By Larry Fleming
Northwest Whitfield defensive linemen Adam Selby and Avery Cantrell stuffed Dalton running back Hunter Cleary on a two-point conversion attempt with less than 32 seconds left as the Bruins escaped with a 7-6 victory over the Catamounts in the Sub-region 7A-4A junior varsity football championship on Monday at Harmon Field.
The Cats trailed throughout — thanks to the Bruins’ Justin Andrews’ 68-yard touchdown run on the second play of Northwest’s opening series — but found a way to rally as quarterback Cole Calfee and wide receiver Eric Banks clicked on their last possession. On fourth-and-20, the two hooked up on a 27-yard scoring strike with 31.6 seconds left to cap the final drive.
On the two-point try, Cleary, operating from a power formation, bulled toward the middle of the Northwest (5-2) defensive line. Selby and Cantrell were there to greet him.
“I kind of knew they were coming up the middle because their splits tightened,” Cantrell said. “I was there waiting on him.”
Selby was close by.
“I just did what coach (Josh) Robinson told me to do,” Selby said. “And the ball ended up right there.”
The Cats (5-2) took over at their won 12 after Zack Reed recovered a Nathan Sistrunk fumble with 2:01 to play, and Calfee hit Banks for a 32-yard gain on a third-and-15 to the 49.
Calfee threw an incompletion and was sacked and the Cats faced third-and-19 from their 40. But Calfee hit Banks over the middle again, this time for 23 yards, and on the next play, Calfee hit the streaking Banks near the goal line and he fell forward to score.
After a timeout, the Cats went for the win. This time, Northwest held them out of the end zone.
“We made the play to get back in the ballgame,” Dalton coach Charles Mitchell said. “We just came up short on that two-point play. It was a good ballgame, and both teams gave great efforts. Both teams played well.”
Last Thursday, Dalton overcame a 10-0 lead in the final six minutes to beat the Bruins, 14-10, leading up to Monday’s sub-region playoff game.
Calfee passed for 117 yards and Banks caught four of Calfee’s five completions for 104 yards and the touchdown. All of Banks’ receptions came on the final drive.
In the first quarter, Dalton turned the ball over on downs at the Bruins’ 23 to set up the Bruins’ first touchdown drive. Andrews had a 9-yard gain on first down and then bolted 68 yards for the score the next time he carried the ball. Jorge Solarzano kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 3:51 left in the opening quarter.
The rest of the game was a defensive tussle.
“Our defense has bailed us out all year,” Bruins coach Nick Bridges said. “Dalton’s quarterback is really good and (Banks) is a playmaker.”
Nick Stavrow’s interception set up Northwest’s next-to-last possession, which ended with Sistrunk’s lost fumble.
Dalton’s Nick Urbain had an interception of a Matt Allen pass that was deflected by the Cats’ Scott Abernathy.
• Murray County 23, Cass 14: Deron Hill’s touchdown runs of 45 and 14 yards led the Indians (2-5) as they finished the season with a sub-region playoff victory.
Indians receiver Rocky Burt caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Brady Todd and Miguel Barajas kicked a 33-yard field goal and an extra point.
