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The Franklin County Rebels beat the Tullahoma Wildcats 17-16 on the road Friday for their first win of the season.

In the first regular-season game between the nearby rivals since 2020, the Rebels fell behind early due to some untimely miscues, but they didn’t allow any points in the second half and scored a go-ahead touchdown with a minute left to pick up a regional victory.

Franklin County head football coach Tracy Hayworth said it was a great win for his team after a slow start to the year.

“I thought we played hard and fought hard. We didn’t give up. We didn’t play a perfect game, but we played well enough to win,” he said. “It just meant a lot. We needed to get this win just to get over the hump. Everything wasn’t going well for us in the first three games of the season, and to be able to kick off the region 1-0, I think that’s going to help brighten things for us in the future.”

The Rebels opened the game with a 63-yard drive which ended in a 25-yard touchdown pass from CJ Seals to Eric Jones with 5:50 left in the first quarter. Kicker Loui Arellano added a successful point-after try to put the early lead at 7-0.

Following a punt by the Wildcats, the Rebels went three-and-out on their second drive due in part to a mishandled snap which resulted in negative yardage on second down.

They then lined up to punt the ball, but another poor snap went over Arellano’s head, and he was tackled in the end zone for a safety after recovering the ball with 1:49 left in the opening period to put the score at 7-2.

The Wildcats took full advantage of their newfound momentum as they returned the ensuing free kick for a touchdown to take a sudden 9-7 lead with 1:35 remaining in the first quarter.

The Rebels were forced to punt again on their next possession with the Wildcats getting the ball at Franklin County’s 37-yard line.

However, the Rebels didn’t allow much movement up the field, and a 46-yard field goal attempt by the Wildcats fell a few yards short to keep the deficit steady.

The Rebels then drove down into enemy territory before stalling out around Tullahoma’s 30-yard line. Arellano was called upon to kick a 46-yard field goal of his own and split the uprights with a line drive to give Franklin County a 10-9 advantage with 6:23 left in the first half.

Following a punt by the Wildcats, the Rebels made another trip across midfield, but a fumble cut the drive short at Tullahoma’s 26-yard line.

The Wildcats then quickly moved down the field with a few passes and scored a touchdown with 20 seconds left in the half to take the lead.

The Rebels trailed 16-10 at halftime.

After both teams punted on their first drives of the second half, the Wildcats seemed poised to add to their lead as they brought the ball all the way down to Franklin County’s 5-yard line.

However, the Rebels’ defense didn’t budge from there, and a fourth-down pass from the Wildcats fell incomplete to keep it a one-score game.

The next two drives ended in punts, resulting in the Rebels having the ball at their own 30-yard line with 10:21 remaining in the contest.

The Rebels slowly worked the ball down the field, converting multiple third downs and a fourth down along the way before they found themselves in a goal-to-go situation at Tullahoma’s 2-yard line.

After a first-down run was stuffed for no gain, Jones carried the ball on second down and muscled his way across the goal line with 1:01 left on the clock to briefly tie the score at 16-16.

Arellano followed with another successful point-after attempt to give the Rebels a one-point lead late.

The Wildcats started their final drive on their own 15-yard line after a holding penalty neutralized a decent return.

The ball was moved to midfield after the Wildcats hit a big pass play with about 30 seconds left, and a penalty for defensive pass interference with two seconds remaining moved the ball up to Franklin County’s 35-yard line as the Wildcats elected to send out their kicker for a 52-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

The kick had more than enough distance, but it hooked wide left to give the Rebels the victory by one.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 1-3 on the season and 1-0 in regional play.

They will next play Friday at Moore County High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.