CEDAR BLUFF – Sand Rock football coach Alan Heath said last year’s Cedar Bluff game “weighed heavily” on him after the way it ended.

After scoring a touchdown with no time left on the clock, the Wildcats decided to go for two and the win. But the Tigers stopped Sand Rock’s two-point try just short of the goal line and escaped with a one-point victory.

On Thursday night at Cedar Bluff, the Wildcats didn’t need any last-second heroics.

Sand Rock’s defense forced four turnovers. Trace Haygood ran for 97 yards on 11 carries and scored three first-half touchdowns, and Ace Ashley connected with Olin Pruitt on a 41-yard touchdown pass just before the first half ended in the Wildcats’ 47-13 win to close out the regular season at 7-3. The win also ended a three-game skid against the Tigers (6-4).

“To get this win was big tonight,” Heath said, who can officially put last year’s game to rest. “It’s a rivalry win, and it makes us all feel a little bit better.”

In part, Heath can thank Haygood for his tough running.

Playing with a cast on his left hand after having surgery to repair torn ligaments on his thumb at the beginning of the month, Haygood hasn’t let it bother him.

“I had surgery the week before Spring Garden, and I just decided I was going to put a club on it and play through the pain,” Haygood said. “We practiced really hard that week taking hand offs, seeing if I could catch with it. I just practiced and practiced and got to where I could hold it.”

Heath said Haygood is “a tough, tough kid.”

“I’m super-proud of him to come back from that injury after having surgery. He’s played ever since then and hasn’t missed a beat,” Heath said. “He’s been at practice full speed and full pads. I can’t say enough about him.”

Haygood put the Wildcats on top 7-0 on a 10-yard run with seven minutes remaining in the first quarter. After Cedar Bluff quarterback Jacob Burleson tied the game on a 1-yard run set up by a 47-yard pass completion to Eli McFry, Haygood put Sand Rock back out in front 14-7 on a 2-yard run with 3:19 to go in the first quarter.

Ashley extended Sand Rock’s lead to 21-7 on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brian Giles, but Burleson brought the Tigers back with a 2-yard run two plays after he recovered a Wildcat fumble. The extra point was no good, keeping the score at 21-13 with just under three minutes to go in the first half.

That was enough time for the Wildcats to score twice more to take a 34-13 edge into the locker room.

Haygood ran for a 12-yard score with 48 seconds remaining, then after a Burleson fumble was recovered by Carl Goodwin, Ashley tossed a 41-yard scoring strike to Olin Pruitt with 13 seconds left in the first half that seemingly broke the Tigers’ back.

“I feel like that kind of broke their morale,” said Pruitt, who was Ashley’s top target with five catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. He also had a pair of interceptions on defense. “We’ve got a lot of talent on our team. A lot of guys make turnovers. A lot of guys make touchdowns. A lot of guys make big plays. We’re a big-play team. We like to make big plays. Everybody on our team is a playmaker.”

After a scoreless third quarter, Jacob Cornejo scored on a 2-yard run to extend Sand Rock’s lead to 40-13. Ashley added a 63-yard touchdown run in the fourth for the final.

Ashley completed 10-of-16 pass attempts for 147 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 77 yards on three carries with a score, and had interception in the end zone to kill a potential Tiger scoring drive in the second quarter.

Cornejo added 65 yards and a score on 11 totes. Logan Crider came away with 60 yards on three carries.

Burleson led the Tigers with 62 passing yards on four completions, and 37 yards with two touchdowns on 11 carries. Bucky Leek collected 53 yards on five touches.

“We played like a tired team tonight,” Cedar Bluff coach Alan Beckett said. “Turnovers hurt, but I thought they were moving the ball up and down the field. We were trying to keep them in front and not give up prolific plays, and they hit a couple of deep balls. We moved the ball, but we just didn’t finish drives in the red zone a couple of times. We turned it over other times.

“To beat them, you’re going to have to get in the 30s, and that’s probably not our kind of game.”

Both teams will compete in next week’s first round of the state playoffs. Class 1A Cedar Bluff hosts Woodland, while Class 2A Sand Rock travels to defending state champion Mars Hill.

“Woodland is going to pack it in there. They’re going to run the football between the tackles and run it a bunch,” Beckett said. “They’re really physical. It’s not one of those 1-versus-4 things where the bleachers will be empty and it’ll be over at halftime. It will be a ball game. Our goal is always to take it to the fourth quarter.”

Friday will mark Sand Rock’s first postseason appearance in four years. Ironically, the Wildcats’ last playoff win came against Mars Hill back on Nov. 10, 2017.

“It’s an honor to be able to turn Sand Rock football around,” Pruitt said. “That’s what making the playoffs means to us. It puts a smile on everybody’s face.”

Heath said he’s excited for the challenge.

“These kids get to experience the playoffs for the first time. I’ve told them the playoffs are different than the regular season. We were 7-3 in the regular season, which is the best record we’ve had in a while, and I’m super-proud of that, but once you hit the playoffs, it’s a whole new thing. I don’t care what anybody’s record is. We’re 0-0. I think it’s going to be a good matchup. That’s a good opportunity for us to load up and go to Florence. It gives us a good opportunity to see where we are against the defending state champions. I want to see what we’re made of.”

NOTE: Before Friday night’s game, Cedar Bluff honored former football player, coach and current assistant principal Jonathan McWhorter with his framed No. 51 jersey.

McWhorter coached the Tigers for 15 years and compiled a 121-58 record which includes five region championships and two trips to the Class 1A title game in 2006 (his first season as head coach) and in 2015. He stepped down from coaching the Tigers at the end of April.