Meaning is bigger, but can Tattnall-FPD rematch be better than first meeting?

            When FPD left the GISA for the GHSA, its rivalry with Tattnall took a break. And that wasn’t a bad thing for the Vikings, who had lost six straight and were in a 2-19 run against the Trojans.

            Things have been better since the Trojans made the move, and the series is split in the past four meetings. They’ll have to go far to come close to the magic of their last meeting, on Oct. 20.

            And it’s been a while since they’ve had a bigger meeting.

            FPD hosts Tattnall Friday in a GHSA Class A private playoff game, the Vikings hoping to reverse postseason struggles with the Trojans.

            They met nine times in the GISA postseason, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association website, and FPD has yet to win.

            Scoring has been a huge issue. The Vikings have been outscored a whopping 226-60 in those games, cracking double digits only twice and maxing out at 14 points.

            The last meeting bore no resemblance to history between the two, with only six games this century decided by single digits before then.

            And it was a rollercoaster.

            FPD scored on a 79-yard pass play from Dalton Cox to Titus Moore with 3:16 left in the first, which ended with Tattnall scoring on a 1-yard run by Miles Morris after a 70-yard gain by Jamal Marshall.

            FPD scored, and then Tattnall scored. The Vikings fumbled, and the Trojans scored with six seconds left in the half for a 21-7 lead.

            Soooo, Moore opens the second half by returning the kickoff 86 yards to tie it up. A fumble in the end zone is ruled a Tattnall touchdown, a lead that lasts about 10 minutes.

            It was tied 28 all heading to the fourth quarter, with requisite dramatic timeouts waiting.

            Six minutes after FPD scored, Tattnall tied it up. The Trojans fumbled it away on FPD’s 43 with 1:50 left. The Vikings got to the 12, but a bad snap sabotaged a field goal try, and they went to overtime.

            The Trojans then had their botched field goal attempt, which set up Cox’s keeper from the 1 for the win in overtime.