Warriors defeat Hixson, advance to second round of playoffs

White County Warriors were on the road Friday with a chance to end their season – a chance they passed up. Their road win in Hixson County moved the Warriors to the second round of the regional playoffs for the second straight season. After dropping their final two regular season games without scoring a single point, White County put 20 points on the board Thursday night.

White County took the opening kickoff and used most of the first quarter’s minutes to move down field where Cole Sims found the end zone to finish the drive. The extra-point attempt was no good, and it was a six-point lead. Sims would find the endzone again in the second quarter, and, this time, the extra point kick was good to extend the Warriors’ lead to 13.

The next two scores, however, would come from Hixson County. The Wildcats would score once before halftime and then again in the third quarter. Hixson’s first score came on a 43-yard pass while their second was thanks to a 16-yard run. With both of their extra point attempts sailing through the uprights, the Warriors’ missed extra point in the first quarter was looming big.

However, quarterback Tucker Pinion only completed one pass Thursday night, but it was a huge one. Pinion’s throw found Carter Rich who completed the reception for a 20-yard score. Kicker Noah Skeith added the extra point, and the Warriors were back up on top by a score of 20-14 to start the fourth quarter.

The final frame saw neither team have success for the first eight minutes, and they swapped punts a few times. With four minutes left to play, White County punted the ball, and the Wildcats were set up near midfield needing to find the endzone to keep their season alive. The time ticked down to a minute as Hixson moved the ball down the field.

With just over a minute on the clock, faced with a second and eight at the Warrior 24-yard line, the Hixson quarterback threw for the 17th time on the night. However, this time it was White County’s Bryson Hogg who came down with the ball. Hogg’s interception sealed the win for White County as they ran out the clock after completing a fourth-and-four a few plays later.

After being held to just seven yards last week, and 37, Cole Sims was back to chewing up yardage as he ran for 163 yards and two scores, on Thursday. Sims wasn’t the only one whose legs were getting the job done for White County as JoJo Dowell ran for 44 yards, and Pinion tacked on another 21.

With the win, the Warriors advanced to the next round of the playoffs for the second straight season. They will travel to Greeneville next week to take on the Greene Devils, who won their game over the Carter Green Hornets by a score of 56-10.