HATTON — Clinging to a 2-point lead, Hatton coach Michael Hathorn put the game in the hands of his offensive line, and his team ground out a 16-play scoring drive to seal a 35-27 homecoming win over region rival Colbert Heights.

Trailing 29-20 at the half, Colbert Heights (1-6, 1-4 Class 2A Region 8) scored near the end of the third quarter on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Cade Claunch to Blake Fisher to make the score 29-27 going into the final quarter.

Hatton (3-4, 3-2) then mounted a 16-play, 75-yard drive, all running plays, 13 of which were runs by Romie Senior.

Shadoe Stephenson scored on a 6-yard touchdown run, and Hatton then stopped one last Colbert Heights drive to preserve the win.

“We felt good from the beginning about our running game,” Hathorn said.

“On that last drive, we got in a formation where we had them out-numbered a little, and we just blocked it well up front. I have a lot of confidence in our offensive line.”

The teams traded first-quarter touchdowns, and Hatton scored on back-to-back drives to open the second quarter and jump out to a 21-7 lead.

But Colbert Heights came back, as Claunch throwing two more touchdowns to Fisher on back-to-back possessions, to make the score 21-20. Hatton responded with a 42-yard touchdown pass of its own from Dakota Bishop to Dylan Hughes, and converted a two-point play to take a 9-point lead into halftime.

“We talked at halftime about finding their receivers,” Hathorn said.

“The first half we had been looking at the quarterback too much. We did a better job in the second half and were able to hold them to just one score. Our kids are fighters, to the end.”