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The Wildcats lost the season opener at Stewarts Creek 33-21 despite the offense moving the ball well.

The ‘Cats gained well over 300 yards, including 200 on the ground from junior running back Marvancy Johnson. Quarterback Lucas Reed went 13-25 in the air with a pair of touchdowns. Alex Bobo caught both touchdown passes. Khani Johnson scored the other touchdown on a reverse in the second quarter.

“We made it to the fourth quarter and we had a chance,” said head coach Coy Sisk. “We were there. We have got to learn to finish. No closer, no further away from where we want to go which is to win a region title.” 

The game opened with a M. Johnson run for 39 yards to the Red Hawks’ 35. Then Reed threw a bubble screen to K. Johnson for a gain of 7. After a false start and a run for no gain by M. Johnson, Reed hit K. Johnson for a gain of 10 and a first down. A screen to K. Johnson lost 1, then he got the ball again on a quick curl for a gain of 7. On third and three, Reed threw a deep slant to Bobo, who caught the ball at the 4 absorbing contact from a defender before sprinting into the end zone for a 22 yard TD. Chase Dodson’s extra point was good. ‘Cats led 7-0 with 8:17 left in the first quarter.

The kickoff went for a touchback. Stewarts Creek immediately went on a drive to tie the game. They ran the ball on 13 straight plays to go 75 yards for a touchdown. The point after try was good and the game was tied 7-7 with 1:11 left in the first. The ensuing kickoff was muffed then returned to the 10. The first play was a handoff to M. Johnson that was stuffed, but the Red Hawks’ defensive lineman pulled his helmet off trying to make a tackle for a 15-yard penalty. Another Red Hawk was flying around and unable to stop from tackling M. Johnson, so it was a second penalty on Stewarts Creek to move Tullahoma up to the 36. The ‘Cats ran right for 3, but a holding penalty brought the ball back to the 26. Reed scrambled for a yard before the quarter ended.

The second quarter started with M. Johnson running up the middle to the 34 to make it third and 12. Reed faked a bubble screen to K. Johnson and hit Cayden Poff on a slant for a gain of 14. A middle screen for K. Johnson gained 2. A deep shot to Bobo on a go route was incomplete, bringing up third and eight. Reed was on the move on a play action rollout and threw a comeback to Bobo to get the ball to the Stewarts Creek 39. M. Johnson took a toss left and lost a yard. He got the ball again going up the middle and bounced to the outside and took it to the 6. The first and goal play lost 3 yards. On second down. M. Johnson got to the 3, but a holding penalty backed it up to the 19. A quick pass right to K. Johnson got the ball to the 6. Creed Adam took the snap in a wildcat formation and headed left before giving the ball to K. Johnson on a reverse and he trotted into the end zone. Dodson’s kick was good and the Wildcats took the 14-7 lead with 8:34 left in the half.

The kickoff went for a touchback again. The next play was a counter run and the running back broke a tackle and went for an 80 yard TD. The point after try was blocked by Adams to keep Tullahoma ahead. Reed kept the ball on a read option and gained 3. The second down pass was incomplete. On third down he scrambled for 2, bringing up fourth and 5.

The punt put the Red Hawks at their own 37. The next play was a run wide right to the 42. The three next plays were also runs. Getting the ball to the Tullahoma 38. The Wildcats then stopped a run for gain of 1. Then the next play, the running back slipped through a couple of arm tackles before three defenders got him down at the 27. A run up the middle got to the 21 before Adams cut him down. The Red Hawks ball carrier patiently navigated his blockers to get to the 17 for a first down. Sam Bobo made a touchdown saving tackle at the 9 on the jet sweep right. Stewarts Creek ran up the middle to the 5 and took a timeout with 52.5 left in the half. Trey Palmer blew up the running back in the backfield at the 9, forcing another timeout with 43.1 left. The Red Hawks ran a play action rollout left and threw to the tight end for the score. Sylas McGowen sacked the quarterback on the 2-pt try. Stewarts Creek led 19-14 with 37.8 left in the half.

M. Johnson ran for a gain of 8 on the first play and Tullahoma took a timeout with 21.4 left. He got the ball again on a power run going right and made it to the 49 before getting out of bounds with 14.3 left. A pass right was picked off on a great play by the Red Hawks defender and returned to the 35. With 6 seconds left they tried to go to the end zone, but the ‘Cats blitz forced a scramble and a holding flag. A tackle was made around the 20 and Tullahoma elected to go to half with score 19-14.

The Wildcats opened the half with a beautifully executed onside kick that was recovered by Stewarts Creek. The next play was sweep right to the 8. They ran inside to the 6, then committed a false start to back up to the 11. On second and goal the quarter back ran to the 6 and got lit up by a trio of wildcats. On the next play, instant penetration by Tullahoma up the middle caused a fumbled handoff that Tristan Taylor jumped on at the 2. Reed threw from his own end zone to Alex Bobo at the 12. M. Johnson got the ball and bounced left before running to the 31 for another first down. He carried again for a gain of 3. After a false start he got the handoff going right and made it to the 43. The pass to K. Johnson on deep post was incomplete. The bubble screen to him was also incomplete. Back to back penalties gave the Wildcats a third and 25. After a short gain they punted, it was downed at the 20. Tullahoma forced a three and out after Bronson Bunch swatted the third down pass away from the intended receiver. M. Johnson carried for a gain of 13. A low snap forced an incompletion on the short pass. Another fumbled snap leads to a second straight incompletion. The screen to K. Johnson gained 4 and the fourth down pass to Poff was incomplete.

Two plays later the Red Hawks scored on a long touchdown run after a broken tackle. The extra point was good, making it 26-14 with 2:31 left in the quarter. M. Johnson opened the drive with two carries totaling 13 yards. A jet sweep to K. Johnson gained 5. M. Johnson ran left to the 38. He carried again to the 44 for second and short. He carried again and got it to the 42 to end the quarter.

To open the fourth, Jakoby Hill carried left to the 39. He got it again and made it to the 36. Reed rolled out right and passed to A. Bobo for a first down at the 25. After an incomplete pass, Reed threw the fade route to A. Bobo in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 10 minutes left. The extra point was good and it was 26-21 with Tullahoma trailing.

Robert Tatum stuffed the first play for a minimal gain. Then a designed quarterback run went all the way to the 6. A handoff got the ball to the 2. The next run was disrupted by Tatum again, this time by pushing an offensive lineman into the hole and allowing S. Bobo to make the tackle for a 2 yard loss. A toss right scored a touchdown and the extra point was good, making it 33-21 with 7:01 left. M. Johnson ran for 13 yards and then carried for 2. A deep shot was incomplete and then the next pass was picked off and returned to the 48. Stewarts Creek ran the remaining 5:21 off of the clock.

Tullahoma will look to get in the win column this week when they play their first home game of the season against rival Coffee County. The Coffee Pot will kick off at 7 p.m.