WAYNESVILLE – Tuscola High came in with a highly touted passing attack, but the Mountaineers' running game made the difference Friday night.
Tuscola beat visiting Hickory 17-10 in a first-round state 3A playoff game, running its win streak to 10 straight and setting up a second round home game against No. 5 seed Burns.
Hickory, seeded No. 13, finished 6-6.
Tuscola quarterback Tyler Brosius had 2,381 yards passing coming in, but was held to 119 by Hickory.
But the Mountaineers ran for 155 yards, including 52 on the opening drive of the third quarter, to win.
"We proved we could play with them," said Red Tornadoes head coach John Worley. "We got what we wanted, a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.
"But we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had."
Hickory drove from its 20 to the Tuscola 36 in the final 2 1/2 minutes. Two plays after a 35-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Barnette to Anthony Wilson, the Mountaineers forced a turnover – a lost fumble by Barnette — and ran out the clock.
Earlier, Patrick Smith put Hickory up 3-0 with a 28-yard field goal on the opening drive, and that was all the scoring until late in the first half.
With 1:24 remaining in the half, the Mountaineers struck quickly to take the lead. From their 42, Brosius hit Eric Nelson over the middle for 28 yards. A face mask penalty on the tackle moved Tuscola to the Hickory 15.
On the next play, Brosius found Austin Chambers in the corner of the end zone for a TD and 7-3 lead after the PAT.
Tuscola had an opportunity to score again before the half was over when Barnette lost a fumble. The Mountaineers appeared to score on a 28-yard pass from Brosius to Josh Adams, but a chop block penalty nullified the score.
On the next play, a pass from Brosius near the end zone deflected off Nelson to Hickory's Donovan Bristow for the interception. Bristow wound his way up the sideline, then past several tacklers for a 95-yard TD return as time expired.
Hickory led 10-7 at the half.
On the opening drive of the second half, the Mountaineers used 4:51 of the clock on a 12-play, 80-yard drive. Hickory's assisted that with three offside penalties, including one on a fourth-and-1. The only pass on the drive was a 13-yard TD pass by Brosius to Alan Sitton to retake the lead at 14-10.
Tuscola upped the score to 17-10 when a Shaquan Reid fumble was turned into a 21-yard field goal by Michael Garrison.
Hickory recovered two fumbles near midfield in the fourth quarter, but managed only five yards on offense on two drives before punting and then falling short on a fourth-and-25 with 2:50 to play.
The Red Tornadoes had difficulty establishing the run, managing 106 yards.
Barnette had a hot first half by going 8-of-10. He then threw 11 straight incompletions before connecting on two during the final drive. Fearious Anderson had four catches for 73 yards, all in the first half.
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