Second-half touchdowns lift LaFayette past Gordon Central
A second-half surge snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as LaFayette came back from two scores down to hand Gordon Central a 28-27 defeat on Homecoming Night at Ratner Stadium in Calhoun.
After the Ramblers (2-2) had rallied into the lead with two fourthquarter touchdown drives, Gordon Central (0-3) drove down the field in the final minutes and scored on a 14yard TD run by Brent Silvar to make it a onepoint game with 47.3 seconds remaining. But LaFayette’s defense held the Warriors on a two-point conversion attempt, recovered an onside kickoff attempt and took a knee to run out the clock.
Leading 13-7 to start the third quarter, Gordon Central came out of the locker room and immediately seized the momentum, going on a long touchdown drive that punctuated by Gauge Giddens’ 23-yard touchdown run. Giddens had a huge night with 152 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns to lead the Warriors’ offense. After the twopoint run by Martavius Harris, Gordon Central led 21-7 early in the third.
That’s when the game tilted back in favor of LaFayette as they scored on their next three possessions thanks to a one-yard TD run by Alan Hu, a fiveyard TD run by Dakota Cathey and another five-yard TD run by Hu to put the Ramblers up 28-21 with 6:50 to play in the fourth. Cathey had 190 yards rushing for LaFayette on 12 carries with a touchdown and a receiving touchdown. Hu added 67 yards and two scores on 17 attempts, while Colton Lane ran for 56 yards on eight carries.
The Warriors didn’t go away, marching down the field on a long drive before Silvar’s touchdown run to pull within one. It was Silvar’s second TD run of the game as he ran for 77 yards on six carries. Harris also ran for 61 yards for Gordon Central.
The Warriors started fast in the first quarter as their defense got a quick stop following the opening kickoff, and then went 68 yards on their first offensive drive which was punctuated by a 38yard touchdown run by Silvar.
LaFayette answered right back on the ensuing drive, converting on a fourth down with a 12-yard touchdown pass from
Ty Fisher to Cathey to tie things up at midway through the first quarter.
The two defenses traded stops until Gordon Central once again found the end zone on a 22-yard touchdown run by Giddens. The kick failed, but the Warriors took a 13-7 lead, which was the score at the half.
The Gordon Central defense came up with one turnover in the first half as Dorian McConnell recovered a fumble at the LaFayette 36 late in the half. The offense was unable to turn it into points, however. LaFayette forced one turnover as well with Tyrese Marsh coming up with an interception late in the third quarter.
Tyler Beard had a team-high 12 tackles for LaFayette to go with a pair of sacks. Jonah Hobbs had 11 tackles and assisted on four more.
LaFayette will have Friday night off before starting Region 6-AAAA play at Southeast Whitfield on Sept. 22.