East Hamilton overcame a sluggish first half with a dominating second Friday night, scoring the game's final 20 points to defeat Region 3-4A rival Central 27-10.
Juan Bullard dominated for the Hurricanes (4-2, 3-0) at quarterback, rushing for 229 yards and scoring on runs of 21, 30 and 56 yards, the latter two touchdowns coming in the second half with the host Pounders still within striking distance. East Hamilton fell behind 10-7 in the first half.
"Central is a very physical football team," Hurricanes coach Grant Reynolds said. "They gave us some fits up front, and I'm just proud of the fight that our kids had tonight and how we finished the game late."
East Hamilton built a 7-0 lead on Bullard's first touchdown, but the Pounders (3-4, 2-2) responded with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by quarterback Ronye' Watson's touchdown. Bullard broke free again two drives later for a 58-yard gain inside the Central 10-yard line, but he fumbled three plays later and the ball was recovered by the Pounders' Chris Nichols, who returned it to the Hurricanes' 27-yard line.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area high school football games)
The teams traded field goals and were even at the break before the visitors got going in the second half. A dropped punt recovered by the Hurricanes led to Bullard's second score, and he put the game away with his 56-yarder in the final minutes.
"We had some opportunities early in the game to separate, and we didn't do it," Reynolds said. "We've got to do a better job of making sure we finish off drives and those kinds of things, but we're 3-0 in the region and we get a chance to keep plugging along.
"Hopefully we'll get a chance to play for the region championship in a few weeks."
Central's Perry Armour Jr. rushed for 52 yards, while Watson ran for 27 yards and passed for 37. Nichols had two sacks for the Pounders.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.