By KYLE MORRIS

CHATOM — Washington County overcame a sloppy start and defeated Highland Home 46-14 in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.

The Bulldogs scored on their opening drive when Corey Donaldson took a speed sweep around the right end 56 yards for a score to put Washington County up 7-0 just over three minutes into the game. The Bulldogs fumbled the ball on their own 19-yard line on a swing pass that fell to the turf behind the line of scrimmage. The Flying Squadron could not take advantage of the Bulldogs miscue as Washington County’s defense held and forced a turnover on downs at their own 6-yard-line.

The Bulldogs methodically drove the ball 94 yards on a 16-play drive that culminated in a 10-yard touchdown run by DeAnthony Holcombe with 8:12 left in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead.

Highland Home running Christopher Wooten got the Flying Squadron on the board on the board with a 25-yard run with 3:51 to go in the half and cut the Bulldog lead to 14-7. Their momentum was short-lived however as Keyshaun Abston scored on a 56-yard run on the Bulldogs next play from scrimmage, the P.A.T. was no good leaving the score at 20-7 in favor of Washington County. The Bulldogs added another score with 7.5 seconds to go in the second quarter on Holcombe’s second rushing touchdown of the night, a 7-yarder that gave the Bulldogs a 26-7 lead.

Washington County quickly put the game away in the second half. Abston returned the opening kickoff 50 yards down to the Highland Home 30-yard-line and Kerrigan Pennington connected with Cedric Chapman on a 30-yard scoring strike on the Bulldogs first offensive play of the half to give the Bulldogs a 32-7 lead. The Bulldogs defense locked down on the squadron and allowed only 97 yards in the second half, and 60 of those yards came on the last play of the game.

Washington County added two scores in the fourth quarter, a 6-yard run by senior defensive lineman Kenny Kennon who took a direct snap and powered his way into the end zone and freshman running back Michael Anderson scored on a 48-yard run. Wooten scored again for Highland Home on an 81-yard kickoff return to close out the scoring. Wooten finished the game with 334 all-purpose yards and the two scores, 174 rushing and 160 kick return yards.

The Bulldogs rushed for an astounding 426 yards and were led by Abston with 102 yards and a touchdown on eight carries and Holcombe with 92 yards and two scores on 18 carries. Anderson finished with 85 yards and a score on just eight carries and all of them came in the fourth quarter.

Pennington finished 5-of-10 passing for 121 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Deandra Smith led the Bulldog defense with 12 tackles.