By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

CENTRE – Cherokee County High School sophomore quarterback Tatum Perry remembers last year’s first round of the Class 4A state football playoffs.

The Warriors lost a heartbreaking game on the road 28-26 which ended their season and killed their chances of making a fourth consecutive state championship game.

Perry said he thought a lot about that this week.

“I was thinking about the seniors from last year and how we lost,” Perry said of Friday’s Region 8 rematch.

That served as all the motivation Perry and the rest of the Warriors needed.

Perry accounted for 267 total yards and five touchdowns. He ran for 146 yards on 14 carries and four scores, and also completed 10-of-15 pass attempts for 121 yards and a touchdown to Isaiah Young in the Warriors’ 40-21 victory.

“I felt comfortable tonight,” Perry said. “Our team came to play tonight. I couldn’t do any of this without my offensive line and wide receivers. We’ve been working all week.”

The win puts Cherokee County (5-3, 5-1) in prime position for a home playoff game. They now own the head-to-head tiebreaker with Good Hope (6-2, 5-1) with two region games left: at Crossville on Thursday and at home against Fairview to end the regular season on Oct. 30.

“It feels great, but the job’s not done,” Warrior first-year head coach Bayley Blanchard said. “It’s still not good enough right now. We’ve got to take care of both of those games, or it could potentially ruin the chance for a home playoff game. We’ve got to make sure we’re on top of that and go 1-0 each week.”

Blanchard applauded Perry’s effort on Friday. He said his confidence is “growing week by week.”

“We know Tatum can be a play maker. We’ve seen that from the beginning,” Blanchard said. “I’m just really proud of the way he played tonight and led the offense. He had some really big runs and had some really big throws. Isaiah Young had some really big catches too.

“I’m proud of all our guys. We just told them to have confidence. We’ve got a lot of young guys, but this is their eighth game playing. Coach (Todd) Wheeler said it best before the game. You’re not young anymore. This is eight games in now. You’ve just got to have confidence and believe.”

And believe the Warriors did.

On Good Hope’s first drive, senior defensive back Keshawn Thomas picked off quarterback Web Buchanan, giving the Warrior offense good field position at their own 41-yard line.

Seven plays following the turnover, Perry connected with Young for an 8-yard score. Hugh Miller’s extra point provided the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 4:06 remaining in the first quarter.

Young was the Warriors’ top receiver with seven catches for 90 yards and a touchdown.

The Raiders tied the game at 7 in the second quarter on Buchanan’s 83-yard scoring connection with Parker Johnson, but the Warriors countered with Perry’s 60-yard touchdown run. Miller’s extra point attempt missed, keeping the score at 13-7.

Good Hope responded with an 8-play, 82-yard drive capped by Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run with 16.3 seconds remaining in the first half. Chase Prewett’s extra point provided the Raiders a 14-13 advantage at halftime.

The Warriors regained the lead on their first drive of the second half. Perry capped the drive with his 5-yard touchdown run. Miller’s extra point pushed the Warrior lead to 20-14 with 9:08 to go in the third quarter.

Following a Raider punt, Perry ran it in for a third time on a 42-yard up the middle. Miller’s point after made it a two-score game at 27-14 in favor of the Warriors.

But Good Hope didn’t back down. The Raiders methodically marched 77 yards in 16 plays, capped off by Johnson’s 2-yard touchdown run. The extra point pulled the Raiders within six at 27-21 with 9:15 remaining in the game.

Johnson led the Raiders with 152 yards on 19 carries with two scores. He also caught three passes for 85 yards and a touchdown.

Buchanan completed 8-of-15 pass attempts for 132 yards and a touchdown.

After Johnson’s 2-yard TD run, Perry pushed the Warrior back out to two scores again at 33-21 on a 1-yard run, then JV Henderson put the game away with his 14-yard score with 1:37 to go for the final.

Henderson finished with 54 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown for the Warriors.