ELIZABETHTON-It's always tough playing on the road in Region 1-1A, no matter who you're playing. And Friday night was no different for the Cosby Eagles (7-0, 3-0), who managed to pull out a 15-6 victory over the winless Unaka Rangers (0-7, 0-3).

"Don't let their record fool you," said coach Tyler Shelton. "My hat's off to Unaka. They played some tough football tonight. They stepped it up against us, and we really had to work to get this win. I was particularly impressed by Unaka's defensive front. They took away our run game and forced us to pass to make first downs. This was just good hard-nosed football tonight."

Cosby quarterback Trenten Dunn had, perhaps, his best overall game of the season. It was obvious how well he managed the game. Through the air, the senior QB was 18-of-27 for 118 yards and a touchdown, and, he did not throw an interception. Mitch Miller was held under 100 yards rushing on the night. The senior tailback finished with 25 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown. But despite a mistake-free offensive effort, the night belonged, once again, to the defense.

"Our defense was stellar tonight," said coach Shelton. "Our guys really got after them and made some big plays. We were able to keep their running game in check, and, except for that big pass play early in the game, we didn't give them a lot of time to throw."

The big pass play came on Unaka's second offensive series and ended with a 55-yard scoring strike. The extra point was no good, and Unaka stunned the Cosby faithful by taking a 6-0 lead.

"They were playing inspired football," said coach Shelton. "And, getting on us early like that surprised us a little. But, we gathered our senses and pretty much took care of them the rest of the night."

Cosby's offense began finding some success in the second quarter starting from their own 40-yard line. But, on a controversial play, Mitch Miller appeared to fall forward across the goal line for a score. However, the officiating crew ruled that Miller fumbled the football before he got into the end zone, giving Unaka the ball at their own one-yard line. Unfortunate for Unaka!

On the ensuing play, Eagle linebacker Matthew Lane busted the line of scrimmage, and dropped the Rangers' Josh Peterson in the end zone for a safety to put Cosby on the board with 10:01 remaining in the second quarter.

Lane's tackle was one of six sacks on the night for the Eagles.

"It was just a great team effort," said coach Shelton. "Our defense kept us in the game and gave us opportunities on offense."

In addition to Lane, Spencer Grooms, Danny Raines, Corey Williams, Mitch Miller and Matthew Hester also had sacks on the night. Grooms showed why he was named the Region 1-1A Defensive Player of the Year finishing with 15 tackles, a fumble recovery, and a pass deflection, in addition to his sack. Grooms' fumble recover was one of four on the night for the Eagle defense, as Trenten Dunn, Cory Williams and Todd Logan also collected fumble recoveries.

With time winding down in the second quarter, the Cosby offense got the Eagles on the board, thanks to Grooms' fumble recovery on the Unaka 10 yard line. Dunn threw a crisp strike to wide receiver Jordan Cates in the end zone, and with Robby Whitted's extra point, the Eagles had their first lead of the night, 9-6, with 2:09 remaining. The Eagle defense then quashed Unaka attempt at another scoring drive before the first half ended when Cory Williams recovered a Ranger fumble.

The Eagles last scoring drive came late in the third quarter when Miller found pay dirt from one yard out. But, the TD was set up on a big fourth down and nine play when Dunn hit Dillon Denton with a pass for the first down at the Unaka two. The extra point was no good, and Cosby led 15-6 going into the fourth quarter.

Cosby's defense remained stout to protect their lead, but coach Shelton felt the big play of the game might have been what the Eagle offense did with time running out.

"The last thing we wanted to do was give the ball back to them and give them another shot at scoring," said coach Shelton. "We were facing a third down and eight, and when Trenten (Dunn) hit Jordan (Cates) with a pass to give us a first down, that was huge. That allowed us to run out the clock."

Despite the hard-fought victory, and the record remaining perfect, coach Shelton was already thinking about making improvements.

"We'll definitely be working on our running game next week," said coach Shelton. "We didn't do a good job running the football tonight. We'll get it fixed."

Fixed in time for their next opponent, Grainger County, next Friday night at Rutledge.

REGION 1-1A: Without a doubt, the game everyone was watching Friday night was the Region 1-1A match-up between Hampton and Grace Christian, ranked at No. 7 in the state Class A rankings, in Knoxville. And, when the dust had settled, Hampton (4-3, 3-0) came away with a huge 38-29 victory over Grace (5-1, 1-1). Also on Friday, Kings Academy stung Jellico (0-6, 0-2) 14-13. Cloudland (4-2, 0-1) had the night off.