Host Savannah Christian’s 48-46, four-overtime victory over Peach County in the opening round of the GHSA Class 3A playoffs on Friday night was as wild as it sounds.
When Peach County quarterback Don Hudson Jr.’s two-point conversion pass fell harmlessly to the ground to end this marathon of a game at Pooler Stadium, he looked down and shook his head. Some of his teammates collapsed in despair and exhaustion, while the jubilant but similarly tired Raiders had enough energy to hug, celebrate and breathe great sighs of relief.
It was that kind of game.
“It’s what we’ve talked about all year,” senior offensive lineman Tyson Gross said. “Fight through adversity, have to come up with the big moments, and we did tonight.”
Moments like Gross’ game-saving assisted tackle on the final play of regulation when Peach County defensive back Alex Willock intercepted a deep heave toward the end zone and nearly returned it past 11 Raiders for a score.
“I was just pacing, had the angle on him,” Gross explained. “I was watching where he was going. I saw he was going to the left side of the field, so I was going over there, then he switched and went right and there was no one there. I flipped my hips, ran (and) took an angle.
“I just dove out in full. I didn’t tackle him, but I got his legs.”
Willock got tripped up and then was pushed out of bounds as the fourth quarter expired with the score 20-20.
That forced overtime and more big, tension-filled moments, with each team starting 15 yards from the end zone.
They matched blow for blow, posting seven points in each of the first two OT periods, then six points in the third overtime when teams, should they score a touchdown, have to go for two-point conversions instead of kicking.
The Raiders’ Athen Hudspeth broke up the Trojans’ conversion pass in the third OT, then Peach County yielded Zo Smalls’ third rushing touchdown of the game and second of extra football but kept it at 40-40 with a conversion pass breakup.
The fourth overtime included moments that both teams – and their supporters – will be talking about for a long time.
Savannah Christian went first and was stuffed on third and inches from the goal line. Coach Baker Woodward then yelled for a timeout from the sideline before the ball was snapped and quarterback Blaise Thomas was ruled to have been stopped short after the pile was unpacked of players and the ball already had been plucked out.
Peach County players and supporters celebrated and the officiating crew huddled.
Woodward, who said later that he thought Thomas had broken the plane, had been heard by one of the referees before the snap. Once everyone was informed, including the head official and coaches for both sides, fourth down was a do-over.
This time, Thomas got in the end zone, and teammate Kenry Wall ran for the two-point conversion and a 48-40 advantage.
“When we were down at the 1-yard line, they knew we were going to keep running inside,” Wall said. “So they put all their biggest players in the middle and they kept stopping us. So Coach (Woodward) decided since I’m fast enough, and (if) they’re all in the middle, just to take them outside and I’ll cut back in.”
The Raiders’ defense needed to make a play to avoid a fifth overtime but was hindered by a personal foul on the successful conversion and the Trojans started just eight yards out.
Hudson lost a yard on first down, then fired a pass on second down which was nearly intercepted but instead, Peach County’s Dylan Johnson swooped in and snagged the ball for his third touchdown of the game.
The two-point conversion attempt to keep the game even went incomplete, setting off two very different emotions in the teams.
“I think what happened (on the touchdown) was, they threw the ball and Jaden Miles was kind of tripping and falls,” Woodward said of his middle linebacker. “The ball was in his hands. He tips it up and Peach County catches it. Jaden feels awful. But the guy who tipped the ball away on the two-point conversion was Jaden Miles.”
Savannah Christian (9-2) kept its season alive, advancing to the second round at Morgan County, which defeated visiting Monroe 35-14 on Friday in what must have been a less dramatic contest by comparison.
“The biggest thing is our guys didn’t quit,” Woodward said. “They never quit. So much adversity went against them. We didn’t score in the second half until the overtime.”
That’s correct. Each team played one half without scoring. Peach County (4-7) trailed 20-0 at halftime then erased the deficit with a 20-0 second half.
Savannah Christian had scored on its first two possessions, opening with a grinding, run-dominant 67-yard drive culminated by Smalls’ 4-yard TD run. After Peach County was stopped on fourth down, on the next play, Thomas threw a bomb over the middle to tight end Logan Brooking, who got behind the defense for a 53-yard score.
The Raiders went up 20-0 in the second quarter, having Smalls (16 first-half carries for 67 yards) get most of the tough yards inside, then changing it up with jet sweeps to Wall and then a 19-yard scoring pass to the end zone.
“Kenry is a dynamic player and we’ve got to find ways to get him the ball other than throwing (to him) sometimes,” Woodward said. “He had a great game tonight.”
Peach County, which Woodward called a one seed based on their strength of schedule and narrow losses to the top two seeds in its region, adjusted at halftime. The Trojans moved the ball with slant passes over the middle and mixing in Hudson’s talent for running as well as passing.
They came all the way with three touchdowns in the second half, including a 91-yard drive that concluded with Hudson’s scoring pass to Johnson with 1:54 remaining in the fourth quarter.
There was enough time for one more Savannah Christian drive, which was kept alive on Thomas’ 21-yard scramble on third-and-15 from its 49.
On the next play, with 30 seconds left. Thomas connected on a 33-yard touchdown pass to receiver David Bucey, who caught the ball at its high point and kept his feet with a defender on him. The apparent score, however, was negated by an offensive pass interference call which Woodward strongly disagreed with, especially after arguing for offense pass interference on some of the Trojans’ completions.
So it was on to overtime for two teams that might have the start of a real rivalry. The Raiders eliminated the host Trojans 23-7 in a second-round playoff game in 2022.
“We knew Peach County was a really good football team,” Woodward said. “We know they were upset about us beating them last year in Peach County. Their coach, (Marquis) Westbrook, does a phenomenal job. They will win state championships at Peach County in the future.”
SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN 48, PEACH COUNTY 46 (4 OTs)
PC | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | -- 46
SC | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | --48
First quarter
SC – Zo Smalls 4 run (Ethan Byrd kick)
SC – Logan Brooking 53 pass from Blaise Thomas (kick failed)
Second quarter
SC – Kenry Wall 19 pass from Thomas (Byrd kick)
Third quarter
PC – Dylan Johnson 23 pass from Don Hudson Jr. (conversion failed)
Fourth quarter
PC – Dwayne Coleman 1 run (Bryan Cervantes kick)
PC – Johnson 12 pass from Hudson (Cervantes kick)
First overtime
PC – Hudson 15 run (Cervantes kick)
SC – Smalls 4 run (Byrd kick)
Second overtime
SC – Wall 15 run (Byrd kick)
PC – Caiden Ivory 15 pass from Hudson (Cervantes kick)
Third overtime
PC – Johnson 20 pass from Hudson (pass failed)
SC – Smalls 1 run (pass failed)
Fourth overtime
SC – Thomas 1 run (Wall run)
PC – Johnson 9 pass from Hudson (pass failed)
WEEK 13 - PLAYOFF FINAL SCORES
Nov. 10 (Friday)
GHSA Class 7A-Round 1
Grayson 34, Richmond Hill 24
GHSA Class 6A-Round 1
Lovejoy 47, Effingham County 14
GHSA Class 5A-Round 1
Jenkins 14, Arabia Mountain 13
GHSA Class 3A-Round 1
Calvary Day 48, Jackson 0
Savannah Christian 48, Peach County 46 (4 OT)
Upson-Lee 46, Savannah Country Day 45
GHSA Class A - DI-Round 1
Bryan County 55, East Laurens 14
GIAA Class GHSA A -Round 1
Memorial Day 34, Harvester Christian 6
GIAA AAAA/AAA-Round 1
Tiftarea Academy 49, St. Andrew's 27
SCISA AA Playoffs Semi-finals
Bethesda Academy 32, Northside Christian 6
Nov. 11 (Saturday)
Westside-Macon (8-2) at New Hampstead (5-4) 6 PM
Baldwin (6-4) at No. 1 Benedictine (10-0) 6 PM
PHOTO CREDIT: WJCL Amy Zimmer on Social meida
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