Trousdale County's championship hopes washed away by Peabody

COOKEVILLE — Trousdale County's unlikely TSSAA football playoff run ended with silver Thursday.

Peabody defeated the Yellow Jackets 17-9 in the Class 2A BlueCross Bowl at Tennessee Tech's Tucker Stadium.

"We knew it was going to be tough before we came in here," Trousdale County senior Keyvont Baines said. "We just had to try to move the ball and score every possession."

That was difficult against a Peabody defense that entered the game with eight shutouts.

Peabody (14-1) showed that stout defense in the final minutes. Trousdale County (11-4) moved the ball inside the Peabody 7, but the Golden Tide stopped Trousdale on four consecutive plays to end the drive. Peabody then ran out the final two minutes of the clock to win its first state title since 2014.

"Coming up short is tough," said Trousdale's Dyson Satterfield, who had 116 yards on 22 carries. "We can't change it. We can't go into a time machine and change it.

"We just have to live with it."

The loss snapped Trousdale County's six-game winning streak. The Yellow Jackets' four losses are by a combined 19 points. 

The state runner-up finish is the program's fourth in school history. The program also has nine state championships, with the most recent coming in 2013.

Baines' 5-yard touchdown run with 2:07 left in the first quarter gave Trousdale County a 7-3 lead. But Peabody answered with quarterback Cooper Baugus, who was named the game's MVP. Baugus scored on a 38-yard run to give the Golden Tide a 10-7 halftime lead. 

Peabody extended the lead to 17-7 after Noah Halbrook's 51-yard touchdown reception from Baugus.

The game capped a season of adversity for the Yellow Jackets. Baines, an all-state football player in 2017, missed most of the regular season after sitting out for a team rule violation. That permitted Satterfield to emerge as an offensive leader.

"We went through adversity (this season)," said Trousdale County senior Jake Gregory, who had seven tackles and recovered a fumble. "But I was happy to go through it with my brothers on the team. We just overcame adversity."

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.

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