Dragons hold off Hart County for 8-AAA title <b> (VIDEO) </b>

HARTWELL -- When Jefferson and Hart County shook hands at the end of their battle for the Region 8-AAA title Friday night, you got the sense it may not be the last time the two teams see each other.<br /> <br /> Jefferson held off the Bulldogs 21-14 in a championship-caliber game that featured the top two Class AAA quarterbacks. It was the Dragons (10-0, 6-0 Region 8-AAA) second region title in the last three years -- the Dragons won Region 8-AA on the way to the 2012 Class AA state title -- and completed their first perfect regular season since 2009.<br /> <br /> It denied Hart County (9-1, 5-1) it's first region title since 2001.<br /> <br /> And while the pre-game talk was about the offenses and Bulldogs quarterback Cameron Fouch and the Dragons' Evan Shirreffs, it was the Jefferson defense that stole the glory in the end.<br /> <br /> The Dragons stuffed Hart County on a classic goal-line stand in the final two minutes at the Jefferson 5, stopping Fouch on two consecutive runs and then forcing an incomplete pass on 4th down to seal the victory with 52 seconds left.<br /> <br /> "A huge stand at the end," Jefferson coach Ben Hall said."It starts with Fouch and we knew he would have the ball in his hands. We just tried to get some pressure on him and the guys made a tremendous play.<br /> <br /> "This is just a tremendous feeling. We faced a lot of adversity with turnovers and a hostile crowd but the guys never wavered. We fought for the title and won it."<br /> <br /> Hart County coach William Devane said he would not be surprised if the two teams met again.<br /> <br /> "A great game between great teams. That was a championship-type game and I hope we get another shot at them," Devane said. "We had the ball in our best player's hands but Jefferson made some great plays at the end. You have to give them credit."<br /> <br /> What would turn out to be the game-winning drive was fueled by Shirreffs and Sammy Williams.<br /> <br /> Shirreffs was 3-for-4 on the drive with a huge 26-yard completion to T.J. Skelton to the Hart County 34 on 3rd-and-15 and then followed two plays later with another 26-yard completion to Williams to the Bulldogs 5. Shirreffs connected with Hunter Gatlin three plays later on a 3-yard touchdown pass to take a 21-14 lead with 8:40 left in the game. <br /> <br /> "We just got in the huddle and said let's go win the game," Shirreffs said. "They really hadn't stopped us the entire game so we knew if we didn't make any mistakes we would score. It's a great feeling to do this with this group (of seniors)."<br /> <br /> Until that drive, both defenses dominated the second half. Neither team punted in the first half and only a turnover by Jefferson and the end of the half stopped drives for either offense.<br /> <br /> The Dragons forced Fouch into two second half interceptions on blitz calls that had the senior repeatedly scrambling Archie Manning-style. The Bulldogs forced what looked to be a huge turnover in its own end zone stripping Williams at the 1 and Moe Walker scooped it and returned it to the Hart County 30.<br /> <br /> Jefferson responded when Cooper Young picking off Fouch three minutes later and then after the Dragons went three-and-out on their next drive, Tradd Porter picked off Fouch at the Dragons 35 to set up the game-winning drive.<br /> <br /> The first half, however, was all offense as both teams moved the ball at will. Both teams scored on two of their three drives with the offenses stopping themselves on both occasions.<br /> <br /> Jefferson got things going quickly. Williams ran for 14 yards, caught a pass for 36 yards, and Shirreffs completed his first three passes, including a 10-yard strike to Dalton Hill to cap an opening 70-yard, 10-play drive for a 7-0 lead.<br /> <br /> The Bulldogs responded with a 70-yard drive of their own with Fouch completing 5-of-7 passes for 37 yards on the drive. Keenan Dillon capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.<br /> <br /> The Dragons were on the move again getting to the Hart County 30 on a 15-yard Shirreffs pass to Williams. But Williams was stripped trying to pick up some extra yardage and the Bulldogs recovered at their 24.<br /> <br /> Hart County took advantage with Fouch connecting on four more passes for 26 yards and finished off the drive himself with a 2-yard touchdown run for a 14-7 lead.<br /> <br /> It marked just the second time all season Jefferson trailed in a game.<br /> <br /> Jefferson would answer right back with Williams accounting for 46 yards, including a 1-yard scoring run to tie the game at 14 with 2:51 left in the half.<br /> <br /> Hart County drove to the Jefferson 35 in the final moments but a Hail Mary pass fell short on the final play of the half.<br /> <br /> <b>SCORING SUMMARY</b><br /> <b>Jefferson</b>....7.....7....0....7 -- 21<br /> <b>Hart Co.</b>.....7.....7....0....0 -- 14<br /> <br /> <b>First Quarter</b><br /> J -- Hill 10 pass from Shirreffs (Lawson kick) 7-0, 7:42<br /> H -- Dillon 1 run (Fouch kick) 7-7, 1:28<br /> <br /> <b>Second Quarter</b><br /> H -- Fouch 2 run (Gomez kick) 14-7, 8:04<br /> J -- Williams 1 run (Lawson kick) 14-14, 2:51<br /> <br /> <b>Fourth Quarter</b><br /> J -- Gatlin 3 pass from Shirreffs (Lawson kick) 21-14, 8:40