The York Institute Dragons' 2-hour, 30-minute drive south to Signal Mountain on Friday was a business trip.
And the Dragons handled their business in impressive fashion.
York advanced through the first round of the Class 3A playoffs with a 35-21 win over the Eagles in a game that was not as close as the final score would indicate and way more physical than most could have pictured.
The visiting, anything-but-imagined Dragons (9-2) took the wing-T fight to the hosts, and while Signal stood toe to toe with its foe, it kept shooting itself in the foot.
"Let's be honest, we didn't play as well as we have been," Signal coach Josh Roberts said after the Eagles' six-game winning streak was stopped and their season wrapped at 6-5. "All the things - the little things - we did in the last six weeks, we didn't do tonight.
"You have to tip your hat to York, because they played hard, and we knew they would. But in that first half missed assignments and basic things really hurt us."
How basic? Signal's first possession ended with a mishandled snap with the Eagles lined up to punt. York turned the short field into a touchdown, and that was only the beginning of the self-inflicted wounds York exploited.
Signal tried to answer and had first-and-goal at the York 3 after a long connection between Drew Lowry and Dalton Cunningham, but the Eagles failed to score. A Signal turnover later in the half allowed quarterback Landrick Leffew's 1-yard score on fourth down to give the Dragons a 14-0 halftime lead.
"Oh, yeah," York coach Derwin Wright said when asked if his team was always this physical, "we don't know how to play any other way."
The Dragons harangued Lowry through the first three quarters, sacking him four times. The Dragons forced four turnovers, outrushed Signal 256-23, and to completely follow the script for a road playoff win, dominated time of possession. Thoroughly.
York ran 19 plays in the third quarter; Signal ran four. And when Cole Cooper got the edge on a 5-yard run early in the fourth, the lead ballooned to 28-0.
Facing the end of the streak and the season, Signal did not go out without a fight. Lowry found Terrance Russell on a screen pass that became an 86-yard touchdown to get Signal on the board.
"I wouldn't expect anything else," Roberts said about Signal fighting to the end. "This group of seniors has left some pretty big shoes for the underclassmen to live up to."
Bruising York fullback Josiah Heddings - who is listed on the roster at 260 pounds and may have topped that, depending on Friday's pregame meal - corralled an onside kick and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown to stretch the York lead to 35-7.
Lowry connected with Travion Williams for two monster touchdowns - a 66-yarder and a 51-yarder - to give the Eagles hope. Lowry, in his final game, finished 9-of-24 passing for 339 yards and three scores but threw two interceptions, with two of the touchdowns and 128 of those yards going to Williams.
But the comeback dreams were dashed when York handled the final onside kick, ran out the clock and drained the sand on the magical ride for the Eagles.
"This is the speech no coach wants to give," Roberts said, "but these guys have so much to be proud of. They've got nothing to hang their heads about."
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343.