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Ravenwood quarterback Brian Garcia accounted for three touchdowns, helping Ravenwood to a 37-21 win at Independence on Friday night.
Garcia ran for a pair of scores and threw for another, as the Raptors clinched the No. 2 seed in Region 6-6A.
Ravenwood (8-2, 4-1 in the region) will host Overton (4-6) in the first round of the TSSAA playoffs next week, while Independence (5-5, 3-2) will travel to Smyrna (7-3).
William Baine (13 carries, 85 yards, one touchdown) and Tony Rice (eight carries for 67, one touchdown) helped the Raptors on the ground. Ravenwood had 343 yards to the Eagles’ 260.
Ravenwood controlled the game from the beginning. When Garcia scampered for a 5-yard touchdown with 6:37 left in the third quarter, the Raptors led 30-0 after Luke Akers’ point-after.
The Raptors dominated the first half, racking up 210 yards to Independence’s 27. The Eagles struggled with snaps and a wet ball for most of the first half, while Ravenwood thrived in the bad weather.
Ravenwood linebacker Luke Shouse pounced on a bad snap exchange at the Eagles’ 28 on the game’s second play. Baine added a short touchdown run a few plays later, the point-after putting Ravenwood up, 7-0, with 9:11 to play, after Akers kicked the point-after.
After Ravenwood pinned Independence deep in its territory, Andrew Mason returned a punt to the Eagles’ 23 midway through the first quarter. That led to Garcia’s score on a 5-yard keeper a few plays later, though Independence’s T.J. Sheffield blocked the point-after.
Garcia then hit Mason with a 69-yard bomb down the right side, the Akers extra point putting Ravenwood up 20 just 10 seconds into the second quarter.
Akers put Ravenwood up 23 with a 32-yard field goal with 4:07 left before half.
Independence had negative yardage until the final three snaps of the first half, when quarterback Ethan Cash had a long run and then hit Sheffield with a 19-yard pass to the Ravenwood 5.
But on the last play of the half, Cash had the ball slip out of his hands and the Eagles lost their best chance to score before the break.
Independence got three fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the final more respectable. Receiver Isaiah Collier had a 2-yard rushing score, and caught a 67-yard touchdown from backup quarterback Nathan Cisco. Tyrus Jackson added an 8-yard scoring run.
Both teams had a chance to win the region coming into the night, but the Raptors lost their chance when Brentwood beat Centennial in the game’s final minute.
