Tanner's Jaleel Thatch and Michael Guster combined to bring down a Winston County player during the game Friday night.

Tanner’s 54-game winning streak in region play came to a screeching halt Friday night in a 32-27 loss to Winston County. It is the first time the Rattlers have lost a region game since Sept. 11, 2009.

While Tanner’s long winning streak came to an end, Winston County’s victory broke a 10-game losing streak for the Yellow Jackets dating back to last season.

The Rattlers overcame an early deficit and looked like they were going to escape with a win after Kristian Lampkin scored on a 16-yard run to give Tanner a 27-20 lead in the fourth quarter. However, special teams proved to be a huge factor, as Winston County’s James Moore returned the ensuing kickoff 69 yards for a touchdown. The 2-point conversion failed and Tanner still led 27-26.

However, the Yellow Jackets then recovered an onside kick, giving them back the ball at midfield.

With less than 3 minutes remaining in the game, Winston County converted the onside kick recovery into points, as Moore found Isaiah Mercer from 15 yards out for the winning touchdown.

Tanner had one last chance, but were stopped on downs, and Winston County earned an improbable victory.

The conclusion of the game was fitting to the back-and-forth affair, as Winston County jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, despite one series where Tanner defenders Jaleel Thatch, Evan Fuqua and Zakobe Shoulders combined to sack Moore three straight plays, leaving Winston County with a fourth and 43.

Tanner was finally able to get on the scoreboard with 3:30 remaining in the second quarter on a touchdown by Owen Green, which cut Winston County’s lead to 14-6 at halftime.

Tanner looked to have recovered to start the second half, with C.J. Yarbrough scoring two touchdowns to give the Rattlers a 21-14 lead. The first score was a 52 yard run and the second covered 50 yards.

However, Winston County responded with a touchdown early in the fourth to cut the Rattlers’ lead to 21-20 and set up the frantic finish.

Tanner fell to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in region play. The Rattlers have a week off next week before hosting Madison Academy in a non-region game on Sept. 29.