Halfway through the final quarter Friday night at Tommy Cash Stadium, the host Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe Warriors were one play from clinching their fourth consecutive win over Catoosa County rival Ringgold.
Leading 16-14, the Warriors ran eight minutes off the clock on a 17-play drive that reached the Ringgold 1. However, on fourth-and-goal a fumble ended the drive, giving Ringgold new life. The Tigers capitalized with a 94-yard drive for the go-ahead touchdown, then held off a late LFO drive for a dramatic 20-16 win.
"Our defense made some big plays on them when they were inside our 10," Ringgold coach Robert Akins said. "Our kids fought hard, but there is a lot of improvement to be made. An ugly win is better than a pretty loss."
Ringgold (2-2, 1-1 Region 6-AAA) got a pair of touchdown runs from Kori Dumas and the winning 5-yard touchdown run by Price Pennington with just more than three minutes remaining in the game.
READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area high school football games
LFO (0-4, 0-2) had taken a 13-0 lead as first-time starting quarterback Will Carroll scored on a 16-yard keeper for a 6-0 lead and moments later returned a punt 62 yards for another score. Down 14-13 after a pair of Ringgold scoring drives, the Warriors took a two-point lead into halftime after Alex Hastick nailed a 46-yard field goal.
LFO gained possession with just less than four minutes left in the third quarter at its own 20 and put together what seemed like the winning drive, getting two fourth-down conversion runs by Carroll and a 27-yard pass to Jevonnie Womble to get inside the 10. On fourth down, however, Carroll fumbled, with Ringgold's Cole Carlock recovering to end the threat.
The Tigers then used their power game to rip off runs of 8, 7, 14, 18 and 20 yards to get to the LFO 5, where Pennington rushed for the go-ahead score to cap the 11-play drive.
The Warriors quickly moved into Ringgold territory on a 17-yard Carroll keeper and Womble 13-yard run, and four plays later a 15-yard Womble run had them set up at the Ringgold 18 with 57 seconds remaining. On fourth-and-3, though, a high snap resulted in a turnover, with Ashton Clark recovering to clinch the Ringgold win.
Rockmart 68, Sonoraville 7: What many thought would be a showdown between the two top teams in 6-AAA quickly turned into a rout as quarterback Javin Whatley ran for two touchdowns and threw for another for a 48-7 halftime lead for Rockmart (3-1, 2-0). Sonoraville's only score came on a 32-yard pass from Brady Lackey to Nick Beddington.
Carrollton 34, Dalton 24: Carrollton (1-1, 1-0 in 7-AAAAAA) won the region opener for both teams as James McCauley passed for 164 yards and two touchdowns, Keyshawn Ridley ran for 74 yards and two scores and Christian Lett had 104 rushing yards and a touchdown. Dalton (1-2, 0-1) rallied from a 20-3 halftime deficit to make it close as quarterback Ashton Blackwell had 78 yards and two rushing touchdowns and 119 passing yards and another score.
Calhoun 35, Woodstock 14: Christian Lewis passed for three touchdowns and Jerrian Hames (202 yards) ran for two as the Yellow Jackets improved to 4-1. Lewis connected with Will Seamons on touchdown strikes of 5 and 20 yards and opened the scoring with a 10-yard pass to Seamons. Hames added scoring runs of 31 and 4 yards, while Cole Speer had 150 yards on eight receptions.
Gordon Lee 37, Gordon Central 7: Cade Peterson and Bo Rhudy combined for 170 rushing yards and four touchdowns as the Trojans improved to 4-0.
LaFayette 62, Murray County 22: The Ramblers roared to a 58-9 halftime lead to improve to 2-0 in Region 6-AAA. Quarterback Jalyon Ramsey opened the game with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Sam Hill and added a 40-yard scoring run. Jamario Clements had a 65-yard touchdown run early, and the LaFayette defense shined as Ross Martin and Hunter Deal had interceptions.
Southeast Whitfield 21, Armuchee 7: Ethan Hill ran for 100 yards and a touchdown, and Jordan Trevano added 92 yards and a score as the Raiders won their first game of the season in five starts.
Darlington 20, Heritage 7: The Generals (3-2) led 7-6 at halftime on the strength of a Paxton McCrary touchdown off a blocked punt, but the Tigers rallied for the nonregion win.
Other scores: Cass 42, Ridgeland 14; Mount Zion 35, Dade County 33.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.