It was a tale of two halves, each dominate from two of the top 5 teams in 4-A football in the state of Tennessee. But when it was all said and done the Tullahoma Wildcats came out on top victorious against Pearl Cohn 24-21 on Homecoming Friday night at Wilkins Stadium in Tullahoma.
The home squad put in the dominate performance in the first half. The Wildcats struck first as Keshawn Cummings capped a six-minute ,10 play game opening drive with a two yard rushing touchdown giving the Cats a 7-0 lead at 5:56 of the 1st.
Ryan Scott doubled the lead when he hit Jacob Dixon for a 28-yard score at 2:20 of the first. That score held at the end of the quarter. Tullahoma 14 Pearl Cohn 0 with the Firebirds marching in Tullahoma territory. That drive ended however with a Pearl Cohn fumble recovered by the Cats to snuff out the threat.
The Wildcats pushed their lead to three scores with 3:47 left in the half when Jaxson Sheffield scampered in from 7 yards out. After Tullahoma recovered an ambush onside kick, they took a took that 21-0 lead into the halftime break.
Not to be outdone by their host Pearl Cohn put together a dominate half of their own outscoring Tullahoma 21-3 in the second half to erase the 21 nothing hole in the 2nd half.
The Firebirds got on the board with a 14-yard touchdown run from Malachi Cromwell at 5:14 of the third. That score would hold for the remainder of the quarter giving Tullahoma a two-score lead entering the fourth and the Cats on the march again.
Tullahoma ultimately had to settle for a field goal on the drive to go up 17 with 11:55 to play in the game.
Pearl Cohn answered right back as Jayden Robinson scored from 8 yards out with 10:06 left in the fourth to pull with in 10. They’d get with in three on a 27-yard Barrion Brown score with 6:48 to play. Then after a stalled drive and a bad punt the Firebirds had one more chance for a game winning drive, but Tullahoma’s Will Partin recovered fumble with 1:15 left in the game and the Cats ran out to clock to hold on for the 24-21 win.
With the win Tullahoma improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in Region 5-4A. The Wildcats are on the road next week as they travel to region rival Hillwood. Pregame 6:00 Kickoff 7:00 on 93.9 The Duck.
