Cloudland left no doubt in the first round.
The ‘Landers rolled to a 42-24 victory over Greenback in the opening round of the 2021 TSSAA Class A playoffs at Orr Field on Friday night.
With the win, Cloudland advances to host Oakdale at Orr Field next Friday night in second-round action.
The ‘Landers went to work early.
Cloudland took nearly seven minutes off the clock on the opening drive, and broke onto the board when Caleb Sluder scored on a 10-yard run. The drive was kept alive after Chase Shell hit Gage McKinney for a fourth-down conversion.
After the ‘Lander defense strong on fourth-and-one, Seth Birchfield went around the end and raced 70 yards for the score as the Blue and Gold held a 14-0 lead with two minutes left in the first.
Dylan Shell intercepted Greenback and returned the ball to the Cherokee 2 to end the first quarter, and Birchfield went through the pile for the short touchdown as Cloudland held a 22-0 lead 11:50 into the second quarter.
Greenback broke onto the board midway through the second quarter, but the ‘Lander offense stayed hot as Sluder capped off a quick drive with a 10-yard run.
CHS scored in the final minute of the half to take a 36-8 halftime advantage.
In the third quarter, the Cherokees got some momentum on the opening drive of the quarter as they scored with 7:52 left in the third.
Cloudland, however, wasn’t about to allow a rally.
Birchfield scored on a long run shortly after the Cherokee score, and Cloudland controlled the rest of the game to advance to the next round.
Birchfield had 239 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries, while Sluder had 54 yards and two scores on eight runs.
Shell finished the game with two interceptions for Cloudland.
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