MAYNARDVILLE-Over the past 22 games many have wondered when the next win on the gridiron would come for Cocke County High School.

On Friday night, the Cocke County Fighting Cocks left no doubt as to when it would occur.

Cocke County dominated the Union County Patriots and snapped the school-record losing streak with a 34-0 win.

"We put everything together tonight," Cocke County coach Casey Kelley said. "Our offense was clicking in the first half; our defense was flying to the football. I'm proud of my young men, I'm proud of my coaching staff. It's been a great night for Cocke County High School."

The Fighting Cocks (1-4) scored on their third play from scrimmage on a 55-yard pass from senior quarterback Casey Ragan to Tyler Johnson in the beginning of the onslaught on the District 3-AA Patriots (1-4).

Ragan was the centerpiece of clockwork for the offense all night long, having a hand in all five Cocke County touchdowns. He was 7-of-10 through the air for 198 yards and three touchdowns and carried the ball for 46 yards and two scores.

Ragan said the performance was part of a winning effort, resulting in the determination of the entire football team despite the lack of success the course of the past two seasons.

"I really think it is unbelievable," Ragan said. "The stuff we hear and the stuff we read on those high school web sites that rank everybody, we hear about how bad we are and how we shouldn't even play; I think it's unbelievable that we still have guys out here who want to play."

Kelley agreed with his quarterback, citing his team's discipline and character in preparing for each game the same way as they would had they won the previous week's game.

Despite the recent lack of success of the program, a four-some of playmaking receivers came to play Friday night which helped out the Cocke County quarterback.

Tyler Johnson, Krys Cates and Jared McGaha each caught touchdown passes in the victory and were an integral part of the team's success in the passing game.

"Running the option against the last few defenses we've faced, they just line up and come at you," Ragan said. "So having some playmakers out there just helps out.

"On the first series tonight, Tyler makes a huge catch down the sideline," Ragan said. "I'm real glad Krys decided to come out and play because he showed tonight he can really help this football team."

Cates hauled in a 65-yard touchdown on a slant route from Ragan to increase Cocke County's lead to 20-0 with 9:07 to play in the first half. The touchdown reception increased Cates' team-leading all-purpose yardage total to 239 yards after not being on the roster for the first two weeks.

In between the opening two touchdown receptions, Jared McGaha's 15-yard reception on fourth-and-six, gave Cocke County a 14-0 lead with 1:55 to play in the first quarter, capping off a 7-play, 51-yard drive.

Cocke County's success in the passing game was partly a beneficiary of the success of the offensive line, which gave Ragan time to operate and survey the field for wide receivers.

"We have talented receivers on the field and a quarterback that executes our offense perfectly," Kelley said. "What we have been building the last four games is an offensive line to go along with it.

"The offensive-line - we have stuck with them through some hard times," Kelley said. "The Seymour game was a hard time. We stuck with this offensive line. We've kept coaching and coaching and coaching and they're coming around. All points of this offense is coming around."

Following the aerial barrage on the Patriots, Cocke County then took to the ground to close out the first half scoring with a pair of touchdowns in the final minute of the half.

Ragan scored on touchdown runs of nine and three yards in the half's final two minutes. The first scoring run was set up by a 42-yard pass to Johnson, who had 98 yards on three catches in the game, inside the Union County 10-yard line. Ragan capped off the drive with an eight yard run on a sweep play with 1:41 to play.

Following a failed fake punt by Union County with under one-minute to play in the half, Ragan ran the ball three times in the final 50 seconds of the half for 38 yards, including a three-yard scoring run with six seconds to play in the half.

While Cocke County was rolling up 309 yards of total offense in the game, the defensive unit was putting forth their finest effort of the season in compiling their first shutout since a 39-0 win over South Greene on August 22, 2003.

The Fighting Cocks, who allowed 288 yards per game rushing coming into Friday's game, held the Patriots to 93 yards on the ground and to 59 yards through the air, as they kept Union County frustrated from the ouster.

Tailback Michael Hickman was bottled up all game, carrying the ball 19 times for 70 yards.

The defensive effort was the effort of an improved tackling effort, evident in the statistics. Linebackers Casey Jones and Darian France combined for 17 tackles to lead the team.

Jones was a brilliant run stopper most of the game, while France was in the backfield consistently, registering 3.5 of the 10 tackles for loss that the defense had during the game. Cocke County also tallied four sacks, representing the penetration the front seven got on the Union County offensive front.

Defensive backs Logan Suggs and Johnson had three interceptions between them, including 51 return yards on two picks by Johnson.

Kelley said that even with the resounding victory - the first since a 20-19 double overtime win over Volunteer on September 7, 2007 - the team will quickly get back to work for a key conference battle with rival Jefferson County next Friday.

"I'm very proud of this football team, the coaching staff and the fans that drove all this way to support us," Kelley said. "It was a great night for Cocke County High School football.

"The losing streak, I had forgot about it," Kelley said. "We had Union County (on our mind) tonight, I'm glad that monkey is off our back, (but) we've got to get right back to work, with Jefferson County next Friday night."

Kickoff of next week's District 2-AAA battle is set for 7:30 p.m. (Radio: WLIK 1270-AM) from Leroy Shannon Field in Dandridge.