Huntingdon Defeats Milan

MILAN (November 28) — The Huntingdon Mustangs exorcised some demons Friday night with a 35-34 win over Milan. The win earned the Mustangs a spot opposite Marion County in the Class 2-A TSSAA BlueCross Bowl title game. Huntingdon will take the field on Saturday, December 6 at 2 p.m. at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.

​Coming into Friday night’s game, the Mustangs had lost to the Bulldogs three consecutive times, including a 34-9 loss on September 5 this season. Since 1996, the Mustangs have played a semifinal round 11 times, including Friday, and three of those matchups were against Milan. Since 1996, the Mustangs and Bulldogs have met eight times in the playoffs, and the Mustangs have won five of those matchups.

​The appearance in the state title game will be the second for the Mustangs since Eric Swenson became head coach in 2008, with the first appearance in 2012 when the Mustangs lost to Gordonsville 21-20. This marks the fifth time the Mustangs have reached the title game. The Mustangs finished runner-up in 1999, 2003, 2004, and 2012, having won the championship in 2003.

​The Mustangs gained revenge against the Bulldogs after the 34-9 loss in September, after not scoring an offensive touchdown in the first match-up, and were held to 120 yards total offense. Friday, the Mustangs scored on their first five possessions of the game and were never really slowed down by a Bulldog defense that had been allowing fewer than ten points a game this season.

​Even with the offensive success by the Mustangs, the game came down to its defense and an unfortunate bounce of the football on an onside kick. The Bulldogs, who trailed 35-21 entering the fourth quarter, scored with 2:04 left in the game to trail 35-34.

​The Bulldogs decided to go for two to win the game and gave the ball to Mr. Football finalist, Jaydon Peete, who ended the game with 248 yards rushing on 28 carries and scored all five touchdowns for the Bulldogs. The Mustang defense had different ideas and led by linebacker Broox Bennett, who had 14 tackles in the game, stopped Peete a yard short to preserve the one-point lead.

​The Bulldogs tried an onside kick, and the ball seemed to bounce around the playing surface at Johnnie Hale Stadium for several minutes with both teams trying to recover the kick until Kenton Smith pounced on the ball at the Mustang 39. On third-and-one, Smith picked up nine yards and a first down, allowing the Mustangs to run out the clock for the win.

​Huntingdon scored first in the game on a 13-play drive from their 25 and posted the first points on a Smith one-yard run. Greyson Anderson PAT to lead 7-0.

​Milan answered with a 38-yard touchdown run by Peete and an Aiden Pennington point after to tie the score at 7-7.

​The Mustangs, with 1:43 left in the first quarter, took the lead back with an 11-yard run by Braylin Dearmon. Dearmon led the Mustangs with 176 yards for the game on 17 carries and three scores. Anderson gave Huntingdon a 14-7 lead with the point after.

​Milan tied the game at 14-14 on a two-yard run by Peete with 8:54 left in the half.

​Huntingdon punched right back with an eight-play drive that covered 63 yards and ended in a 16-yard run by Smith. Anderson’s point after to take the lead back 21-14.

​The Bulldogs tried a 31-yard field goal by Pennington on the last play of the first half, but the kick was wide left. The Mustangs led by seven at the half.

​After a Bulldog punt began the third quarter, the Mustangs took a two-score lead on a four-yard run by Dearmon with 3:22 left in the third. Anderson tacked on the extra point, and the Mustangs led 28-14.

​Peete then scored from 27 yards with 11:10 left in the game, and Pennington cut the lead to 28-21.

​Dearmon then seemed to put the game away for the Mustangs as he sprinted 62 yards for a touchdown, and Anderson upped the lead to 35-21 with 10:33 left in the game.

​Peete scored on a 54-yard run with 9:41 left and a five-yard run with 2:04 left to set up a dramatic final two minutes of the game.

​The Mustangs rushed for 309 yards, and Smith added 88 yards to Dearmon’s 176. Tyreke Hutch ran for 45 yards on nine carries. The Bulldogs ran for 330 yards and passed for 51.

​The Mustangs face the defending state champs, Marion County (13-1), in the Class 2-A title game.