Cloudland was unable to keep pace on a rainy Friday night on the road.
The ‘Landers came up short in a 47-24 decision to Johnson County on a rainy night in Mountain City.
With the loss, Cloudland falls to 2-2 on the year.
Johnson County’s Juan Mejia scored on a 19-yard run to open the scoring on the game’s opening drive to give the Longhorns an early 6-0 lead.
Cloudland, however, answered as Kyle Birchfield scored on an 11-yard run on their first drive of the game to tie the game at 6-6.
The Longhorns moved into scoring position on the ensuing drive, but the CHS defense jumped on a fumble inside the Johnson County 5-yard line late in the first quarter.
The game was tied at 6-6 after a quarter of play.
In the opening minutes of the second quarter, the ‘Landers moved inside the JC 20 but was stopped on fourth down. Johnson County took advantage of the momentum on the next play as Mejia raced 93 yards for the touchdown to regain the lead for the Longhorns.
JC added to the lead in the closing stages of the quarter as Connor Simcox found Carter Rhudy for a 19-yard touchdown. That allowed the Longhorns to take a 20-6 lead at the half.
On the first drive of the third quarter, Cloudland methodically marched down the field with a drive that was capped off by a Birchfield 3-yard touchdown run as CHS trimmed into the Longhorn lead. Bryce Birchfield found Auston Caraway for a key play to get Cloudland in scoring position on the drive.
The Longhorns, however, scored a pair of touchdowns in the third to push the lead out to 35-12 after three-quarters of play.
Cloudland, however, kept battling.
K. Birchfield scored on a 15-yard keeper from the wildcat formation early in the quarter, and the running back capped the scoring for the ‘Landers in the closing minutes of the game. However, the Blue and Gold were unable to get back within striking distance.
