TIGER — Rabun County advanced to the second round of the Class AA playoffs for the third consecutive season after taking a 55-20 win over BEST Academy Saturday at home.
The Wildcats (10-0) jumped out to a big first half lead, held off a third quarter rally, and then exploded for 29 points in a four-minute span to pull away.
Cal Drummond had a monster game for Rabun County with 306 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
Rabun County opened strong taking a 14-0 lead after the first quarter on touchdown runs by Cal Drummond and Bailey Fisher. The Eagles cut the lead to 14-6 on a touchdown pass from Nakia Davis to Jalen Cannon early in the second quarter.
Rabun pushed the lead to 29-6 by halftime on touchdown runs again by Drummond and Fisher.
The Eagles, however, came out fast in the third quarter. Cannon returned the opening kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown and then, after recovering an onside kick, Katerion Legrone caught a TD pass from Davis to trim the lead to 26-20 just 83 seconds into the second half.
The Wildcats dominated the rest of the third quarter. They forced two BEST punts and then forced a pair of fumbles to spark the four-minute barrage.
Fisher hit Austin Jones on a 21-yard touchdown pass, then after a punt, Drummond scored on a 44-yard run. Rabun forced its first fumble three plays later and Drummond capped a quick 3-play drive with a 2-yard scoring run.
The Eagles fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Fisher capped a 2-play drive with a 14-yard touchdown run for a 55-20 lead.
Fisher finished with 95 yards and three touchdowns rushing and was 11-of-15 for 175 yards passing one TD pass. Jones finished with four catches for 67 yards and the one score.
It was the third straight game the Wildcats, who came into the game as the top scoring team in Class AA, topped 55 or more points.
The Rabun County defense, which also came in as the No. 1 unit in Class AA, held BEST to just 50 yards rushing but the Eagles had 301 yards passing. The 20 points were the most allowed all season by the Wildcats.
Rabun County will play host to Vidalia next week in the Sweet 16. The Wildcats join Banks County as the only other Region 8-AA teams to advance.
