PIKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Loudon's Redskins came down the freeway and over the mountain cinched into a traditional school bus Friday, but their 70-minute endurance of stiff seats paid off with a 42-15 Class 3A victory over host Bledsoe County.

Wade Plemons' 15-yard touchdown pass to senior Josh Berry with 81 seconds left till intermission boosted the Redskins' lead to 28-7 and essentially sealed the outcome. The mercy rule (35-point lead) was invoked with five minutes left in the third quarter.

"Offensively I think we scored every time we got the ball (with the first team), but defensively we weren't as sharp as I would have liked," Loudon coach Jeff Harig said. "But part of that was Bledsoe County being a good offensive football team. They hit some quick hitters that hurt us."

The Redskins (9-2) will travel again next week to unbeaten Polk County. They had not met Bledsoe in the postseason since 1983, when Loudon took a 14-7 quarterfinal decision.

Loudon had not played a team from the greater Chattanooga area since a 14-13 quarterfinal loss to Tyner in 1996.

"They're a good team," Bledsoe coach Jason Reel said. "We have been working since January, but so have they. It hurts, but I can say with pride that this team worked hard. I have never been prouder of a bunch of kids."

The Redskins had allowed just 24 points since a 24-0 loss to Christian Academy of Knoxville, and they extended their current win streak to seven. During that streak, which started with a surprising 14-10 win at Class 6A Bradley Central, they have averaged 33 points per game.

Coming off a season-high 63 points against Chattanooga Christian, the Warriors stayed in high gear for the first drive. They went 71 yards with Tyler Harvey finding Michael Gibbons for a 10-yard score less than three minutes in.

The lead was short-lived.

An ensuing onside kick failed to go the required 10 yards, and Loudon took just four plays to sweep 47 yards to tie the score on Kc Rader's point-after kick following a 9-yard run by quarterback Plemons.

Back-to-back interceptions by Dejay Johnson and defensive tackle Brenden Phillips led to Loudon's next scores. Johnson's pickoff set them up at the Bledsoe 5, and Matthew Wallace scored on a 6-yard run. Phillips' pick left them with 50 yards to go, but they got that also with Jake Brown running it in from the 3.

Plemons' TD pass to Berry ended the Redskins' only lengthy drive (67 yards).

The Warriors got a 50-yard pass from Harvey to Brandon Smith with slightly more than a minute to play.