With both teams undefeated in region play going into the game, the Heard County Braves took over in the second half for a 31-14 win over the Temple Tigers. It was a one-score game at the half, with Heard County up 17-14, but the Braves outscored the Tigers 14-0 in the third quarter, and that was all they needed. To start the second half, a sack by Temple's Manny Watkins put the Braves behind the chains, but Heard found a way to get down the field anyway.
Quarterback Ethan Tisdale ran in a touchdown from 17 yards out to give Heard County their biggest lead up to that point, 24-14. After a Tiger three and out, Tisdale would find Brody "Buc" Cofield for a 40-yard touchdown pass at the front-right corner of the end zone to catapult their lead to 31-14 near the end of the third quarter. Temple's defense was able to recover a Braves fumble in the middle of the fourth quarter, but Heard County was able to force a turnover on downs to keep the Tigers scoreless.
Neither team scored in the first quarter of the game, but both offenses hit big plays to finish the second quarter. With 2:17 left until halftime, the Tigers got the ball back. Temple quarterback threw a moonshot to Jaiden McDaniel for a gain of 38 yards down to Heard County's three-yard line.
There, Gray covered the remaining three yards up the middle for a touchdown. With just over a minute left, Temple looked to carry a 14-10 lead into the locker room. But it wasn't quite that simple.
Heard County responded in a similar fas.
