Adairsville stops late conversion to beat Ringgold; Cass blanks M.L. King
Adairsville quarterback Jonathan Gough threw for three touchdowns and ran for one more as the Tigers held on for a 28-26 win Friday night at Ringgold.
Adairsville led 28-10 through three quarters but Ringgold rallied for a pair of fourth-quarter scores and had a chance to tie the game with a two-point conversion with less than a minute to play.
The Adairsville defense rose to the occasion on the two-point conversion run attempt, however, and ended Ringgold’s rally.
Ringgold took a 7-0 lead toward the end of the first quarter. Kishaun Taylor returned an Adairsville punt 52 yards for a touchdown with 0:57 remaining. Manuel Saldana booted the PAT kick.
Adairsville responded with back-to-back scores to move ahead, 14-7.
Gough scored on a 5-yard run with 11:11 remaining in the second period to cap a 5-play, 56-yard drive. On the next Adairsville possession, Gough connected with Noah Matthews for a 40-yard touchdown pass. The play finished off an 80-yard Adairsville drive that took seven plays. Cooper Souders, who was 4-for-4 on PATs for the night, booted both extra points.
Ringgold drove deep into Adairsville territory just before the half but settled for a 20-yard field goal by Saldana to make the score 14-10 with 1:29 left in the second quarter. The kick culminated an 8-play, 46-yard drive.
Adairsville countered with a late touchdown to build on their lead.
A 17-yard touchdown pass from Gough to Tre Winters capped a seven-play, 69-yard drive with 0:12 before the intermission. The touchdown gave Adairsvile a 21-10 lead at halftime.
Adairsville added a fourth touchdown early in the third quarter.
Gough found an open Matthews for a 15-yard scoring strike with 10:24 left in the third quarter to make the score 28-10. The third Gough TD pass of the evening completed a 58-yard Adairsville drive that included six plays.
Ringgold roared back, however, and had a chance to tie at the end.
The host, blue-and-gold Tigers, drove 68 yards late in the third quarter to narrow Adairsville’s lead to 28-17. The eight-play scoring drive was capped with a 23-yard touchdown run by quarterback Garrett Edgar.
Following a 22-yard field goal by Ringgold’s Saldana with 9:35 left in the game, the hosts drove for another score in the game’s waning minutes.
Alijah Bradberry scored for Ringgold on a four-yard run with 0:59 left to narrow Adairsville’s lead to 28-26 and set up a dramatic finish.
Needing a two-point conversion to tie, Ringgold tried another run by Bradberry but the Adairsville defense stopped him and clung to a two-point lead.
Ringgold attempted an onside kick but Adairsville was able to recover the football and finished out the game with a pair of victory formation snaps.
The loss dropped Ringgold to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Region 6-AAA,
Adairsville (3-2, 2-0) hosts LaFayette on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
~~ Larry Gardner contributed to this story.
CASS 40, M.L. KING 0
The Colonels scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns Friday night and added four more in the second quarter to build a 40-0 lead by the intermission as they cruised over the visiting M.L. King Lions.
The 40-point halftime lead created a “running clock” second half and the Colonels were able to get much of their roster into the game in the final two periods.
Cass quarterback Brodie McWhorter threw four touchdown passes to Sacovie White and running back Devin Henderson added two touchdown runs in the non-region victory.
It took Cass only three plays to get on the scoreboard.
After the Colonels kicked off and stopped the Lions on their initial possession, the hosts started their first offensive possession at their 48-yard line. Devin Henderson finished off the 52-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown run. Austin McArthur, who made 4-of-5 PAT kicks on the night, added the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 9:28 remaining in the opening period.
On the next Cass possession, McWhorter found White for the first of their four scoring strikes. The 45-yard pass play capped a 63-yard scoring drive and put the Colonels up 14-0 with 5:32 to go in the first quarter.
Henderson added a two-yard touchdown run on the next Cass possession giving the Colonels a 21-0 advantage with 11:10 left in the first half.
The final three Cass touchdowns in the second quarter were all McWhorter to White pass plays. A 6-yard missile in traffic made the score 27-0 with 9:00 left in the quarter. A 12-yarder to the front pylon on the ensuing possession made the score 33-0 with 6:45 remaining and a 10-yarder with 0:08 left in the half finished off a two-minute drill drive that covered 52 yards.
MLK fell to 1-4 on the season with the loss.
Cass (3-2) opens play in Region 7-5A next Friday night at home against county-rival Woodland.
OSBORNE 14, WOODLAND 0
Osborne scored both touchdowns in the second quarter to defeat Woodland Friday night at Wildcats’ Stadium, 14-0.
Cardinals’ quarterback Edward Burr completed a 39-yard touchdown pass to Kris Davis with 7:58 remaining in the second period and Osborne recovered a blocked Woodland punt in the end zone with 2:30 left before the half.
With the win, Osborne (5-0) remained unbeaten on the season,
Woodland (2-3) begins play in Region 7-5A Friday at Cass at 7:30 p.m.
~~ David Archer, Jr. contributed to this report.
