By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

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  State scores

Class 6A

Gainesville 49, Houston County 35
          Gainesville hadn’t been in many shootouts during its first 12 wins, a 34-21 win over North Forsyth coming the closest. But the Red Elephants were able to overcome a 14-7 deficit – the Bears scored two touchdowns within a few minutes of each other, TD passes from Antwann Hill Jr., to Kale Woodburn and Arthur Brown - by scoring 35 straight points to take control and put Houston County into a deep comeback hole. The Bears have been there before this season, but not against an undefeated team on the road in the playoffs.
A 57-yard TD pass following a Bears fumble made it 42-14, the Bears climbing back a bit on a 39-yard pass from Antwann Hill Jr., to Kale Woodburn – their second scoring hookup of the night – to make it 42-21 only for Gainesville’s Tre Reece – who caught that 57-yarder – to take the kickoff back 90 yards, still in the third quarter.Nick Jordan chipped in a 4-yarder late in the third, and Hill connected with Woodburn again early in the fourth to pull the Bears within two scores. But Gainesville’s defense, which had given up 21 points in three of its last four games, clamped down.

Class 5A

Warner Robins 31,Creekside 28, OT
          Creekside threw four incomplete passes during its overtime possession, going first. That left the door open for the Demons (9-4). On third down, holder Isaih Canion had to leave his normal kneeling position to yank down a high snap, but he placed it perfectly and Daniel Barber was able to get the 31-yarder through for the game-winner. It was a fitting ending to a full-game slugfest with tied at 7, 14, 21 and 28, no team holding a lead for very long. The Demons tied it at 21 with less than a minute left in the half on a 64-yard pass from Canion to Cam Flowers. They went up early in the third on a blocked punt that Vic Burley returned 25 yards for a touchdown. The lead lasted the remaining 10 minutes of the third quarter until Creekside tied it on a 47-yard pass 10 seconds into the fourth quarter.
          Defenses came up with plays the rest of the quarter, Warner Robins getting an interception from Rasean Dinkins with about two minutes left to stop a Creekside drive. The Demons – who traded pick-6s with Creekside - were set to get the ball back in the final seconds on the Creekside half of the field and set up perhaps a short pass and field goal try only for a penalty to kill that chance. On to overtime. Warner Robins’ last OT playoff game? A 17-14 loss to Buford in the 2019 5A title game. The Demons are in their sixth straight semifinal game, and ninth since 2004.
          Warner Robins beat Creekside for the second straight year in the playoffs. Last year’s semifinal meeting was moved to Banneker to meet capacity standards. The Demons were impressive in that one, a 40-15 win highlighted by a huge game from Fred Perry.

Class A/Division I

St. Francis 37, Bleckley County 21
          The homestanding Knights stormed out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter, on two touchdown passes and a rushing score. The Royals (10-3) broke the shutout 14 seconds into the second quarter on Eli Mullis’ 23-yard TD pass to Marcus Newsom. But St. Francis (10-3) answered three minutes later on a 32-yard touchdown pass to take a 27-7 halftime lead. Bleckley County’s defense held St. Francis scoreless in the third, but the Royals couldn’t gain any scoreboard ground, getting stopped on another fourth-down try in the final minutes of the third.
St. Francis added a field goal in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, and missed another one. Bleckley County finally cut into the lead with a screen pass to TJ Mays with 4:48 left in the game. St. Francis added a score, and the Royals closed out scoring inside the final minute on D.Q. Benjamin’s 8-yard run.

Class A/Division II

Lincoln County 24, Dooly County 21
          Underdog Dooly County led 14-7 early in the third quarter after a second-quarter touchdown catch from Jalen Hall and third-quarter run from Lorenzo Clayton. But Lincoln County answered quickly to tie it with a rushing touchdown. The Red Devils then took the lead late in the third on a field goal, adding a rushing TD in the final minute of the third to go up 23-14. That lasted seconds, Clayton scoring again to pull the Bobcats within three. Lincoln County then held on in the fourth quarter.

GIAA
Postseason seedings listed
Class AAAA

Stratford 55, Tattnall 28
          The Eagles scored at least 50 points for the first time since early in the 2017 and the most in the long series with Tattnall, recording their biggest win over the Trojans since 41-14 in 2015. Stratford was in control when the game came to a halt following a serious head/neck injury suffered by Tattnall’s Tristan Turner in the final minute of the third quarter. He was stabilized on the field until an ambulance arrived, the game resuming after a stoppage of about three-quarters of an hour.
An already chippy game got more intense, with Tattnall ejections in the fourth quarter, the Trojans unable to gain any ground on the Eagles. Stratford led 14-0 after one, and answering Tattnall’s touchdown with Keondre Glover’s second touchdown, with 5:03 left in the first half. They got a score from Shaun Wilmore a little more than three minutes later only for Tattnall to counter with 39 seconds left, but what looked like a 14-point halftime game at the break because a three-score game afer Glover’s huge kickoff return set up Gilmore’s 23-yard run and then a short TD run with 10 seconds left for a 35-14 lead. Glover’s 14-yarder midway through the third upped the advantage to 28 points.

Class AAA

John Milledge 49, Valwood 14
          The Trojans’ 49th straight win was as familiar as the majority of the previous 48. They cracked 40 points for the 10th time this season, storming out to a 35-0 halftime lead, with touchdown runs of 14, 2, and 10 yards from Javian Butts. Andrew Mullis returned an interception 35 yards for a score, and Briggs Eady threw a 59-yard score to Bud Veal. Eady hit Butts with a 57-yarder in the second quarter, Butts going in again for his second 2-yard score of the night. John Milledge outgained Valwood 209-61 on the ground and 182-31 through the air, Eady passing for 171 yards and Butts leading the ground game with 74 yards.

Class AA

Central Fellowship 43, Gatewood 14
          Gatewood led 14-13 in the third quarter after trailing 13-7 at halftime as the teams traded third-quarter scores. The Lancers got touchdowns from Knox Walls and Jeb Walls to go up 27-14, the multi-talented Jalyn Goodrum sealing it with a 35-yard fumble return for a touchdown almost midway through the fourth quarter.

Brentwood 17, Briarwood 13
          Briarwood led 7-0 and 13-7, Brentwood taking the lead with 5:02 left in the second quarter on Harlon Scott’s 4-yard run and Christian Rountree’s second extra point. Rountree added a little cushion with a 26-yard field goal 54 seconds into the fourth quarter, and the War Eagles’ defense – led by Cyler Bloodworth, Landon Gilbert, and Wells Muller – continued to keep Briarwood at bay. Muller led the 232-yard ground game with 99 yards, Zach Denton chipping in 86. Briarwood managed 245 rushing yards.