Written By: Marcus Rich

     The Cheatham County Cubs made the trip up to Cunningham last Friday night where they took on a much improved Montgomery Central Indians squad in a District 11-AA battle. The Cubs rode the 149 rushing yards from Shaun Montgomery as they held off a furious Central rally in the final quarter, and Cheatham County left town with a 28-26 victory in hand. 

    The action started early and often as the Cubs defense held on Central’s opening possession and freshman Mitchell Potts blocked an Indians punt and he scooped up the ball and returned it to the Montgomery Central 23 yard line. Six plays later, quarterback Reece Hunter connected with Tanner Owen for a 10 yard touchdown, and the Cubs led 7-0 after Alex Vargas’ extra point.     

     The Indians answered behind the arm of quarterback Sam Hudson, who engineered a 79 yard scoring drive. Facing a fourth down at the Cheatham County 11 yard line, Dillon Conner plowed his way into the endzone for the score and Central knotted the score 7-7.   

      The score didn’t remain tied for long as Montgomery took the handoff from Hunter and raced up the middle for a 56 yard touchdown on the last play of the first frame, and the Cubs took a 14-7 advantage.    

      Turnovers plagued the Cubs in the second quarter as they had 1 interception and 3 fumbles that were lost to Montgomery Central. The Indians took advantage as Bryant Jackson picked up one of the fumbles and strolled in for a 8 yard touchdown. Three minutes later, Conner scored his second touchdown of the night, and Central took their first lead at 20-14.  

        After a goal line stand on the last play of the first half allowed the Cubs to stay within a touchdown, Cheatham County came out the locker room and regained order as Mitchell Potts took a handoff on the reverse and streaked down the home sideline for the 65 yard touchdown, and the Cubs took the lead again at 21-20.    

       The Cubs defense came up with a big stop as Dre’ Jock stopped Conner on a loss of 3 yards on third down that forced a field goal attempt from the Indians. A bad snap allowed the Cubs to take over on their own 34 yard line. From there, the Cubs turned to Montgomery on a 16 play, 76 yard drive. On fourth down at the 1 yard line, Montgomery bulldozed his way for the touchdown, and the Cubs led 28-20 with just under 7 minutes remaining.    

     The Indians continued to battle as Hudson connected with Ravon Hardy on a 65 yard touchdown with 5:15 showing on the clock. The 2 point conversion was no good and the Cubs held on to a 28-26 lead. The Indians then recovered the onsides kick to take over at midfield. Central moved the ball inside the Cubs 15 yard line. On fourth down, Hardy’s 31 yard field goal was barely wide right and the Cubs held on for the 28-26 victory.    

     The Cubs improved to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in District 11-AA. Cheatham County was led by the 149 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns from Montgomery. Potts added 92 yards on 5 carries and 1 touchdown. The Indians were led by the 282 passing yards from Hudson. Hardy had 134 receiving yards and 1 touchdown.  The Cubs return to action this Friday night as they travel to take on the Greenbrier Bobcats. Kickoff is set for 7:00.