Mt. Juliet starts slow, finishes strong

Nov 11, 2012 12:00 am

Mt. Juliet 39, Dickson County 10

Mt. Juliet 3 14 19 3-39

Dickson County 7 3 0 0-10

First quarter

Mt. Juliet-Ryan Jenkins 35 FG, 9:09.

Dickson County-Otis Gerron 3 run [Mitch Mersman kick], 3:59.

Second quarter

Mt. Juliet-Jalen Graham 22 pass from Nolan Chowbay [Jenkins kick], 11:52.

Mt. Juliet-Contrez McCathern 32 run [Jenkins kick], 4:04.

Dickson County-Mersman 28 FG, :23.

Third quarter

Mt. Juliet-Austin Chaplin 6 run [kick blocked], 9:35.

Mt. Juliet-Ben Cheatham 4 run [run failed], 8:31.

Mt. Juliet-McCathern 2 run [Jenkins kick], :58.

Fourth quarter

Mt. Juliet-Jenkins 21 FG, 6:31.

By JEFF NEAL

Correspondent

DICKSON — Following a close first half, Mt. Juliet put away Dickson County with a 19-point third quarter in a 39-10 second-round conquest in the Class 6A playoffs Friday night.

With the Golden Bears leading 17-10 to start the second half, Austin Chaplin began the blowout with a 6-yard touchdown run. The extra point was blocked, but Dickson had been called for a personal foul on the TD which was assessed on the kickoff.

Mt. Juliet elected to try an onside kick and the Golden Bears recovered at the Dickson 27-yard line. Ben Cheatham got the payoff score on a 4-yard run.

"It was a good call by the coaches," Mt. Juliet coach Roger Perry said of the onside kick. "It was good to see it pay off. They work on it in practice a lot."

An interception by Deontre Nealous set up Contrez McCathern's second touchdown of the night, a 2-yard score, for a 36-10 lead in the final minute of the third period.

The senior fullback, whose 32-yard scoring run had put Mt. Juliet up 17-7 in the second quarter, led the Bears with 130 yards on 14 carries. Chaplin added 118 yards on eight rushes and Caleb Hopkins 91 on seven.

"Caleb and Contrez really played well tonight," Perry said after his Golden Bears advanced to the quarterfinals for the second straight season with an 11-1 record. "You got to give credit to the offensive line; they really played well."

Ryan Jenkins' second field goal of the night, a 21-yarder, and Tavner Simmons' interception in the closing moments finished off the Cougars as Dickson County concluded a 10-2 campaign.

Jenkins put Mt. Juliet in front 3-0 on a 35-yard field goal less than three minutes into the game.

Wingback Otis Gerron, who led Dickson County with 137 yards on 21 carries, put the Cougars ahead 7-3 on a 3-yard run with just under four minutes left in the first quarter.

Mt. Juliet quarterback Nolan Chowbay found wide receiver Jalen Graham with a 22-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second period to put the Bears ahead to stay 10-7.

Next up for the Bears is a trip to Brentwood next Friday. The Bruins also moved to 11-1 by ousting Overton 34-14.

"Another tough opponent for us, and another wing-T offense," Perry said of the Bruins, who run the same offense as Dickson and Mt. Juliet. It will be a rematch of last year's quarterfinal won by the Bears at home.