Saturday, October 29, 2011

Metro Recap and Alpharetta rallies to edge Centennial

The Grayson Rams and Brookwood Broncos engaged in a war of YouTube videos before taking the field to battle for region supremacy. The Rams and Broncos were tied 7-7 late in the game before Kasey Gaines returned an interception 15 yards for the winning score. ... Centennial jumped out to a 20-0 lead at Alpharetta before the Raiders rallied back to dump the Knights 32-26, shutting out Centennial in the second half. Carlos Burse snagged his 12th touchdown of the year and Jalen Simmons scored twice including the game-winner on a 29-yard screen. ... Marist shut down the Mays attack in a 24-0 victory to secure homefield advantage through at least the first round of the playoffs. Myles Willis rushed for 155 yards. ... Roswell dropped to 0-9 on the season, falling to West Forsyth 35-14. West Forsyth clinched the No. 2 seed in the region with the victory. ... Walton claimed the Region 5-AAAAA title after ending Marietta’s four-game winning streak. Tyren Jones ran for 172 yard and scored four touchdowns in the victory. ... Stephenson and ML King made certain that next week’s showdown would be a top-10 matchup for the region title as both cruised to victories. The Jags defeated Newnan 35-13 while the Lions spanked East Coweta 20-7. ... Hillgrove whitewashed Kennesaw Mountain 35-0 to improve to 9-0 on the year. ... Lovejoy posted its seventh shutout of the season and fourth straight with a 24-0 victory over Creekside. ... It was a squeaker but St. Pius put one touchdown on the board and it was enough to defeat Washington 7-0. ... Parkview’s skid continued as the Panthers fell to Archer 40-16. Parkview lost its third straight and now is behind Archer in the race for the last playoff berth out of Region 8-AAAAA.

GOTW Recap

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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