Bluff hangs tough but Warriors pull away, 42-14

By Roy Mitchell

BOBBY JOE JOHNSON FIELD — Chalk one up for Goliath.

Reigning Class 4A state champion Cherokee County High toppled tiny Cedar Bluff 42-14 in the high school football season opener for both teams here Thursday night. Despite the lopsided score, for two and a half quarters stunned spectators wondered if they were about to witness an upset of Biblical proportions.

The two schools, remarkably different in size (Cedar Bluff plays in Class 1A) despite being located within four miles of each other, had not battled on the gridiron in 59 years.

When the rivalry was dropped after the 1951 game, gasoline cost 27 cents a gallon, George W. Bush was 5 years old, and no one had ever heard of a country called Viet Nam. Locally, Weiss Lake was merely a figment of an Alabama Power engineer’s imagination, and the iconic coach for which Cherokee County’s stadium is named was in the 6th grade.

Scheduled after region realignment bumped Cedar Bluff out of its usual first-game opponent, both schools anticipated a hefty gate which they will split. Early counts estimated around 3,100 people attended the contest. The Warriors' typical gate count is typically around 2,000, according to a school  official.

After both teams failed to gain a first down on initial possessions, Cedar Bluff sophomore quarterback Levi Mintz found senior Zachary Taylor for a 40-yard scoring strike. The pass capped an eye-opening five-play, 89-yard drive. The Tigers were ahead 6-0 after a failed point-after try.

The Warrior offense appeared to be on the move on its opening drive only to stall at the Tiger 4-yard line, where a penalty nullified what would have been the tying touchdown. On the next play, Cedar Bluff’s Marcus Reece intercepted Brett Burgess in the end zone.

After the Tigers failed to capitalize on the next possession, the Warriors took a 7-6 lead on sophomore Tae Rooks’ two-yard plunge. Isaac Jones added the PAT.

The Warriors stretched the lead to 14-6 with an eight-play, 80-yard drive which concluded with a 12-yard pass from Burgess to senior receiver Denzel Johnson.

Johnson led all Warrior receivers with 139 yards on the night.

Just when it appeared momentum had shifted to the Warriors, Cedar Bluff’s Zachary Taylor grabbed the ensuing kickoff and scooted 94 yards past an ecstatic Cedar Bluff sideline for the touchdown. Mintz’s conversion pass to Tyric Scales knotted the game at 14-14 just before halftime.

Adding to the sense of history and drama already flowing through the crowd, 19 men and one woman, some aided by walker or wheelchair, reclaimed their place in the spotlight as they were introduced at midfield. All were either players or cheerleaders during the Warriors-Tigers rivalry between 1930-1951.

Throughout the first half of the third quarter, both defenses held firm and the crowd braced for might have been a dramatic and historic ending. It took one broken play to open the flood gates on the underdogs from Class 1A.

On third down near midfield the Warriors’ Burgess was flushed out of the pocket by a blitz. As Burgess scrambled, senior receiver Kenny Akin slipped behind the defense and Burgess found him for a 44-yard score. Jones’ PAT extended the lead to 21-14.

The Warriors’ Matt Hill rumbled into the end zone on the next possession late in the third. Cherokee County also recovered a Tigers fumble before Burleson returned another interception 22 yards for a 35-14 lead. Cedar Bluff fumbled the ensuing kickoff, then junior Patrick Lowe ran the final 21 yards for the 42-14 final score.

After the game, head coach Tripp Curry said he saw good and bad in his Warriors.

“We’ve got to get better,” Curry said. “The second half I kind of challenged the kids to play a complete ball game. We didn’t play a complete ball game, but we made big plays on third down.”

Curry had high praise for his team’s overmatched opponent.

“The score’s not what the game was,” he said. “They’ve got a good football team.”

Curry said the hype surrounding the game was special for everyone, but might have served as a distraction early in the going.

“I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for Cherokee County football and Cedar Bluff, and how many people were here to watch the ballgame tonight," he said. "But I want our kids to play the game. We started out looking up in the stands and seeing if momma and dad and girlfriends were looking. Once we started playing the game instead of playing for the fans, we got under control and we did a little bit better.”

Cedar Bluff head coach Jonathan McWhorter accentuated the positive about his team.

“Obviously, any game, we want to win,” he said. “The thing we have to go back and correct is not effort. Our kids left their hearts on the field tonight, and I’m really proud of them.”

McWhorter, whose uncle Freeman Johnson coached the last matchup in the series won by Cedar Bluff (in 1937), said the game was great for everyone in the area who loves football.

“It was something both communities got excited about,” McWhorter said. “Even though we came up on the short end, the players will remember it for the rest of their lives.”