Allatoona opened its season with a 12-6 victory against Class 5A-6A defending champion Greenbrier in the inaugural Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Flag Football Classic, featuring four flag football games played at West Forsyth Wednesday.
And after last week’s storms impacted some of the participating teams, the victory was an afterthought for Allatoona head coach Jordan Davis.
“All the love to Greenbrier,” said Davis, regarding the impact of Hurricane Helene on the lives of Greenbrier’s student athletes. “You have some of their team coming over here having not had water or power for almost a week now and it’s just amazing they suited up and came to play, all the power to them. They are a great team.”
With the game tied at six points each with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Allatoona channeled its inner Philadelphia Eagle and tried a version of the ‘tush push’, sending senior Anna Varner on a run behind the offensive line where she crossed the goal line, giving the Buccaneers the lead for good.
“It was one of those third downs where I had two time outs in my pocket,” Davis said. “So we knew we could run the ball up the middle and either we get a little closer to the endzone or if they don’t react well to it, we might score. Varner found a crease and made a great run behind the center to score.”
Allatoona opened scoring in the second quarter and, facing fourth-and-six, Allatoona junior quarterback Lyla Paradiso passed to senior receiver Alex Harris on a left-to-right slant across goal line for a go-ahead touchdown. However, the extra-point attempt failed leaving Allatoona ahead 6-0.
Greenbrier tied the game on a 10-yard touchdown run from quarterback senior Kenzie Horton who, after going through her progression, ran toward the left pylon and outlasted defenders to tie the game at 6 after another missed extra-point attempt.
Blessed Trinity 20, Loganville 0
Loganville’s first attempt at a pass was intercepted by sophomore defensive back Chelsea Lewis and returned it to the 5-yard line, setting up a touchdown run from rusher Maggie Sullivan to put the Titans up 7-0.
And that set the tone for a game the Titans would dominate in all facets on the way to a 20-0 victory against Loganville in the second game of the night at West Forsyth.
Blessed Trinity expanded the margin to 14-0 on a run from junior rusher Maggie Sullivan with 11 seconds left in the second quarter.
With six minutes left in the third quarter, Blessed Trinity’s junior quarterback Addie Spak passed to junior receiver Hannah Daley with a perfect throw to the front-left corner of the endzone to put the Titans up 20-0 after a missed extra-point attempt.
Lithia Springs 14, North Oconee 13
Trailing 14-0 early, North Oconee scored two late touchdowns to cut into the lead 14-13 and elected to go for a 2-point conversion to try to win it but a pass breakup from senior Jasmine McDowell secured the 14-13 victory for Lithia Springs.
The Lions struggled to find an early offensive rhythm, but a touchdown pass in the final seconds of the first half got the Lions rolling. Facing a fourth-and-goal situation, Lithia Springs went ahead 7-0 on a 9-yard pass from senior MyAngel Ross to McDowell with a minute left in the first half.
With 3:40 left in the third quarter, Ross – who also had an interception to help anchor the Lions defense — passed to McDowell again, but this time McDowell found an opening on the left sideline and carried the ball 60 yards for a touchdown to give Lithia Springs a 14-0 lead at the half.
With four minutes left in the game, North Oconee got on the board with a 25-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Catherine Cooper to freshman Kallie Mashburn. Cooper’s ensuing extra-point run cut into the 14-7 lead. The Titans cut into the lead with seconds left in the game on a pass from Cooper to Mashburn, who ran a flawless right-to-left post route, which Cooper hit in stride, the give North Oconee a chance to win with the 2-point conversion.
McEachern 38, West Forsyth 0
In the nightcap game of the inaugural Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Flag Football Classic, McEachern put on an offensive exhibition to secure a blowout 38-0 victory against hosting West Forsyth.
And in the final minutes of the game, junior defensive back Saniyah Dickens intercepted a West Forsyth pass and returned it into the red zone to help secure the victory. On the ensuing drive, senior quarterback Chelsea Njoku was aiming for a different receiver, but the ball was deflected and caught by junior receiver Desirae Holley for her third touchdown of the night to put the game far out of reach.
The Indians opened scoring on a 50 yards pass from Njoku to Holley early in the first quarter. McEachern expanded the lead to 14-0 after a 10-yard touchdown pass from Njoku to sophomore Amari George.
Njoku passed to sophomore receiver Ava Couzens on a 20-yarder with 3:25 left in the first half to expand the margin to 20-0 after a failed extra-point attempt. Njoku displayed her speed with 2 minutes left in the first half and rushed to the left pylon to extend the Indians’ lead to 26-0 after another failed extra-point attempt.
Set up by an interception from Bella Hernandez who returned an interception to the 1-yard line, the Indians took a 26-0 lead on third-and-goal run by Njoku. Holley caught a pass from Njoku at the right pylon to expand the margin to 32-0 at the end of the third quarter.
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