North Sand Mountain had upset on its mind Friday night against Sand Rock (6-1, 4-1) and the Bison moved the ball up and down the field, but when it mattered most, the Sand Rock defense showed its grit, stopping several drives, either on downs or turnover, as the Wildcats prevailed, 24-6, in Class 2A, Region 7 high school football action.

On the ground, North Sand Mountain outgained Sand Rock, 194 yards to 116, and won the overall yardage count, 324 to 296. Chad Johnson finished with 104 yards on 14 rushes.

”They basically ran over us all night,” said Wildcat coach Russell Jacoway. “But we stopped them when we needed to.”

Those stops included two fumble covers by Chris McMahan. Twice, the Bison (4-3, 2-3) turned the ball over on downs.

Jacoway noted that the stops boosted his team’s confidence, especially on offense.

In fact, Sand Rock’s third touchdown came right after McMahan’s second fumble grab. North Sand Mountain opened the third quarter on a roll, driving all the way to the Wildcat 5-yard line, but quarterback Chase Wright could not handle a snap and McMahan came out of the pile with the pigskin in his grasp.

Sand Rock responded by driving 90 yards in 10 plays, scoring at the 2:42 mark of the third frame on a 3-yard rush by quarterback Justin Mackey. Mackey kicked the extra point, making the score 21-0.

When the Bison got the ball back, Dexter Vines intercepted a Wright pass on the first play, but Sand Rock’s first play was payback, as Torre Pike got his hands on a Mackey pass, putting North Sand Mountain in business at the Wildcat 41.

Six plays later, on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Bison scored their only touchdown, on a 5-yard Chad Johnson run. Pike’s extra point attempt was short.

Vines finished with two interceptions. The second ended North Sand Mountain’s last-minute attempt to put points on the board.

It appeared the Wildcats would negate the touchdown, as Vines returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards to the 15, but Sand Rock settled for a 24-yard Mackey field goal, closing out the scoring at the 10:33 point.

On the ensuing Mackey kickoff, a Bison kickoff returner called for a fair catch, then tried to run the ball when it died at the 1-yard line. NSM was forced to start its series at the 1, and got all the way to the Sand Rock 13 before stalling out.

The Wildcats opened the game with a touchdown drive that was capped by a 3-yard run by Mackey, with 10:12 left in the first quarter.

Mackey rushed for 21 yards on four carries. He completed 13-of-23 passes for 180 yards, completing passes to six different athletes.

With 1:22 to play in the first half, Sand Rock got a momentum-building touchdown, on a 24-yard pass from Mackey to Jake Thompson. Mackey kicked both extra points.

With only two region games left in the regular season, the Wildcats are sitting in second place and hoping to secure home-field advantage for a first-round playoff game.

”After the Fyffe game, we said we wanted to run the table,” Jacoway said. “But we’ve got two tough ones coming up. We’ll have to play well the next two weeks.”

Sand Rock visits Section Friday, then hosts Piedmont the following week.

In the season’s second week, Fyffe edged past the Wildcats, 28-21, and since then, the confidence level has climbed with each victory.

”We were a mess this spring,” Jacoway said. “This bunch has come improved as much as any I’ve ever coached.”

With the six points given up to North Sand Mountain, the defense continued its good play. Fyffe is the only team to tally more than one touchdown against Sand Rock this season and the Red Devils are averaging over 47 points per contest.

”The defense has played well all season,” Jacoway said. “North Sand Mountain was able to run against us, but we came up with big plays when we needed them.”

Sand Rock has allowed only 47 points this year and that includes the 28 that Fyffe scored