©2009 NPT PHOTO BY RUSSELL LAWS

Cocke County senior quarterback Casey Ragan (No. 10)
got good blocking from linemen Justin Stokley (No. 79)
and Jon Pierce (No. 55) for a nice gain Friday night against
Cherokee at Hedrick Field.

NEWPORT-The Cocke County Fighting Cocks closed the fourth quarter of Friday night's game with a bang.

It was the bang of Cherokee High School's attack in the game's first 18 minutes that made the difference in the outcome.

Cherokee raced out to a 34-0 lead midway through the second quarter of the season finale for both schools, en route to a 60-40 victory at Hedrick Field.

Cherokee (3-7, 2-5) scored two touchdowns in the opening two minutes of the game without taking an offensive snap, scoring off a blocked punt and an interception return.

The Chiefs also scored twice in the opening two minutes of the second half, taking advantage of another Cocke County (2-8, 1-6) turnover.

"Take away the first two minutes of the first quarter and the first two minutes of the third quarter, the ball game is a little bit different," Cocke County coach Casey Kelley said. "We had a blocked punt and three turnovers in the first half early and then two blown assignments in a pass coverage that allowed easy touchdowns.

"Just if it could go wrong for us, it did go wrong; maybe that's a reflection of a lack of preparation on my part," Kelley said. "It was tough to watch tonight, it was tough to go through. Our team continued to battle back and I'm proud of them."

Once Cherokee's offense took the field, the results were no different as receiver Matt Hale hauled in first half touchdown receptions from 87, 31, and 19 yards out. Hale finished the night with four catches, all for touchdowns, and 231 yards.

The Chiefs came into Friday's game with an aerial assault that played off play action and burnt what had been a solid pass defense for the Fighting Cocks all season long. Cherokee threw for 272 yards on 7-of-10 passing using a variety of play fake passes.

Once establishing their passing attack, the Chiefs were then able to run the ball as they gained 240 yards, 223 on the back of senior back Landon House. The rushing attack saw Cocke County's total run defense yardage allowed rise to 2,545 yards capping one of the worst years defensively in school and conference history.

The rushing defense gave up the eighth most allowed yards and the total defense surrendered the fifth most yards in Inter Mountain Athletic Conference history dating back to 1977.

After being besieged and trailing Cherokee 47-8 early in the third quarter, Cocke County rallied back to make to the game's final margin respectable.

Kelley said that the lack of quit in the Fighting Cocks, despite the 39-point deficit was a message the coaching staff had driven home over the course of the season.

"We've tried to preach all year about 48 minutes," Kelley said. "We tried to preach all season, about continuing to give the effort, win or lose, no matter what the scoreboard says, the continued effort is going to make a man out of you and give you character for who you are and what you represent."

Cocke County quarterback Casey Ragan engineered the second half on the heels of a frightful first half including two interceptions leading to 14 points for the Chiefs.

In the second half, Ragan, who went over the 1,000-yard passing mark in the game, was much more efficient tossing four touchdown passes all over the length of 35 yards, completing a 13-of-22 night for 287 yards and five touchdown passes with two interceptions. Ragan was also the team's leading rusher in the game and the season, generating most of his rushing yards on busted plays.

Receiver Tyler Johnson was the go-to man for the Fighting Cocks in the second half, notching three touchdown receptions and totaling 196 yards on five catches.

The duo ranked as among two of the four reasons that Cocke County's offense went through a resurgence, finishing just shy of the 2,000-yard mark in total offense this season, after averaging 1,500 yards since the 2006 season.

Consecutive touchdown catches by Johnson made the score 47-24 with 6:36 remaining in the game. The Chiefs then capped off a four-play, 63-yard drive with a two-yard run by Zakk Parker with 4:22 to play to gain a 54-24 lead.

Then the Fighting Cocks made things interesting with a pair of quick strike scores. A 36-yard strike from Ragan to sophomore Krys Cates capped off a 58-yard, five-play drive to make the score 54-32 with 2:00 to play.

One play after a squib kick resulted in a Cocke County recovery, the Fighting Cocks pulled to within two touchdowns with 1:42 to play. Ragan hit Johnson 45-yards downfield to move the margin closer and his team back into the game.

Kelley credited the team and its senior class, who said farewell to 15 members on Friday night, for its character and heart for being able to keep fighting all season and in this game.

"This group overall and especially this senior group has laid the foundation of where we want to be as a program, and laid a foundation of how we want to be and how we want to act and who we are," Kelley said. "Our younger guys have to respond and carry that on."

The ensuing onside kick was pounced on by Cherokee, who seemed intent on running out the clock for the majority of the 1:42. However, they then moved House to a wildcat direct-snap formation and tried to run the ball for a touchdown to obtain a school-record for the senior tailback.

As time expired, House appeared to score from 37 yards out but a live-ball illegal procedure call on Cherokee brought the ball back five yards from the original spot and incorrectly the Chiefs received an untimed down. House, from the wildcat formation, then scored from 42-yards out on the untimed down to increase the final margin of victory.

The loss ends Cocke County's season at 2-8, marking the first time since 2004 that the program has had a multiple win season. The team also snapped a 22-game winless streak in the process of obtaining a win in the fifth week of the season at Union County.

Kelley acknowledged despite the handful of successes the team had in 2009, hard work is around the corner and will begin soon for the 2010 season.

"We've got a long ways to go," Kelley said. "There are a lot of things that will be changed for this next season and we've got to get busy on those changes."

CCHS begins the 2010 season at South Greene on August 27.