Freshmen: Americans 29, Nationals 28

Walton quarterback Zak Rozsman threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Zach Johansen (North Gwinnett) with 4:40 left in the game, and found his Raiders teammate Cade Thompson on the ensuing game-winning 2-point attempt to lift the Americans past the Nationals 29-28.

Rozsman shook off a pair of first half interceptions and finished the game 16-of-23 passing for 214 yards and three touchdowns—earning himself MVP honors. The Nationals opened up a 7-0 lead in the first quarter after a 2-yard run by Jamie Felix (Camden County) and would not trail until Rozsman’s 2-point attempt in the final minutes. LaShawn Lester put the Americans on the board with a 3-yard touchdown run with 7:24 left in the first half, but Parkview’s Champ Baker intercepted Rozsman and returned it 24 yards for a Nationals touchdown minutes later.

Rozsman answered with a 6-play, 70-yard scoring drive that was capped with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Kelley (Hart County) on the final play of the half, but a missed PAT kept the Americans down 14-13 at the break.

Felix took the first play of the second half 70 yards for a touchdown to increase the Nationals’ lead to 21-13, but Rozsman found Johansen with 2:01 left in the third for a 20-yard touchdown pass, and hit Thompson for the first of their two critical post-touchdown conversions to even it up 21-21.

Houston County running back Simeon Askew capped a scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown run on the final play of the third quarter to put the Nationals up 28-21.

The Nationals outgained the Americans 384-327 in total yardage and accounted for 261 rushing yards to the Americans’ 113. Askew led all rushers with 132 yards off his six carries, and Felix turned in an efficient 97 yards and two touchdowns off his nine carries.

Defensively, McEachern’s Latrell Bullard posted a game-high six solo tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks. Vito Perry (Alpharetta) hauled in Rozsman’s other interception, and Nathan Vail (Harrison) recovered a fumble that was returned 52 yards to set up Lester’s first half touchdown run.