FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Two hours of waiting. Lightning and rain made the teams wait. And wait they did, but the Bears and Indians got to finish their season opener.
When all was said and done, Cherokee Bluff was able to hold on to take down Class 3A No. 7 Lumpkin County, 31-20, Friday night at Yonah Field.
For head coach Tommy Jones, the weather delay gave his team the opportunity to make the adjustments they needed to get the defense into shutdown mode.
“We knew we needed to come out with some juice in the second half,” said Jones. “When you are playing one of the best players in the state in Cal Faulkner, you have to be disciplined defensively, and I thought we were.”
Early on, it looked like the game was going to be an offensive explosion. The Indians wasted no time getting the season started with Faulkner going for a 52-yard rush up the sideline to take the early lead less than a minute in, but the Bears responded just a few plays later with a Connor Griffin rush from 24 yards out to cut the lead to 7-6 after a missed PAT.
The defenses settled in after the opening fireworks as the Bears were the next to score on a Garrett Hyder field goal from 31 yards out, but Lumpkin responded on the very next play as Nolan Matthews returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards to take a 14-9 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Bears went on to go 15 plays on the next drive, bleeding out the entire remainder of the first half to score on a Brooks Brien quarterback sneak, followed by a KT Thompson two-point conversion to retake the lead, 17-14.
After a scoreless third quarter, Jackson Pirkle seemed to claim the momentum for the Bears with a 43-yard touchdown run, but the Indians claimed some momentum back with a second kickoff return from Matthews to cut the lead to 24-20.
But the Bears had their turn on special teams as Landon Kemp returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a return touchdown of his own to pretty much ice the game. A pair of interceptions for the Bears put the game away.
Brien finished with 239 yards passing, helping his team convert 10 third down plays, including going 9-for-11 in the first half in third-down conversions.
“Brooks just makes the plays,” said Jones. “He’s gritty, a competitor and does everything that you want a quarterback to do. We trust him fully to make any throw we need him to, and he did that tonight and were fortunate to make some plays.”
For Lumpkin County, Faulkner was held to just 63 rushing yards and 9-of-25 passing, including the two late interceptions.
Cherokee Bluff will battle Apalachee next week, while the Indians have a week off before hosting Hart County
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