Mt. Juliet 27, Hendersonville 7: 5 takeaways from the win

Mt. Juliet finished the regular season 10-0 and claimed the Region 6-4A title with its 27-7 win over Hendersonville on Friday. The Golden Bears shut down the Commandos offense in the second half.

Here are five takeaways from the game.

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Perfection

Mt. Juliet’s pursuit of a perfect regular season came to fruition. The win for the Golden Bears comes in a season where they allowed just 30 points. Mt. Juliet enjoyed a perfect 10-0 regular season in 2011. That year they reached the Class 6A semifinals where they lost to White Haven 44-10.

“In 6A football, it’s huge to go 10-0,” Mt. Juliet coach Trey Perry said. “Those types of season are few and far between. This was only step one though, we have to go out and play hard next week.”

Aidan Raines shines in the rain

In less than ideal playing conditions, Mt. Juliet relied on the run game all night. The Bears executed their game plan early when senior running back Aidan Raines rushed for 78 yards on the second play of the game. Raines punched in a touchdown on the very next play to give the Bears the lead. Raines rushed for 232 yards on 23 carries in the win.

Marcello Walton added Mt. Juliet’s other two touchdowns.

“They’ve been great all year long,” Perry said. “This is not easy, playing in conditions like tonight, it’s an incredible testament to how hard we work.”

Hughes lifts Hendersonville

Hendersonville avoided the shutout when Anthony Hughes rushed for a touchdown with nine minutes left in the second quarter. Hughes rushed 16 times for 68 yards. The Commando’s seven points was a season low for the Commandos who entered the evening averaging 36 points per game.

“It’s disappointing, but we’re playing next week,” Hendersonville coach Bruce Hatfield said. “Mt. Juliet is a really good football team, we’re not going to make excuses. We didn’t play our best game.”

Streaks snapped

Not only did Mt. Juliet extend its winning streak to 10, but it also ended the Commando’s five-game winning streak. With the loss, Hendersonville drops to 6-4 and finishes second in the region.

Going into the game, Mt. Juliet had previously dropped the last two meetings to Hendersonville, last beating the Commando’s in 2012. The Golden Bears won four straight games from 2009-2012.   

What’s it all mean?

With the win, Mt. Juliet claims the Region 6-4A championship. Mt. Juliet hosts Riverdale on Friday in the first round of the playoffs. The loss for Hendersonville places them second in the region paring them with Blackman. 

“It’s awesome. We played a really good Hendersonville squad,” Perry said. “Our team played a four-quarter game. We continue to hang our hat on the defense and we executed pretty well tonight.”

Reach Andrew Preston at APreston@tennessean.com or 615-259-8015 and on Twitter @AndrewPreston33.