Last week was a dream for football fans. The college game offered a matchup between national powers Ohio State and Southern California, while back in Georgia the high-school game brought us a showdown between two of last year’s state champions: Carver-Columbus and Northside-Warner Robins. In addition to defending state championships, both teams are absolutely filled with Division I talent, including two of the state’s top players in Northside’s Abry Jones and Carver’s Jarvis Jones, and heading into the action, both schools boasted winning streaks of at least 17 games.
One thing that was starkly different between the two teams, however, was the mindset of the two head coaches. Of course, both Conrad Nix of Northside and Dell McGee of Carver wanted to win the game, knowing how much it could do for their teams’ confidence.
“We’re going in to give it our best shot, but win or lose we’ll learn something about our team,” McGee said before the game.
But in sitting with each of the coaches, there seemed to be a familial-type of competition building between the two schools. Northside seemed to be playing the role of big brother, the team expected to win as a result of their excellent performance as frontrunners. As a result, and considering their 5A classification when compared to Carver’s 3A rank, Northside entered the game with more to lose than to gain.
“If we had anyone else to play, we might have. But we have to fill out a schedule, and this is a part of that schedule,” explained Nix before the game. And while not explicitly saying so, it would be surprising to see Northside take on any of Georgia’s 2008 state champions outside of Class 5A.
As for Carver, it found itself playing the role of little brother in this gridiron sitcom, the team that has achieved its own success, but is still looking to gain the same notoriety as its big brother. McGee and his kids knew this game could teach them a lot, win or lose, even though it probably would not affect their place in the standings.
“In the end, this game doesn’t affect our standings in the region, or our playoff qualification,” McGee said. But Northside is a well-coached team, and I’m sure they’ll present some form of adversity for our team. It will be a great experience for our players, to play in such a great football game.”
THE ACTION
A great game is just what those at Memorial Stadium got. Northside opened the door for the Tigers early, fumbling the opening kickoff and giving Carver a short field of just 17 yards.
Eric Fields and the rest of the Eagles defense made Carver struggle for their 17 yards, but eventually Tiger running back Jarkius Morgan ran the ball in from 1-yard out to give Carver the 6-0 lead. Carver couldn’t keep the momentum it had gained, however, as a blocked extra point kept the score at 6-0.
At the time, it seemed as though the blocked extra point would simply get lost in the box score. As time ticked away, however, and the game remained close, it became apparent that a play that took place less than two minutes into the game was going to become its deciding factor.
The two defenses battled in gladiatorial fashion for the rest of the game, though Carver controlled the tempo throughout. The Tigers used a spread formation to open up Northside’s defense, leaving gaps for Carver’s shifty running backs to run through and pick up chunks of yards. Morgan and Isaiah Crowell combined for over 150 yards rushing on over 30 carries. The spread offense also kept the running backs out of the neighborhood of Northside’s best defender, defensive tackle and Georgia commit Abry Jones, a player McGee mentioned his Tigers would have to contain.
With Nix concerned about the speed of Carver’s defense, talented Eagles running back Xavier Bacon spent most of his day running up the middle of the field. He managed only 80 yards on the night and was denied the outside and the big play, one of McGee’s keys to victory for the Tigers.
While Carver’s balanced running game was able to control the clock, the scoreboard did not reflect such dominance. Halfway through the second half, the Tigers allowed Bacon to set up the game-winning score with a nifty 28-yard run.
Carver mustered one last gasp in the fourth quarter, but missed wide on a 30-yard field-goal attempt just before time expired, giving Northside the 7-6 victory.
For all in attendance, the memories of the game and its finish will last a lifetime. And such memories may only gain in significance, as last Friday’s showdown between Carver and Northside may be the last for a long time.
The cover photos feature (left to right) Northside defensive tackle Abry Jones (courtesy of Photographic Arts), Carver coach Dell McGee (courtesy of Carver-Columbus High School) and Northside defensive lineman Anton Williams (courtesy of Photographic Arts). The photo of Jarvis Jones is courtesy of Carver-Columbus High School and the photo of Conrad Nix is courtesy of Northside-Warner Robins High School.
Boral can be reached at jboral@scoreatl.com.
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