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The Tullahoma High School football team made plays on special teams Friday to come away with the 21-19 win against Rockvale.

Kicker Chase Dodson made a 50-yard field goal with 3:14 left that gave the ‘Cats the 21-19 lead. Will Hyden blocked a field goal attempt in the first quarter. The defense stopped a pair of two-point conversion tries in the fourth quarter to keep the deficit smaller than three.

The Wildcat defense bent, but did not break during the game, giving up over 400 yards but only 19 points. The ‘Cats offense totaled over 300 yards, with Khani Johnson having 146 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. Marvancy Johnson ran for over 100 for the third time this season with the other Tullahoma touchdown.

Tullahoma started the game with the ball but went three and out. Sam Bobo’s punt was downed at the Rockvale 20. The offense ran the ball with tempo including some read option and got the ball down to the 4 yard line. Then Beau Williams stopped a run for a 2-yard loss to bring up third and goal. Creed Adams pressured the quarterback and made him roll out and throw across his body for the incompletion. The Rockets brought out the field goal unit for a 24-yard try. The kick was blocked by Hyden, Tullahoma took over at their own 23. A bubble screen left to K. Johnson got the ball to the 50. M. Johnson ran up the middle for a gain of 6. A screen right lost 2. On third and six, Lucas Reed hit K. Johnson over the middle on slant that picked up the first down at the 38. M. Johnson got the carry and gained 1. He got it again up the middle for a short gain. The third and eight play as a screen to him that picked up 12 yards and a fresh set of downs at the 24. Reed pulled the ball on a read option for a gain of 2, and he was brought down by his facemask. This gave the ‘Cats a first down at the 11. After an incomplete pass, Adams came in for a wildcat formation where he was the quarterback. He ran it right for a gain of 2, then he ran left on what looked like it was supposed to be a pass and was taken down at the 3. On fourth and two he ran a read option with M. Johnson. M. Johnson got the ball, cut up field, but was stopped at the 1.5 yard line resulting in a turnover on downs. The Wildcats defense made a stop at the 21 with help from a dropped pass on third down to end the first quarter.

A holding flag on the punt return backed Tullahoma up to their own 45. M. Johnson went left for a gain of 8. He got it again and broke through the defense and out ran the last guy to the pylon for 6 with 10:56 left in the second. The extra point was no good, it looked like the kicker slipped on the attempt. The Wildcats led 6-0. Rockvale ran on first down and picked up 6, Trey Palmer wrapped him up and waited for help. The read-pass-option was pulled by the quarterback and then thrown to a slant that picked up 10. Adams timed the snap count on the next play and bolted into the backfield to make the tackle for a 4 yard loss. The quarterback pulled the ball and ran for 2. The third down play was a run outside that gained 5 before Adams made the stop. The punt was downed at the Tullahoma 21. A rollout pass right was tipped and nearly picked to start the drive. Reed threw left to Alex Bobo for 3. On third down, a screen to M. Johnson got the ball out to the 39 for a first down. A jet touch pass to K. Johnson gained 1 going left. Then M. Johnson got a carry on a zone left for a first down at the Wildcats 49. He got it again up the middle for 1 yard. Reed hurled it left to K. Johnson on a curl to get it to the Rockvale 39. A run lost 3 then a designed run for Reed gained 3 bringing up third and 10. Reed rolled right and threw back to the middle, the pass was incomplete. The Rockets had a good punt return, punter S. Bobo made the tackle at the 26 after a 20 yard return. Rockvale moved the ball to the 45 and then called their first timeout of the half with 1:17 left. They took a deep shot left after the timeout, but it was incomplete Tristan Taylor had the intended receiver blanketed. A pass over the middle was completed at the Tullahoma 37. The quarterback was running around and found a receiver on the right side at the 27. He ran around again and threw toward the end zone. The pass was incomplete but pass interference was called and moved the ball to the 13 with 26 seconds left. They ran up the middle to the 4 and called another timeout with 17 seconds left. A run was stopped for a loss of 1, three ‘Cats made the stop. With 10 seconds left Rockvale called their last timeout. They threw a pass to the end zone, but it was broken up by Aiden Kelley with 6 seconds left. Tullahoma called a timeout after Rockets came out with their offense. The offense came out again and threw a pass to the back of the end zone that was incomplete. Wildcats led 6-0 at the break.

Dominick Harris and Jakoby Hill flew down the field on the kickoff to make the tackle at the 18. After an eight play drive Rockvale got on the board with a rushing touchdown and then took the lead making the extra point with 9:34 left in the third. M. Johnson got 4 on the first play. A pass right to K. Johnson picked up 7. A bubble left to K. Johnson moved the ball from the Tullahoma 40 to the Rockvale 41. The drive stalled after that and the punt went into the end zone for a touchback. An RPO was thrown to a slant for a gain of 16. Run gained 2, Robert Tatum made the stop. A speed pitch right got the ball to the Tullahoma 43. The next play was a run for no gain, Palmer made the tackle. Then he corralled the quarterback for a sack back at the Tullahoma 49. Bronson Bunch broke up the deep shot up by swatting the ball away. The punt was downed at the 24. M. Johnson ran left for a pickup of 8. He got it again going right, he made one cut and got the ball to the 44. He got it again going left for 2. The designed run for Reed got the ball to the Rockvale 48. A screen to K. Johnson went for a 48-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was failed, Tullahoma led 12-7 with 1:06 left in third. Aiden Kelley made the tackle at the 17 on the kickoff. A pair of runs moved the ball to the 30, then a pass left picked up 8 to end the quarter.

An encroachment penalty gave Rockvale the first down. Another pair of runs gave them a first down at the Tullahoma 47. A deep pass got the ball to the 15, S. Bobo saved a touchdown with the tackle. He made another touchdown saving tackle at the 2 knocking the quarterback out of bounds. The run right scored the touchdown. They went for two to take the field goal lead, but the Wildcats stopped it. Rockvale was ahead 13-12 with 9:53 left. M. Johnson got it going left, picked up 6. A screen right to K. Johnson got 1. M. Johnson got the ball up the middle and broke through to the Rockvale 48. A screen left lost 4. Reed threw a pass left to K. Johnson down the sideline that he caught and then ran into the end zone for the 52-yard touchdown. Tullahoma went for two, trying to go up by a touchdown and extra-point but were unsuccessful. The score remained 18-13 Tullahoma leading with 6:58 left.

Robert Brooks stopped a run for the 1 yard loss. A deep pass was completed and then the receiver reversed field to the opposite side. He got to the 1 where he was pushed out. A toss right scored the touchdown with 5:23 left. The two-point conversion run was stopped, keeping the ‘Cats deficit at one, 19-18. K. Johnson returned the kickoff to the 41. A screen left to Hyden picked up 7. The screen to K. Johnson got 2 with 4:35 left and counting. Reed pulled the ball on a read option and got to the 29 for a 21-yard gain. A screen left lost 4. The pass over the middle to Hyden was broken up. Reed’s pass to A. Bobo on a fade route was incomplete at the 5 yard line. Chase Dodson came out for a 50-yard field goal attempt. The ball split the uprights, giving Tullahoma the 21-19 lead with 3:14 left. The kickoff was returned to the 26. The quarterback kept the ball on a read option and Palmer made the stop after a gain of 3. A pass left got the ball to the 38 for a first down with 2:53 left. The next pass was incomplete. A run up the middle gained 5. The next play was an RPO screen to the right that gained a pair to make it fourth and two. Ryan Denby flew in to make the tackle for no gain. Wildcats ball with 1:25 left. M. Johnson ran left for a gain of 3, Rockvale called their first timeout with 1:17 left. M. Johnson got it again, broke a pair of tackles and got to the 37. The Rockets called their second timeout with 1:06 left. M. Johnson got the ball again going up the middle and picked up the first down with less than a minute left. Reed took a knee and Tullahoma got their first win of the season 21-19.