There was a long embrace between Halls football coach Brent Hughes and receiver Brody Rogers following Friday’s win at Central.
In similar fashion, the Red Devils are squeezing as much as they can out of a season that hasn’t lasted this long in nearly 30 years.
And they’re not letting go yet.
Halls took down Central 28-21 in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A playoffs to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 1996.
The Red Devils (8-4) will face defending state champion Sevier County (12-1) Friday (11/28/25) in the semis.
This was also Halls’ first time in the quarterfinals since 1996, and while the Battle for Black Oak Ridge and district rival Bobcats are a familiar opponent, the stakes were elevated for Friday’s contest.
Given the number of close games both teams, especially Central (10-3), have played this season, combined with the Bobcats’ 38-35 win over the Red Devils on Oct. 16, it’s no surprise that the rematch was a one-score game.
What may have been surprising is this game being more defensive oriented.
For Halls, the game started and ended with defense, specifically junior linebacker Carson Pearce.
Central started the game with the ball, and Pearce got home on a blitz to sack Bobcats quarterback Kaden Long on the game’s first offensive play.
To close, the Red Devils needed a defensive stand after punting to Central with 1:32 remaining in the game. The Bobcats took over down 28-21 at their own 10-yard line with no timeouts.
After a 6-yard completion on first down, Pearce sacked Long for the fourth time. Central spiked the ball on third down, and Gabe Holmes intercepted a desperation heave on fourth-and-long to send the Halls sideline into a frenzy.
“He’s a heck of a football player,” Hughes said about Pearce.
“He’s going to be an All-State football player, if he’s not it’s a travesty. He’s a kid that’s really showed out his junior year.
“We’ve got seniors playing really good football right now, but the biggest thing people don’t realize is we play a lot of underclassmen, and they’re just finding ways, and he and Gavin Self and Gavin Cantrell on defense, it’s just amazing.
“They’re playing great football and we’ve just got to keep it going.”
Hughes also said the defensive gameplan changed after the regular-season loss to Central.
“I just said after we lost that first game I wasn’t going to sit on my heels,” Hughes said.
“I was so afraid of blitzing and us not getting home, I apologized to my kids after the game because I take blame for that game because I called it scared, and I said if we were to ever play them again I wouldn’t make that same mistake.
“We brought a lot more pressure, sometimes it hit, sometimes it didn’t, but I felt like we disrupted him (Long) a lot, and got him off his mark, he rushed some throws, so that’s part of it.”
On offense, the Red Devils were led by the combination of Rogers and quarterback Amari Lethgo.
The duo combined for three touchdowns in an earlier playoff victory over Lawrence County, and added two more against Central.
The first was a pretty 21-yard pass into the end zone where Rogers won in man coverage to give Halls a 7-0 lead at the start of the second quarter.
Touchdown No. 2 came on the Red Devils’ next possession from 13 yards out. Lethgo threw it up and let Rogers, who has a knack for coming out on the right side of 50-50 balls, do the rest.
“Me and Amari, off the field we’re best friends,” Rogers, who finished with nine grabs for 108 yards, said.
“On the field, the chemistry is there. We don’t miss.”
Central scored the game’s next 14 points on a touchdown run by receiver Torin McAfee on a sweep in the second quarter, and then a 39-yard pass by Long to McAfee midway through the third quarter.
The Bobcats tied the game at both 14-14 and 21-21, but never held the lead.
With the game tied at 21, Halls scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning touchdown on a 16-play, 74-yard drive that ate up 7:32 of clock from the 11:57 to the 4:25 mark in the fourth quarter.
Lethgo capped off the drive with a 1-yard run on 3rd-and-goal.
The senior QB accounted for all four of Halls’ touchdowns on Friday, just like he accounted for all six against Lawrence County.
On the ensuing Central possession, the Bobcats turned the ball over on downs with the drive ending on a group sack that Pearce was in on.
“He’s a very versatile quarterback, and it’s very hard to stop him,” Pearce said about defending Long.
“But you’ve just got to keep contain on him and force him inside. He’s got some good moves and we just had to contain him.”
With the game expected to be close, special teams and penalties, some of the typical differentiators, played a factor.
Halls’ first touchdown drive started on the Central 16 because of a bad snap on a punt.
Dom Culp also blocked a punt for the Red Devils to set up their second touchdown drive on their own 48.
Parker Crittenden executed a perfect surprise onside kick after Halls went ahead 14-0, but it did not lead to any points.
Both sides had a good amount of penalties, but Central’s proved to be more costly. The long fourth-quarter drive by Halls included an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Central and a late face-mask call that offset a Halls holding penalty inside the red zone.
The Bobcats were without leading receiver Javaston Badgett, who was ejected in the previous week’s game against Columbia Central and had to sit out Friday’s contest.
While Central has multiple other reliable options like McAfee and J.J. Sackie, the absence of Badgett, a senior captain, was noticeable.
“They’re still a really good football team, but it’d be hard not to think that No. 3 (Badgett) couldn’t make an impact,” Hughes said.
“He’s a tremendous football player. Obviously, it was one less headache for us to deal with, but from a competitor standpoint, and a kid that’s not a Halls kid, I appreciate how he plays football, and I recognize how great he is, so I wish him nothing but the best, and I wish Central nothing but the best.”
Now, Halls turns its attention to a tough task in Sevier County, hoping it’s not time to let go.
“Come Monday, I get to see my guys. We’re going to try to regroup, heal up, and find another way,” Hughes said.
“It gets harder and harder, we know that, but a lot of people didn’t expect us to be here, and so we’re just going to try and find a way.”
Article written by Matthew Lutey/5Star Preps. To read more on area high school sports or to see photo galleries, videos, stat leaders, etc, visit 5StarPreps.com — and use promo code New2025 for 30% off your first year or month subscription.
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