In their state championship rematch it looked like North Gwinnett may beat Norcross again, but the Blue Devils’ defense got its footing and playmaker Myles Autry took center stage as the defending Class AAAAAA champs secured a 31-14 victory.
North Gwinnett struck first on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Hayden Sphire to wideout Nate Brown. The following possession, Norcross snapped the ball over the head of quarterback A.J. Bush, who picked up the football in the endzone and threw it downfield to avoid the sack. On the errant pass, North Gwinnett defensive lineman Dante Sawyer made a sliding grab for the interception. With the possession and momentum in the Bulldogs’ favor, a rolling Sphire tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Scott to give North Gwinnett a 14-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Autry worked his magic and took it 92 yards to the house and woke up the Norcross sidelines.
“Myles was great today,” said Norcross head coach Keith Maloof. “That kickoff really changed the game for us..”
The touchdown was the spark that ignited a 31-0 Norcross run to close the game. Bush found Clinton Lynch for Norcross’ first offensive touchdown on a 2-yard touchdown pass that it up 14-14 at the half.
North Gwinnett deferred to the second half and on its first possession faced a fourth-and-1 at the Norcross 44-yard line. The playclock was expiring and the snap deflected off the unaware Sphires’ facemask and Norcross recovered. Later in the quarter, Ridwan Issahuku intercepted a pass intended for Scott and a ball thrown behind running back C.J. Leggett was tipped up and fell into the arms of Norcross’ Jaquan Frazier.
Bush found Clinton Lynch for a 26-yard gain and the senior quarterback finished the drive himself with a four-yard touchdown scramble to make it 24-14 after a Blake Bingham 33-yard field goal.
The Norcross defense continued cutting down North Gwinnett’s screen game heaves down field. North Gwinnett regained possession with under 10 minutes left in the game and it appeared that Norcross would let its defense ice the game and work clock. Maloof recognized a mismatch and Bush aired it out to a wide-open Autry, who caught the pass down the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown.
“We saw the mismatch on Myles and made the switch,” said Maloof. “A.J. was throwing the deep ball outstanding all game and we were confident we had them beat on the play.”
Bush finished 17 of 23 passing for 303 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Norcross was in championship form and Jaquan Frazier finished with a team-high 14 tackles while senior teammate Kevin Mouhon turned in 12 total tackles.
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