The battle of the Highlanders took five quarters to complete, but when the dust finally settled it was Cloudland taking a 46-40 overtime win over Gatlinburg-Pittman on Friday night at Orr Field.

Cloudland rushed for 235 first half yards – with junior Jordan Coffey tallying 121 with two scores – as the Highlanders took a 22-13 lead into the halftime break. Coffey opened the scoring with a 22-yard run off left tackle to give Cloudland an 8-0 lead after Josh Blair blasted in the two point conversion.

Coffey finished the night with 304 yards on 28 carries and six touchdowns.

“Without those big guys up front I wouldn’t have gotten a thing,” Coffey said. “Everybody gave 110 percent busted their tails to get this win. We came ready to play, and when we fell behind coach chewed us out and we got our second wind.”

The ‘Landers forced Gatlinburg into a turnover on downs and took over at the 21-yard line. From there Cloudland went 79 yards on 11 plays with Coffey plunging in from nine yards out. Quarterback Malachi Benfield hit Hayden Houston with a two point pass for a 16-0 Cloudland lead.

Gat-Pitt came roaring back in the second period as quarterback J.D. Shults heated up and he found Braeden Morris on a 32-yard touchdown strike to cap a seven play, 80-yard drive for a 16-7 game after the kick from Joey Renfro.

Benfield scored on a 57-yard run from a shotgun set but the conversion failed and Cloudland led 22-7 with 4:10 left in the half. G-P then went on a 62-yard drive that covered 10-plays and ended with a 26-yard pass from Shults to Andrew Gentry.

G-P opened a wild second half with a 14-yard scoring pass from Shults to Gentry as Pittman closed to 22-20. The Highlanders took the lead as Jacob Addisso scored on a 36-yard fumble return for a touchdown. The kick failed as G-P led 26-22.

Coffey then scored his third touchdown run of the game on a 37 yard run for a 28-26 Cloudland lead. The back and forth continued as G-P scored on a 75-yard pass play from Shults to Gentry as Gatlinburg took the lead again at 32-28.

Gatlinburg recovered a fumble by Cloudland and Morris caught a 10-yard scoring pass from Shults to make it a 40-34 contest and in one play Coffey tied it up again this time with a 73-yard run.

For a more in-depth look at Friday’s game, pick up Tuesday’s edition of the Gridiron Weekly, a weekly football section produced by the Elizabethton Star.