Matt Hamilton/Daily Citizen-NewsDarlington School players celebrate a win over Christian Heritage School as the teams walk off the field Friday night.

In a defensive slugfest between two very evenly-matched teams — Darlington School and Christian Heritage School — it was the road team that made the plays in the fourth quarter to come away with victory.

Darlington (5-1, 2-1) went on a 12-play, 51-yard drive to start the fourth quarter and scored the go-ahead touchdown when quarterback Frank Manning found Casey Gunn over the middle for an 18-yard touchdown. Darlington converted the two-point conversion to take a 24-21 lead with 7:25 left in the game.

Christian Heritage (4-1, 1-1) received the ball on the ensuing possession and although seven minutes remained on the clock it ended up being the Lions’ last opportunity. On third down from their own 36-yard line, Lions’ quarterback Matthew Neff was sacked with just over three minutes remaining and Christian Heritage was forced to punt. It was Darlington’s fifth sack in the game.

“It was a heavyweight bout,” Christian Heritage head coach Jay Poag said. “I thought both defenses played outstanding tonight, and really that’s what it’s supposed to be. I think tonight was the first game in a long time where we got beat on special teams, but our kids will bounce back and head down to Trion next week ready to play.”

In front of a strong crowd, the Lions scored first when senior Zach Gentry intercepted Manning off a tipped pass in the first quarter. Gentry returned the ball 84 yards down the home sideline, and a Kevin Dixon extra point pushed the Christian Heritage lead to 7-0 midway through the first quarter.

Darlington responded on the following play, when Roth Wilcox returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. The extra point tied the game.

From that point on both defenses were dominant. The Darlington front seven pressured Neff consistently throughout the game and the Christian Heritage defense was equally as impressive holding Darlington to 102 yards in the first half. Both defenses were in each other’s backfield all game, giving opposing offenses little room to maneuver.

After Darlington took a 16-7 lead with two minutes left in the second quarter, the Christian Heritage offense found its rhythm. Neff connected with Evan Lester three consecutive times, the final on a 17-yard touchdown. Neff avoided the initial rush on the play and threw a ball over the Darlington defender to a diving Lester. After the extra point the score was 16-14 heading into halftime. Neff finished the game 7-13 passing for 81 yards and Lester finished with five receptions for 63 yards.

“It hurts, our kids are hurting a little bit after that one, but I’m glad it hurts,” Poag said. “The reality is whether we won or lost, we have to turn the page and head on to the next one. That’s the grind of the football season.”

The teams traded punts to begin the first half but the Lions took the lead on their second possession when running back Ethan Smith took a direct snap up the middle for a 12-yard touchdown. The score and extra point gave Christian Heritage a 21-16 lead. Smith finished the game with nine carries for 105 yards and the touchdown.

“You know, it was really a fight to the end,” Smith said. “Both teams were very good, but sometimes the other team gets the breaks.”

The score remained the same until Darlington went on its final scoring drive to begin the fourth quarter. The Lions had one final opportunity when Darlington had the ball on a fourth-and-1 with 28 seconds remaining in the game, but the Tigers converted and ran out the clock.