ATHENS — Hayden made the most of its first-ever appearance in the AHSAA Class 5A playoffs, and set another school record by recording the Wildcats’ very first playoff shutout with a 19-0 win at East Limestone.

“The Deuce” was wild, as Leonard Johnson scored all three Wildcat touchdowns for the night.

On the other side of the ball, the Hayden defense — led by sophomore linebacker Levi Snider — held East Limestone to only 99 yards total offense, with 46 of that coming on a single play.

The first quarter was uneventful until late, when the Indians completed a 46-yard pass to the Cats’ 5-yard line. But Hayden’s defense held East Limestone out of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 to keep the Indians off the scoreboard.

After the teams swapped punts, Johnson broke away and scored from 55 yards out with 8:51 remaining in the first half.

The Cats defense forced a Tribe punt and took over with good field position at the 47. They then ran almost four and a half minutes off the clock, and Johnson got his second touchdown of the night on a 5-yard run. Hayden had a 12-0 lead with 2:10 left on the first half clock.

The second half featured the stifling Wildcat defense, which had its way with the home team. The only score of the second half came on the first play of the fourth quarter, as Johnson scored his third touchdown of the night on another 5-yard dash.

Snider led the defense with 10 tackles (two for loss), while Jeremy Standfield and Colton Shirley each added six tackles (one for loss). Cody Colvin added six more plus a fumble recovery.

Johnson led the rushing attack with 19 carries for 134 yards. Blake Adams added 113 yards on 23 carries.

Hayden’s last playoff win was in 1992, when the Cats beat Hamilton 24-15 in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

The win improves the Cats to 8-3 and moves them into the second round. Next week they will play the winner of Friday’s game between Guntersville (10-0) and Ramsay (7-3). If Guntersville wins, the Wildcats will host the second round; if Ramsay wins the Wildcats will travel to Birmingham’s Lawson Field to play the Rams.