The Centennial Knights had everything working for them early at Raider Stadium. Rain was preventing Alpharetta from going to the skies with its incredible passing attack, and Centennial picked up a crucial fourth down on a touchdown drive to open the game. Just minutes later, Matt Deshong picked off a Joshua Dobbs pass and returned it 33 yards for a score and a12-0 Centennial lead. Alpharetta’s three first quarter drives ended in an interception, a punt and a turnover on downs.
Centennial upped its lead to 20-0 when Zietrick Smith broke the plane from two yards out.Alpharetta finally recorded a first down and would later dent the scoreboard with a 24-yard Lehman Howington field goal. The Knights would answer.
Senior quarterback Jimmy Meyer hit Smith from two yards out to extend the Centennial lead to 26-3. That however would be the last time Centennial scored, with five minutes left in the second quarter. Alpharetta scored a touchdown with less than one minute to go before intermission on Jalen Simmons first touchdown of the night.
Joshua Dobbs would finish off Alpharetta’s first drive of the second half with a one-yard plunge and the Centennial punting game gave the Raiders a safety. Minutes later Dobbs found Carlos Burse for his 12th touchdown of the season.
The two teams would exchange field position back and forth until Alpharetta would take over near midfield with less than five minutes to go in the game. With 46.2 seconds to play Jalen Simmons took a 29-yard screen pass and reached paydirt for the game-winning score. Dobbs would add a two-point conversion for the final 32-26 score. With the win Alpharetta punched its second-ever trip to the postseason as well as a region title.
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