Unaka dropped a heartbreaker on Friday night.
Sunbright scored in the closing seconds to escape Stoney Creek with a 50-44 victory over the Rangers erasing a furious UHS rally in the closing minutes. Unaka fell to 3-4 on the season.
The Rangers will open the 2020 Class A Playoffs at Goddard Field on Friday night as the No. 2 seed from Region 1-A. UHS will host Greenback in the opening-round game.
It was a back-and-forth clash against the Tigers.
Unaka jumped out to an early lead as Landon Ramsey scored on a five-yard run to take a 6-0 lead in the early going.
Sunbright, however, answered with a 10-yard touchdown pass and added the two-point conversion to take an 8-6 lead.
The teams traded possessions to end the first quarter as Unaka found themselves down 8-6 after 12 minutes of play.
Sunbright opened the scoring in the second quarter with a short touchdown and two-point conversion to take a 16-6 lead. The Rangers answered back midway through the second quarter as Devin Ramsey caught an L. Ramsey pass for the touchdown.
The two-point conversion was unsuccessful as Unaka trailed Sunbright 16-12 at the break.
The opening minutes of the third quarter saw two quick Tiger scores give Sunbright a 30-12 lead midway through the period.
Unaka’s defense, however, rose to the occasion as Austin Fair recovered a Tiger fumble which set-up a 29-yard touchdown pass from L. Ramsey to D. Ramsey and the Rangers added the two-point conversion with a Caleb Lydick run.
Sunbright added a late third-quarter touchdown to take a 38-20 lead into the final quarter.
The Rangers chopped back into the Tiger lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter as L. Ramsey found D. Ramsey for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
L. Ramsey added the two-point conversion to pull Unaka within 10 points.
With just over eight minutes to play, Sunbright added to their lead to take a 44-28 advantage.
Unaka, however, wasn’t going to go quietly.
L. Ramsey hit D. Ramsey once again for a five-yard pitch and catch for a touchdown and the duo connected on the two-point conversion to pull the Rangers back within eight points.
After the UHS defense rose to the occasion to force a punt, Nick Shell caught an L. Ramsey pass for a 64-yard touchdown with just over two minutes to play.
The Ramsey duo connected on the two-point conversion to tie the game at 44-44.
Sunbright, however, answered with a quick drive as they scored with seconds remaining on the clock to take the win.
L. Ramsey finished the game 19-of-35 passing for 314 yards and five touchdowns, while D. Ramsey had 16 catches for 249 yards and three scores – bringing his total in the last two games to 529 yards on 30 catches for eight touchdowns.
TJ Thomas had 10 carries for 73 yards for the Rangers, while Ryan Peters added 72 yards on eight carries. Lydick had four catches for 27 yards.
