JACKSONVILLE – Hertford County survived.

The Bears, seeded number nine in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3-A football playoffs, went to White Oak and took an overtime session, but upset the Vikings 35-28 here last night.

The Bears took the lead early, but had to rally to force the extra period when White Oak scored the first two touchdowns in the second half and led 28-21.

The final score from the Vikings came when Adrian Williams capped an 11-play, 47-yard drive with an eight-yard run in the fourth period.

With 7:21 to go in the contest, White Oak held the seven-point advantage.

Michael Stephenson, however, returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to the Viking 47-yardline to help the Bears set up shop in good field position.

Markee White had the score for the Bears, going in on a two-yard run. Richard Burns added the PAT to deadlock the score at 28-all.

It appeared the late score would be for naught as White Oak drove to the HCHS 15-yardline and lined up for a 33-yard field goal with five seconds to play. The kick sailed wide right and sent the game into overtime.

Once in OT, the Bears wasted little time finding the endzone.

A.J. Francis capped a career night with the game-winning seven-yard run. He led HCHS with 123 yards on 13 carries. Burns added the extra point to give Hertford County a 35-28 lead.

White Oak faced fourth-and-goal from the six on their overtime possession and Williams appeared headed to the endzone, but Jamal Jones made the saving tackle at the two-yardline to preserve the win.

Hertford County scored first in the football game, capitalizing on a White Oak turnover to drive 60 yards in 10 plays.

Shea Tann gave HCHS the lead with a two-yard run that came with 4:44 to play in the first quarter. Burns hit the first of his five PATs to give the Bears a 7-0 lead.

White Oak came right back, driving 70 yards in nine plays to tie the game.

The touchdown came on a Devien Davis 24-yard pass reception from Nate Brown with just 31 seconds to play in the first quarter. Walters added the conversion to tie the game.

Hertford County didn’t take long to find the endzone, scoring just over 1:30 later when Tann capped a 61-yadr drive with a three-yard paydirt strike and Burns added the PAT. Francis had the big play on the drive, picking up 52 yards on one carry.

With the Bears up by seven, White Oak came back to score again when Williams went 33-yards and Walter added the extra point to make it 14-all.

HCHS took the lead with six seconds to play in the first half on a seven-yard pass from Antonio Vaughan to Darnell Vaughan. That capped a 17-play, 90-yard drive. Burns added the conversion and HCHS led 21-14 at the half.

White Oak tied the game by driving 73 yards on 15 plays during their opening possession of the second half. They used 7:56 off the clock on the drive.

The score came when Rocky Meadows caught a three-yard pass from Brown with 4:04 to play in the quarter. Walters added the PAT.

The Bears (9-3) will travel to top-ranked Western Alamance next week for the second round of the playoffs.