The Thursday night lights were on once again as No. 2 Blackman High School (9-1) advanced to the second round of the Region 6-3A playoffs over No. 3 Gallatin High School (6-3) 24-9.  

Both defenses came out of the gate looking sharp, as the game remained scoreless throughout most of the first quarter.  

The first points of the game from either team came with 25 seconds left in the first quarter when Blackman’s kicker, Tyler Borombozin, connected on an 18-yard chip shot to give Blackman a 3-0 lead.  

Near the midway point of the second, two-way playmaker Oni Scott intercepted a deep ball from Blackman’s Jaevion Elliott,however, the Blaze defense once again held strong and kept the Green Wave out of the endzone.  

In the waning seconds of the half, however, Gallatin got on the scoreboard with a field goal of its own to even the score at 3-3. Austin Ashabranner connected from 38 yards out with one second left in the half as the two teams went into the break at an even score.  

Blackman’s stout defense kept the game tied, even with the Blaze offense struggling in the first half. 

“The defense did a great job,” Blackman head coach Matt Kriesky said. “Whenever we weren’t able to get the ball in the endzone, the defense was able to make some key stops to help us out.”  

Blackman looked fired up coming out of the break, as the Blaze started the second half with a 50-plus-yard kickoff return by senior Kari Dixon. However, Blackman wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunity as the Gallatin defense once again held strong.  

After the Blaze defense forced a three-and-out, the Blackman offense finally found paydirt as junior Daniel Smith rushed for a two-yard score, capping off a six-plus-minute touchdown drive. This gave Blackman the lead once again at 10-7.  

On the very next drive, Blackman marched down the field and scored again. This time, Jaevion Elliott rushed into the end zone from eight yards out on a quarterback draw. Blackman led 17-7 going into the final quarter.  

“We had 24 minutes guaranteed, that’s all we had guaranteed left of football,” Kriesky said of his message to the team at halftime.  “If we wanted any more time together, we were gonna have to put a better product out there on the field in the second half.”  

Tensions rose to playoff level in the second half, as referees stopped play multiple times due to minor altercations breaking out after the whistle.  

After both defenses traded stops to open the fourth quarter, Blackman found the endzone for the third time. Micah Nance ran the ball in from 21 yards out to extend the Blaze’s lead to three scores.  

Gallatin finally got in the endzone for the final score of the game. Riley Ridings found Scott for a 47-yard touchdown to cut into Blackmon’s lead, before the Green Wave missed the extra point.  However, it was too little too late for Gallatin as it fell to Blackman 24-9.  

Kriesky said he hopes the Blaze continue to improve as they head into the second round next week. 

“Some of the younger guys had a little nerves … hopefully we got all that out tonight and we’re ready to move forward to our second round game,” Kriesky said. 

Blackman advances to the second round of the Class 6A playoff, where it will take on the winner of No. 1 Dobyns Bennett High School (9-1) and No. 4 Farragut High School (3-7) next Friday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m.  

To contact the sports editor, email [email protected]. 

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