For a Chattanooga Christian School team missing a key weapon on offense, Friday's TSSAA Division II-AA playoff matchup started slow but ended with a resounding win over Goodpasture.
The Chargers were without Mr. Football semifinalist Boo Carter, who was unable to play for an undisclosed reason, but coach Phil Massey turned to Javoris Havis and he responded with three touchdowns in the 27-7 comeback victory.
"That's what you've got to have; you've got to have the next man stand up," Massey said. "I'm proud of this team. I mean, it was tough. It was a four-quarter game, and a dog fight at the end."
CCS (9-2) fell behind early on a 60-yard touchdown run by Musa Wellman to give Goodpasture (6-5) a lead it held for most of the first half. But with just more than a minute remaining in the second quarter, the Cougars fumbled on a punt attempt to give CCS a short field. Three plays later, Havis dove in from the 1-yard line to tie the game and give the Chargers a lift heading into halftime.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area high school football games)
"That score was important because it gave my offensive line momentum," Havis said. "It gave the entire offense and defense momentum."
In the second half, the CCS defense turned up the pressure and Havis turned on the jets. The senior gave his team the lead for good with a 54-yard touchdown run with 9:56 remaining in the third quarter.
Goodpasture struggled to get anything going on offense after halftime, and CCS extended its lead when defensive lineman Kaleb Bonastia picked off Jaron Elkins and rumbled 50 yards for a touchdown. Havis sealed the win in the fourth quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run.
Despite the win, CCS struggled with turnovers and had an extra-point attempt blocked, mistakes Massey's squad will need to clean up in the next round.
"It's always good to move forward at this time of the year," he said. "As ugly as it sometimes is, it's always good to move forward to the next week. I'm awfully proud of these kids."
The Chargers, in their 14th football season, will try to get to 10 wins for the first time when they host Franklin Road Academy (10-1), a 49-27 winner over Knoxville Grace (4-7).
"Hopefully, we'll have Boo Carter back (next week)," Havis said. "But we've just got to grind it out every day and not give up. That starts in practice."
Contact Jim Tanner at sports@timesfreepress.com.