Cloudland had to work overtime on Friday night but came away with a key region win.
Grayson Cole scored on a four-yard touchdown in overtime to lift the ‘Landers to a 28-22 victory over Jellico in Region 1-A play. With the win, Cloudland improves to 2-0 in Region 1-A play and 2-3 overall.
It was a back-and-forth battle all night.
After a scoreless first quarter, Cloudland got on the board in the opening minute of the second quarter as Bryce Birchfield found Cole for a 23-yard touchdown pass. The Blue Devils answered on the next drive with a 52-yard touchdown run from Caydon Hamblin.
After Cloudland pinned Jellico at their own 4, the ‘Lander defense forced a safety, and Landon Barnette added a one-yard touchdown run with 2:39 to give CHS a 16-8 lead.
Jellico answered on the ensuing kickoff as Clayton Hamblin returned the kick for a touchdown, but Cloudland’s Cole scored on a five-yard run with six left in the half to counter and give Cloudland a 22-14 halftime lead.
The defenses traded fourth-down stops to open the second half before Jellico scored with 6:58 to play to even things up at 22-22.
After the teams traded possessions, the Cloudland defense came up big in the closing seconds as the ‘Landers stopped Jellico inside the five as time expired to force overtime.
The Cloudland defense came up big in the first overtime possession as they kept Jellico out of the endzone. That set the stage for Cole’s winning touchdown.