Signal Mountain's football team entered this fourth week of the TSSAA regular season unbeaten, and like a boxer with a heavy right hand and a first-round killer instinct, it has been a series of fast starts that have paced the high-flying Eagles.

Thursday night, in a game moved up a day to get ahead of expected inclement weather, the Eagles stumbled and staggered through the first half but withstood visiting Hixson's early barrage.

A second half jumpstarted by an animated coach Mark Mariakis during intermission carried Signal Mountain to a 16-6 win, along with a 4-0 perch that includes a 2-0 record in Region 3-4A.

"There was a lot of come-to-Jesus talks," Mariakis said of the halftime pep chats after the Eagles headed to the locker room down 6-0 and with Hixson looking firmly in command.

Senior quarterback Cash Keene, who delivered a back-breaking 18-yard touchdown pass to junior J.B. Zimmerman with a little more than three minutes left, said Mariakis "gave a great halftime speech, and he got after us pretty good."

The Eagles got the message and the win, while the Wildcats fell to 1-3 and missed out on a potential 1-0 start to region play.

"We had every chance to really take control of the game early," Hixson coach Nick Rivers said. "We just have to execute better."

Hixson marched 51 yards on its opening possession and took a 6-0 lead on Luke Finch's 8-yard pass to Ron Suttles. Hixson had two explosive plays called back on penalties on the next drive, then wasted a huge 57-yard completion from Finch to Suttles when the Wildcats were stopped on downs inside the Eagles' 10-yard line late in the first half.

Signal Mountain's defense stood out with interceptions by Sam Edmondson and Zimmerman, as well as critical sacks by Garrett Wilson early and a safety (with the tackle by Will Reason) that closed the scoring.

It was an offensive 180 yards after halftime that made staying undefeated a reality, though.

"We knew that was not us," Keene said of the first half.

After generating 82 yards on their 29 offensive plays over the first two quarters, the Eagles took the lead for good with a throwback wing-T drive that covered 89 yards on 14 plays, 13 of them runs by Wilson or Bo Cooper.

"Someone on the headset said, 'Now this looks like our offense," Mariakis said.

It looks like 4-0 as well and sets the stage for a monster region clash next week at Red Bank.

Contact Jay Greeson at [email protected].