It was a tall task for Cloudland on the road.
The ‘Landers closed out the regular season in a 41-14 loss to defending Class 4A state champion Knoxville Catholic on Friday in Knoxville.
Cloudland finishes the regular season with a 4-6 overall record – a week after claiming the top seed from Region 1-A.
After CHS stalled on their opening drive, Catholic struck quickly. The Irish jumped out to a 27-0 lead in the first quarter while limiting the CHS offensive attack. Catholic continued to keep their high-powered offense firing on all cylinders as they extended the advantage to 41-0 at the half.
Despite the deficit, Cloudland continued to fight in the second half.
Noah Arnett raced 59 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put CHS on the board, and sophomore Josh Blair added the two-point conversion.
After the CHS defense forced the Irish off the field on fourth down, Malachi Benfield capped off the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown.
The senior Arnett finished with 104 yards on 19 carries. Blair added 54 yards for the Cloudland cause, while Logan Johnson had three carries for 36 yards.
The ‘Landers will now await for the playoffs to start on Nov. 4. Cloudland will open the road to Cookeville at Orr Field against the four-seed from Region 2-A.
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