BEARVILLE — Pierce County scored six rushing touchdowns piling up 419 yards on the ground to beat Ringgold 45-14 in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs here Friday night.
The 16th-seed Bears (92), who surpassed 42 points for an eighth straight first round game, were led on the ground by Jae’Veon Williams and Drake Dowling, who combined for 379 yards and five touchdowns.
Williams rushed for a career-high 283 yards scoring two touchdowns on 24 carries. Dowling finished with 98 yards on 12 carries and a career-high three touchdowns.
Williams’ total was the third-best in the playoffs trailing the 330 yards of Caden McGatha (vs. Fitzgerald) in 2023 and the 304 of D.J. Bell (vs. Dawson County) in 2021. Williams has surpassed 100 yards in nine consecutive games.
His two touchdowns moved his streak to 11 consecutive games (second-longest to Bell’s 19) with multiple touchdowns
(second to Bell’s 13).
Pierce County (9-2) stretched its home win ning streak to 13 games in the first round and 10 straight since a 2015 loss at Cedar Grove.
Meanwhile, the visiting Tigers (6-5), seeded 17th, remained winless in the playoffs on the road losing a 13th consecutive time.
PCHS advances to a second round pairing at unbeaten second-ranked top-seed Carver-Atlanta (11-0), a 69-6 winner against overmatched 32nd-seed Butler.
“We are blessed to be moving on,” said head coach Ryan Herring. “There is a lot of stuff we’ve got to clean up, and I think we will. But, it’ll be a big challenge next week playing Carver-Atlanta.”
The Bears and Ringgold combined for 748 yards of offense with PCHS having a 448-300 advantage. PCHS’s 419 rushing yards was the fifth-highest in school history.
“Our defense really did a good job to help the offense get going,” Herring said. “We were just a little off from breaking a lot of runs. We just were a little off. We had some mental errors on the offense line and the sniffers didn’t stay attached in the block.
“We knew it was going to be a feast or famine type night because of the things they (Tigers) do on defense. We were able to take advantage of some feasting. The famine came when they blitzed into the play.”
The game was turnovermarred with nine total and each team intercepting three passes. Pierce County lost two of its season- high seven fumbles turning the ball over five times while the Tigers lost one of their three fumbles.
There were 23 penalties marked off totaling 162 yards.
“There was a lot of sloppiness for both teams,” said Herring of the turnovers and penalties. “It was real sloppy. The fumbles hurt. I’d rather throw an interception than give the ball away with a fumble. I’m more worried about fumbling the ball away.
“Defensively, we got some stops and created some turnovers. The three interceptions were huge. I’m extremely excited about that. That unit did a good job of getting us the ball back.”
PCHS had two scoring burst — one in each half. The Bears took control of the game scoring 24 points over a 9:05 stretch of the first half and the final 21 points over a 7:46 span in the second half.
Ringgold’s Christopher Haddock ended Pierce County’s opening possession with the first of his three interceptions of Drake Dowling (7-of-11, 29 yards) at the Tigers’ nine.
PCHS found an offensive rhythm over its next four offensive series with three touchdowns and a field goal in building a 247 lead with 5:20 remaining in the first half.
Following Ringgold’s first possession, the Bears covered 44 yards in three plays capped by a 46-yard burst from Williams on third-and-12 for the opening touchdown up the middle of the Ringgold defense. Garrett Stevenson connected on the first of his six PATs for the 7-0 lead with 2:25 on the first quarter clock.
Dylan Johnson’s 16yard punt return following a second three-and-out by the Tigers set PCHS just 34 yards from the end zone. Williams scored on the first snap of the second period with a 29-yard gallop off left tackle upping the lead to 14-0.
The visitors made things interesting answering with a four-play, 92yard drive. Quarterback Elijah Pursley (3-of-14, 86 yards, three interceptions) converted a third-and-11 with a 42-yard pass to Bryant Marshall (three catches, 86 yards) out to the Ringgold 48.
Zach Grower followed with a 52-yard run for the touchdown on the ensuing snap. Isaiah Browns’ PAT sliced the deficit to 14-7 with 10:34 left in the half.
Dowling ripped off a 46-yard run on the first snap after the kickoff sailed into the end zone advancing the ball to the Tigers’ 34. A 15-yard penalty at the end of the play spotted the ball at the Ringgold 19.
The Bears’ offense stalled with Stevenson drilling a 35-yard field goal with 9:11 showing on the clock for a 17-7 advantage.
PCHS followed the Tigers’ third three-andout of the first half with a 75-yard, five-play scoring sequence to open up a 247 lead. Williams had consecutive runs of 17 and 38 yards followed by Dowling’s first touchdown of the night from 11 yards out on play later with 5:20 remaining in the half.
Pierce County came away empty on two other drives inside the Tigers’ 30 before intermission turning the ball over with an interception in the end zone and another on downs at the Ringgold 27.
The Bears only had two possessions in the third quarter. The first ended with a fumble at the Ringgold 35.
The second followed a 36-yard Kendric Benson interception return of a Pursley pass to the Tigers’ eight. Dowling scored two plays later with six-yard touchdown run upping the lead to 31-7 with 58 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The Bears added two more touchdowns in a 1:09 span midway through the final period. Dylan Johnson’s diving interception set up his 20yard touchdown run three plays later as the lead grew to 38-7 with 6:21 to play.
Ringgold fumbled the ball away one play after the kickoff with Trenton Kennedy making the recovery at the Tigers’ 17. Dowling scooted for a third touchdown with a second 11-yard run with 5:12 remaining swelling the margin to 45-7.
Ringgold’s final score of the season came with 3:20 to play. Grower was pulled down at the Pierce County two after a 78-yard run. Pursley scored two plays later sneaking in from a yard out with Brown adding the PAT.
