Electing to receive, the Dragons took the opening kickoff and mixing up the run and pass moved the ball downfield on a 12 play drive fueled by key runs of 12 yards by QB Brian Hall, 16 yards by RB Jordan Pedron, and a clutch 15 yard catch by WR Jonathan Abel. Facing fourth and 1 at the Germantown 12, Coach Cox determined to play for the win. Having no negative-yardage plays in the previous 11 snaps, the hard-nosed Red Devil defense dug in and forced the Dragons to give up the ball on downs.

Germantown’s no-frills power offense, running out of a tight-set full backfield, began testing the Dragon Defense. With key defensive plays by DT’s Scott Eller, Taylor Krag, and Garrison Smith, the Devils had to claw for every yard gained. Aided by a 15 yard penalty for a ticky “late” hit, the Red Devils found themselves in Dragon territory with first down at the 30. Six plays later they completed the 13 play drive and the Red Devils led 7-0 with 11.8 seconds left in the first quarter.

Apparently kicking away from Brian Hall, the errant Germantown kick-off gave the Dragons first down at the 35. QB Hall followed G Andrew White on a draw for 8 yards then, on an outstanding fake to FB Cody McMeans, scooted around the left side for a pick up of 16. Following a sack on Hall, Coach Cox instituted a no-huddle offense. Having overcome the 10 yard sack, the Dragons were at mid-field, when Hall hit WR Taylor Walker for an apparent 12 yard gain. On the ensuing tackle, a ground-causing loose ball was surprisingly awarded to Germantown. Seven plays later, Walker got his revenge as he stepped in front of the Germantown Tight End and snatched an interception that he returned to the 46.

QB Brian Hall continued to mix the run and pass. On second down, running behind G Jordan Whitten and T Scott Eller, RB Noel Moyes punched out 11 quick yards. On second and 9, Hall scrambled for 12 yards helping the Dragons to move the ball down to the G’town 29. Facing fourth and 7 from the 29, the sure-footed Brett Caldwell was called on for a 46 yd field goal attempt. In a rare miss, the ball sailed right of the goalpost and the Red Devils maintained a 7-0 advantage.

Germantown took over at the 20 and began clawing for every yard gained. Key defensive plays by Layne Halfacre, Jordan Whitten and Garrison Smith yielded no-gain plays for the Devils. Collierville’s outstanding Senior tackle, Scott Eller, was shook up on the sixth play of the drive and Germantown exploited his absence by hitting his vacated position and popped a surprising 48 yard run for touchdown with 2:10 left in the half. The PAT was good and Germantown led 14-0.

Brian Hall returned the kick-off 19 yards to the 26. Hall then hit WR Jonathan Abel for a 12 yd gain and then tossed a middle screen to FB Cody McMeans who weaved his way down to the 45 for a gain of 17 yds. Hall then hit RB Jordan Pedron in the left flat for a gain of 5 yds and out of bounds at the Germantown 38. Facing third and 3, successive QB Draws gained a net 1 yard, forcing a turnover on downs. The Red Devils tested the Dragon D but a HB Dive was greeted by Jordan Whitten for no gain. The Red Devils took a knee on the next play and were content to run out the first half clock.

Brett Caldwell’s second half kick-off to the goal line was returned to the 33 where the returner was stopped by a hustling Joseph Crabtree. Realizing the potential of the Dragon offense, the Red Devils began playing 4-down ball. The seventh play of the drive, G’town faced fourth and 1 at the Dragon 34. An apparent stop by the Dragon D will never be known as one of the officials placed the ball on the hash marks BEFORE the chains could be called to spot the play at the point of the tackle! Four plays later, DT Scott Eller whipped his man and bulldogged the Red Devil running back down for no gain, forcing a fourth and 1 at the Collierville 25. The Dragon D showed its heart and stopped the powerful Red Devil offense for its second consecutive no-gain play to force the ball over on downs.

The Dragons then engineered a 13-play scoring drive against Germantown’s attacking 3-5 Defense. The score was accomplished through outstanding line blocking by C Matt Fields, G Andrew White, G Jordan Whitten, and Tackles Scott Eller and Nash Jackson. With no play longer than 8 yards, the Dragons methodically drove to the Germantown 4, where on second down Brian Hall rolled right on play-action and outsprinted the defenders to the end zone for the score. Brett Caldwell’s kick, on Jonathan Abel’s hold, was good and the Germantown lead was cut to 14-7 with 2.9 seconds left in Quarter 3.

Brett Caldwell’s kickoff sailed into the end zone for a touchback. The Collierville Defense came out with its ears pinned back. Aggressive line play, followed by a swarming linebacker corp pushed the Red Devils back to their own 10 yard line where they faced third and 20. In the key play of the game, the Germantown runningback fought his way out to the 30 yard line and by the barest of margins, earned his team a first down. Continuing to play 4-down ball, the Red Devils put together a hard-fought 16 play drive resulting in a 3 yard TD run to stake Germantown to a 21-7 lead with 5:27 left in the game.

Following the kickoff, Brian Hall immediately threw to WR Taylor Walker who jooked his way down to the 37 for a gain of 17. Next, Hall hit WR Jonathan Abel on a tight post for 12 more yards down to the 49. Two incomplete passes and a premature snap found the Dragons facing fourth and 8 at the 50. The Dragons came out gunning. With a cache of offensive weapons at his disposal, Brian Hall called receivers trip right, double receivers left and an empty backfield. WR Taylor Walker made the DB bite on his stop and go route and Brian Hall lofted a perfect pass to Walker who outsprinted the Germantown defense down the left sideline and into the end zone. With Caldwell’s PAT, the Dragons had cut the lead to seven as the score stood at 21-14 with 4:35 remaining in the game.

Brett Caldwell’s disguised onside kick went unrecovered out of bounds, setting up the Germantown offense with first and 10 at the 46. Collierville’s defense forced the only punt of the game four plays later and the Dragon offense took over at their own 9 yard line. On the second play of the possession, Brian Hall’s pass was intercepted in an outstanding play by a Germantown defender. The Red Devils elected to “take a knee” on three downs to run the game clock out and pack up a hard-fought 21-14 victory over the Dragons.