbeaten Loudon used big plays – a pair of them in particular – to play through the cold Friday night and advance in the TSSAA Class 4A playoffs with a 37-21 victory over Signal Mountain.
“That’s who we are. We have been a big-play team all year, an opportunistic team,” Redskins coach Jeff Harig said following his team’s 12th win of the season. “We’d had four turnovers all year and no interceptions. We have maximized our plays and haven’t given up big plays.”
The Redskins’ Tyler Ferguson opened the game with an 88-yard kickoff return, and as the third quarter ended Josh Jackson scooped up a fumble by teammate Travis Brewer on a fourth-and-a-foot try, slipped through Eagles defenders and raced 81 yards to put his team ahead 31-14.
“That (kickoff return) gave our kids a lot of confidence and allowed us to play like we have all year – with the lead, so then we concentrated on the defense eliminating the big plays and then trying to create some big plays on offense,” Harig said.