CENTRE – The Cherokee County Warriors have one of the state’s premier quarterback talents in senior Coty Blanchard.

What a lot of people don’t realize, however, is the Warriors have a talented quarterback on their defense: junior defensive back Brett Burgess.

Burgess led a stingy Cherokee County defense with two interceptions. He also returned a pooch kick 55 yards for a touchdown to help propel the Class 4A, top-ranked Warriors to a 49-14 victory over Fayette County in the second round of the state playoffs Friday.

“That’s just an athlete being an athlete,” Warrior coach Tripp Curry said of Burgess’ night. “Brett’s all over the place.

“When we’re out there, Brett gets us lined up right so many times. Even on the sideline sometimes, he has to correct me. He just does such a good job of getting us lined up.”

Burgess said he just happened to be in the right places at the right times.

“I’ve got to give credit to the D-line and the linebackers,” he said. “They got so much pressure on their quarterback. He didn’t have time to throw at all, and it makes it so much easier on us. All of the DBs (defensive backs) did good tonight, and it was a pretty good win by the whole defense. I just happened to be in the right spots.”

The victory seals a quarterfinal trip to Stevenson next Friday for Cherokee County (12-0), where the Warriors will face North Jackson (9-3). The Chiefs defeated Guntersville 16-14 in other Class 4A playoff action on Friday.

Fayette County coach Walden Tucker has gotten more than he bargained for out of the Warriors the past two seasons. The Tigers’ season has ended at the hands of the Warriors the past two seasons. They lost last year’s game 47-15, also in the second round.

“They are just good on both sides of the ball,” Tucker said. “Tripp does a great job of coaching. He’s got a great quarterback and he’s got great guys around him. They were just by far the better ball team. They could have beat us worse than what they beat us.

“We had some things that happened early in the ball game that could have made a difference, but we missed three picks. They scored the next play after two of them. The game could have been a little closer at halftime, but they were a much better football team.”

Before the Warrior defense got revved up against Fayette County (8-4), Blanchard and the Warrior offense made its mark first.

Blanchard threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Desmond Brown, capping a 5 play, 60-yard drive on the Warriors’ opening possession. Isaac Jones’ extra point made it 7-0 Warriors with 10:11 to go in the first quarter.

The Tigers answered that drive with a touchdown of their own. Junior quarterback Evan Sims connected on a 20-yard pass to Timothy Walker. The point after was no good, keeping the Warriors in front 7-6 with 8:42 left in the opening quarter.

Cherokee County junior defensive lineman Hudson Grimes got the Warrior defense charged up when he returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown. On the play, senior linebacker Caleb Crane got pressure up the middle on Sims, forcing him to scramble and forcing the throw.

Grimes said he was surprised to see the ball coming at him.

“At first I couldn’t believe it. It just kind of happened,” he said. “It was just there, and I had the whole team behind me. It was a great feeling to score.

“Everybody talked about how they had a good quarterback, but I don’t think there was a time where he just stood back there. We all did a really good job.”

Jones’ extra point made it 14-6 Warriors at the 4:53 mark of the first quarter.

After the Warrior defense stopped the Tigers on a 4th-and-2 at their own 37, the Warriors cashed it in on D.J. Fife’s 8-yard scoring run to push Cherokee County’s lead to 21-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Fife led the Warrior rushing attack with 80 yards on nine carries and two scores.

“There were several big plays, but I thought one of them was when they went for fourth down and didn’t make it,” Curry said. “Then we just turned around and put it in the end zone. That’s just a back breaker. We preach to our kids so many times about changing momentum. When you do things like that, not only do you stop momentum, but you change the momentum. That was big. Our defense just played very well.”

Blanchard threw his second touchdown pass of the night with 9:15 to go in the second. This one went for 41 yards to Gabriel Chambers, and it put the Warriors out in front 28-6.

Chambers led the Warrior receivers with five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. Blanchard finished the night completing 15-of-21 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 45 yards on nine carries.

Blanchard gave praise to the other side of the ball for making the offense’s night a little easier.

“There are a ton of athletes on our defense,” he said. “They work their tails off at practice, and I knew they would win us a ball game. Every one of them stepped up to play. I think we’re hitting on all cylinders now.”

Fife scored his second touchdown of the night one play after an interception by Brown with eight minutes to go in the half. This one came on a 38-yard run, which swelled Cherokee County’s lead to 35-6.

Sims opened the third-quarter scoring on a tipped 36-yard touchdown pass to Walker. Sims connected with Walker for the 2-point conversion, making the score 35-14 Warriors with just over five minutes left in the third.

Sims led Fayette County by completing 12-of-28 passes for 139 yards and two scores, both to Walker. Walker had six catches for 77 yards.

Burgess returned the ensuing pooch kick 55 yards for a touchdown, giving Cherokee County a 42-14 advantage.

“We were just ready for the kick,” Burgess said. “I probably shouldn’t have been trying to catch it and then running with it, but it just lollipopped to me and it opened up. I guess I was just working on instinct.”

Brown later added a 25-yard touchdown run for the final.

“It’s the playoffs, and anything can happen,” Brown, a Clemson commitment, said. “Players are going to step up and play their game, and we’ve got a lot of good players on this team. If you play as hard as you can, good things will happen. I guess our game plan was a little better tonight.”