APPALACHIAN — One play wound up making the difference Friday night, as Appalachian took a hard-fought 7-0 victory over Cedar Bluff in the second round of the Class 1A high school football playoffs.

The difference-maker was a 20-yard run by Colby Harvey. It appeared he would be tackled behind the line of scrimmage, but he wiggled free and somehow got by the line of defenders to the 3-yard line.

Two plays later, with 8:18 left in the third quarter, Coty Tawbush scored the game’s sole touchdown. Emilio Maldanado kicked the extra point.

Appalachian (10-2) goes to Gaston (10-2) next week in the third round of the state playoffs. Gaston defeated Spring Garden 49-15 in other playoff action Friday night.

Cedar Bluff’s season ends at 9-3.

“That was the hardest we’ve played all year,” said Appalachian coach Ernie Willingham. “The field conditions kind of limited what anybody could do on offense and (Cedar Bluff’s) defense shut us down.

“We knew coming in that they had a great defense. We felt like the defense was better than the offense.”

Both offenses played outstanding Friday, but both offenses had their shots at the end zone. However, every time Appalachian and Cedar Bluff got close, the other team made a big play or the offensive team got penalized.

“Both teams played extremely hard,” said Cedar Bluff coach Jonathan McWhorter. “Every time we got a drive going, we had a penalty or something to negate the positive yardage.”

A light rain started falling near the end of the first half and just after Appalachian kicked off the second half, it began lightning, causing a half-hour delay.

“The weather and field conditions limited the play-calling,” McWhorter said. “Our defense gave us a chance to win, but we couldn't punch it in. Credit Appalachian’s defense for most of that, but this loss is on me. I'm in charge of the offense and when we don't score, it’s my fault.”

The Appalachian defense helped set up the touchdown. The second-half kickoff pinned the Tigers on their own 18-yard line. A holding call and a big defensive effort caused Cedar Bluff to have to punt from its own end zone.

Harvey fielded the ball on the Tiger 40 and returned it to the 23.

It appeared the Tigers might tie the game early in the final quarter, as they drove to the 12, but the Eagle defense stiffened and on fourth-and-10, Cedar Bluff quarterback Levi Mintz was intercepted by Jeremy Peek at the 1/2-yard line.

After forcing Appalachian to punt from its end zone, the Tigers got another shot at scoring, driving from the 32 to the 9. However, that was as far as the Tigers got, as Cedar Bluff turned the ball over on downs.

With 4:23 left to play, Appalachian’s Zach Blythe covered a Cedar Bluff fumble, but the Eagles could gain only one first down before having to punt.

On Cedar Bluff’s first play after the punt, Maldanado intercepted a pass, giving Appalachian possession with only 1:20 remaining.

But on the Eagles’ second play, Skylar Boswell covered a fumble, giving the Tigers to have one last shot at scoring.

The Tigers, however, turned the ball over on downs with 21 seconds left to play.