Northwest rallies to take playoff opener
TUNNEL HILL, Ga. — In a football age when offenses often dictate everything on the field, Northwest Whitfield coach Josh Robinson took extra satisfaction from Saturday’s 28-24 last-second win over Stephenson in the first round of the GHSA Class AAAA playoffs.
Owen Brooker connected with Preston Healey for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining to cap a fourth-quarter rally from an 11-point deficit. The comeback, though, was set in place by a defense that held the Jaguars without a first down over the final 12 minutes at Bruin Stadium.
“It was a strange game where it looked like we had the game under control, then it was a done deal, and then we took over again,” said Robinson, the program’s longtime defensive coordinator before becoming the Bruins’ head coach in 2011. “We got some defensive stops, and our guys just had confidence we could do it.”
Region 7 runner-up Northwest (8-2), which had to win its last regular-season game to make the playoffs, advances to a second-round matchup this week at Region 5 champion Riverdale (7-2), which beat Cedar Shoals in another first-round matchup Saturday. The Bruins are in the second round of state for the first time since 2016.
The Northwest defense also dominated the first half after the visitors, who possessed a major size advantage led by two-way lineman George Jackson (6-foot5, 330 pounds), took the opening kickoff and drove to the 12 before settling for a field goal. Northwest also was forced to settle for three points on its first possession, but then forced the first of three consecutive punts by the Jags (4-3) as the Bruins held Stephenson to 3 rushing yards after
the initial drive.
The third punt in that stretch set Northwest up at the Jags’ 47, where three Brooker completions — two to Ray Morrison — moved the ball to the 24, where a fake jet sweep fooled the defense, allowing Adrian Reyes to score nearly untouched for a 10-3 lead. Northwest forced a fumble on Stephenson’s next play, leading to a Yahir Zapata field goal to end the half up 13-3.
That momentum ended quickly starting the second half as Brooker’s first pass was picked off by Samouri Sutton at the Northwest 25. Six plays later, Quashon Johnson’s 6-yard touchdown run cut the lead to three.
The Jags then forced Northwest to go three-and-out, and the Stephenson offense needed only five plays, all on the ground, to take the lead as Terrence Guffie broke off a 42-yard touchdown run. Another threeand-out series for the Bruins followed, this time setting Stephenson up at the Northwest 32, where six runs netted another touchdown as Johnson scored from 4 yards out for a stunning 24-13 lead with a minute to play in the third quarter.
“A lot of their points were due to field position, because we couldn’t move the ball offensively,” Robinson said. “Their big lineman (Jackson) really dominated both sides of the ball. We couldn’t come close to slowing him down when we had the ball. But we made a couple of coaching adjustments, and our guys played better.”
A Stephenson punt from inside the 5 came after the Northwest defense had a pair of tackles for loss, and the Bruins took possession at the Jags’ 26 with 7:22 to play. Brooker scrambled for 8 yards on fourth down, then scored from a yard out on another fourth down, with the ensuing 2-point pass to Morrison making it a threepoint game.
“Owen was great on that drive, converting a pair of huge fourth downs,” Robinson said of his sophomore quarterback.
The Northwest defense, selling out to stop the run, forced another quick punt and set up the Bruins’ offense at its own 34 with three minutes to play. Brooker once again used his legs to convert on fourth-and-10 to reach midfield. He then completed five passes, three of them on third down, to finish the comeback.
The winning touchdown pass was a quick post to Nealey after Brooker looked off the safety.
“Owen did a good job on that play,” Robinson said. “He’s played well this year, but at times he gets stuck on one read. He was able to move to his second and third reads on multiple occasions tonight and used his eyes on that touchdown.”
› Hapeville Charter 6, Heritage 0: In Class AAAA, the Hornets scored a second-quarter touchdown and their defense made the lead stand up to win a game played at Banneker High School in Atlanta. Hapeville (6-3) will travel to unbeaten Jefferson in the second round, while Region 7 No. 3 seed Heritage ends its season 5-5.
› South Atlanta 26, Chattooga 14: In Class AA, Keyjuan Brown and John Lawton ran for two touchdowns each as the Hornets (8-3) won the first playoff game in program history after building a 26-0 lead in Atlanta. Brown led a dominant South Atlanta ground game with 211 yards. Chattooga senior quarterback Cash Allen had touchdown passes to Brody Mobbs and Rowan Burdick for the fourth-seeded Indians (3-8). South Atlanta will face Bremen in the second.