LOUISVILLE — Rabun County's bid for a first-ever state semifinal berth came to a gut-wrenching end Friday night.
In a back-and-forth affair, the Wildcats dropped a 31-28 decision to Jefferson County on the road on a 31-yard field goal by sophomore Evans Hodges on the final play of the game.
Rabun County (11-2) never led in the game but never trailed by more than a touchdown and tied the game on four separate occassions, the final time at 28 on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Bailey Fisher to Tristan Huggins with just over three minutes left in the game.
Rabun County could not solve senior quarterback T.J. Bell, who threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another 95 yards. But the key play came midway through the fourth quarter when Fisher was stripped of the ball by Jaylun Brown, who raced 65 yards for the touchdown and a 28-21 lead.
Bell connected with Marquis Carter on a pair of touchdowns of 47 and 25 yards and then fired a 59-yard bomb to Ja'quan Stone.
The Wildcats got a 1-yard scoring run from Fisher in the first quarter, and then Fisher connected with Charlie Woerner on a 9-yard touchdown pass just before halftime to tie the game at 14. After Bell's second touchdown pass to Carter, Fisher and Woerner answered with a 23-yard scoring pass to tie the game at 21.
Rabun County's defense stopped the Warriors on their next drive and the Wildcats quickly drove into Jefferson County territory poised to take their first lead before Fisher was stripped of the ball by Brown.
Woerner came into the contest averaging over 200 yards a game receiving but was held to just 76 yards on six catches by the Warriors defense. Big plays hurt the Wildcats, who came into the game as the No. 1-rated defense in Class AA. The Warriors averaged over 16 yards a reception for the game.
