STEVENSON, Ala. - Although its defense played well for much of the first half, special-teams mistakes put North Jackson in a big early hole and helped Buckhorn earn a 42-23 nonregion win Thursday night at R.D. Hicks Stadium.
After stepping outside their league to face a Class 7A opponent, the Chiefs will get ready for next week's Class 4A playoffs, likely hosting Wilson in the first round.
"There's no doubt playing this kind of competition only made us better tonight," Chiefs coach Mark Rose said. "We made too many mistakes early, and got behind against a team that we knew we'd need to play nearly perfect against.
"That's a heck of a football team, and we got after them and challenged them. I'm proud of the way our guys played very physical all night."
North Jackson outgained Buckhorn 301-29 on the ground, but two turnovers and a pair of miscues in the punting game proved to be the difference as the Bucks cashed in all of those opportunities for touchdowns.
Three of Buckhorn's four first-half scores were set up by North Jackson mistakes, and the Bucks never had a first-half possession that lasted longer than four plays.
The Bucks returned an interception 46 yards to set up their first score, a 1-yard run by Dallin Woodley. North Jackson answered with a 12-play, 61-yard drive, capped by Omar Brown's 1-yard TD and 2-point-conversion run, to go ahead 8-7, but the Bucks regained the lead when quarterback Jackson Holladay scrambled, then passed to tight end Kendric Johnson, who wrestled the ball away from a defender, turned and raced 43 yards for the TD.
The next two scores, which essentially put the game away, came off special-teams miscues by North Jackson. With Buckhorn ahead 13-8 midway through the second quarter, defensive end Ryan Henderson blocked a Chiefs punt to set his team up at the 6, and on fourth-and-goal Matthew Evans broke a tackle near the goal line and scored.
One possession later, a fumbled punt snap resulted in Buckhorn getting the ball at the Chiefs' 35, and two plays later, after a 34-yard pass hook-up from Holladay to Chris Baskin, Woodley's short TD run gave his team a three-score lead.
As has been the case all season, the backfield duo of quarterback Trey Harris and running back Omar "Tank" Brown led the Chiefs with a combined 297 yards (Harris with 164, Brown with 133). Harris scored twice and Brown added a TD and a pair of conversion runs.
Buckhorn's defense was led by four-star linebacker Will Ignont (6-foot-2, 235), who committed to Tennessee on Wednesday night and had eight tackles against the Chiefs.
"I fell in love with everything about Tennessee, the coaches and the program, during my visit there for the Alabama game," Ignont said. "My mom really fell in love with Coach (Butch) Jones.
"It's a sad night because it was my last game with a group of guys I've played with all my life. It was a heck of a night, and I'm glad we went out together with a win, but I'm ready for the next step now."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis