CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) — On Monday afternoon, only two area football teams will be putting on helmets, shoulder pads, and heading to practice. The Clarksville Wildcats and Montgomery Central Indians are the remaining teams in the area after winning their first round playoff games on Friday night.
Class 6A: Clarksville 33 – Cane Ridge 27
The Wildcats had to dig deep in their first round playoff game at Cane Ridge. Despite taking a 7-0 lead in the 2nd quarter, the Wildcats found themselves down 21-7 at the half. Clarksville would have an explosive second half outscoring the Ravens 26-7 to win the game 33-27 and upset the number one seed out of Region 6.
“The resiliency and resolve has been there all year in spurts,” said Clarksville head coach Isaac Shelby. “When this team gets their back against the wall, and they’ve had it against the wall a bunch of times this year, they really do get together and fight hard.”
Clarksville used a combination of running the ball and defensive stands to claw back into the game. The Wildcats forced the Ravens to punt their first possession of the second half and followed that up with touchdowns by Rayshawn Bowling and Jamar Carnell, until the Wildcats had a 6 point lead; however, Robert Riley would push the game to a two score lead on an interception return for a touchdown.
The Wildcats will get ready for a rematch with region foe Beech on Friday night in Hendersonville. Beech won the first meeting 40-7 back on September 17th.
Class 4A: Montgomery Central 33 – Jackson South Side 14
Montgomery Central did not have to really stress about the score in their first round playoff game. The Indians controlled the clock and the scoreboard in the first half as they lead 14-0 at halftime.
As for the way the Indians controlled the game, head coach Jeff Tomlinson said, “Our guys have to know, and it has to be ingrained in their heads that a four yard play is a great play, and that three four yard gains is a first down. We have a philosophy, we don’t talk about scoring touchdowns. We talk about getting first downs. All we’re trying to do on this play is get a first down, we don’t care about a touchdown, we just want a first down. Eventually first downs turn into touchdowns.”
The Indians utilized Tomlinson’s philosophy to hold the ball for almost a full quarter at the start of Friday night’s victory. Central would receive three rushing touchdowns from Andrew White in the victory.
Up next for the Indians will be a second trip to Tullahoma this season. The Indians lost to Tullahoma back in October and was their only double-digit loss of the season.
Class 5A: Kenwood 29 – Memphis Central 35
The Kenwood Knights trailed 35-14 at the half, but did not allow a second half touchdown by the Warriors to pull within 6 points; however, with 30 seconds left the Knights faced a 4th and 4 from the Warriors 8 yard line, but could not convert and turned the ball over on downs.
Jaylen Washington ran for two touchdowns, threw another, and caught two interceptions in the loss for the Knights.
Kenwood finishes their season with a 5-6 record.