WEDOWEE – Cedar Bluff football coach Jonathan McWhorter said his team looks at its 10th ball game as the beginning of the playoffs.

Each year, the Tigers try to schedule a tough non-region opponent that week which will get them prepared for what they’ll face in the postseason. The past two seasons that opponent has been Randolph County.

If Thursday night’s performance by the Tigers was a true indicator of things to come, the Cedar Bluff faithful will be watching their team make another deep run in the playoffs.

Senior quarterback Kyle Crane completed 19-of-24 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 50 yards on 12 carries with three more scores in a 48-14 victory.

“Our kids came to play,” McWhorter said. “We set our goal at practice this week to go 7-3, and not finish the regular season at 6-4. Our kids responded and played really well. We did what we had to do to win the game.

“They (Randolph County) had a lot of speed, and our defense did a good job of containing them. Offensively, we knew we had to score some points. We just executed well on both sides of the ball. It was a total team effort.”

Next up for Cedar Bluff is a home playoff game next Friday against Victory Christian (8-1). The Lions earned the third playoff spot in Class 1A, Region 5 thanks to Appalachian’s 28-27 victory over Cleveland on Thursday that broke a three-way tie for first place with Coosa Christian.

Against Randolph County (3-7), Crane got Cedar Bluff going early with a 6-yard touchdown run with 3:56 to go in the first quarter. Tyric Scales added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Scales led Cedar Bluff’s receivers with eight catches for 104 yards and a score.

Crane threw his first touchdown pass of the night just a little over a minute later. This one came on a 4-yard toss to Marcus Reese. Scales connected on the point after to give Cedar Bluff a 14-0 advantage.

Reese finished the game with four receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 46 yards on 12 carries.

Randolph County got on the scoreboard with just 42 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Andrew Lovvorn scored on a 14-yard run, trimming Cedar Bluff’s lead to 14-7.

Crane extended Cedar Bluff’s lead to 21-7 with a 9-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Hardy with 5:14 left in the half. Scales added his third extra point after the score.

Cedar Bluff scored another touchdown before halftime on a Crane 1-yard run. Scales’ extra point made it 28-7.

Randolph County responded with just 12 ticks remaining before the half. Dwayne Childs scored on a 16-yard run to make the score 28-14 at the break.

Crane picked up where he left off in the second half. He connected on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Scales with 9:46 to go in the third, putting Cedar Bluff in front 35-14. Just 30 seconds later, Crane scored on a 1-yard run. Scales’ kick was blocked, keeping Cedar Bluff’s lead at 41-14.

Crane capped the night’s scoring on a 25-yard touchdown throw to Hardy with 9:08 left in the fourth quarter. Hardy finished the game with three catches for 53 yards and two scores.

Mondo Williams added the extra point for the final.