By Greg Thompson
Correspondent
McMinn Central quarterback Jackson Guy had one thought as he raced around the left end on a keeper sweep in the fourth quarter of the Chargers' visit Friday night to Chattanooga Central.
"I hope they don't catch me," Guy said of his 33-yard touchdown run that sealed the Chargers' 21-10 victory. "It was a well-designed play, and I'm proud of all the guys. We hope this can get us ready for next week."
Next Friday is a big date for both the Chargers (8-2) and the Purple Pounders (6-4), as they will enter their respective first-round matchups for the TSSAA Class 3A playoffs. The Chargers, finishing second in District 5-AA, and the Pounders, earning third place in District 6-AA, will learn their playoff opponents today.
Guy's run with 4:31 left in the game and a 1-yard touchdown blast by Luke Davis two minutes earlier in the fourth quarter seized the momentum that the Pounders had taken from opening of the second half of a contest that had many elements of a playoff atmosphere, including inclement weather conditions.
The Chargers' ability to convert Pounders turnovers, including two mishandled punt snaps, gave the visitors a short field on the fourth-quarter touchdown drives. Davis' touchdown completed a drive of 27 yards, and Guy's run capped a quick two-play, 38-yard scoring possession.
"It was a hard-fought game and we knew they would be tough," Davis said. "We had some tough breaks earlier in the game, but we picked things up in the fourth quarter and made the most of our opportunities."
Seeing his team create opportunities and capitalize on turnovers was a familiar sight for Chargers coach Josh Goodin. After a 7-0 record to open the season and then losing the past two games, Goodin wanted to see how his team would respond in the regular-season finale.
"Tonight kind of had the feel of playoff game with the cold and the wind blowing," he said. "We knew coming in here that Chattanooga Central has one of the best defenses we faced all season. We made some mistakes early with bad snaps. We were fortunate on the timing of our mistakes, and we were able to take advantage of bad snaps that Central had on a couple of punts in the fourth quarter.
"We had a chance to go get those points late in the game, and that was the difference in the ballgame," he added. "Early in the year, we had been really good on getting points after nearly every turnover the other team made. It was great to see us getting back to converting those turnovers."
Coming out of the locker room down 10-7, the Pounders used the powerful running of Isyah Funk to take the lead and the momentum. Funk carried the ball three times to account for all the yardage and the scoring in the 69-yard drive. His 1-yard TD highlighted a night with 25 carries for 171 yards.
The Pounders - behind the strong defensive effort of Fletcher Zuber (five tackles and fumble recovery) and Kevin McKenzie (four tackles and two sacks) - appeared to be in control until they encountered the ball-security problems in the fourth quarter.
"We've had some issues this year holding onto the ball, and it hurt us tonight," said first-year Central coach Ryan Mallory, noting the challenge ahead in the playoffs. "But our kids played hard. This was a good atmosphere for kids. I believe we learn from it and we'll be ready next week."
Contact Greg Thompson at sports@timesfreepress.com