GAFDOOV Vhorw of BODIR in Vhoowouw
By WhH PiddOH of WhH VHcond TuDrWHr SDWurdDy DfWHrnoon, GHrPDnWown AcDdemy possibly had neck strain froP wDWchinJ BODir AcDdHPy’V offHnVH Wurn in biJ SODy after big play.
7hH BuccDnHHrV VcorHd on WhHir firVW fivH SoVVHVVionV of WhH JDPH, nHHdinJ no PorH than four plays for each of WhHir firVW four WiPHV wiWh WhH ball to produce seven points.
BODir SoVVHVVHV 7HPSOH rHcruiW -ihDdd 3rHWOow who, with Owls coach Steve AddDzio in DWWHndDncH, hDd PorH WhDn 100 yDrdV ruVhinJ Dnd D VcorH in WhH firVW Vix minutes of the game.
GA fHOO down biJ HDrOy, buW the Patriots were determined Wo PDNH iW D JDPH, Dnd WhDW WhHy did. -unior TuDrWHrbDcN Hayes Nolte threw for six WouchdownV Dnd GA fouJhW all the way back to score 2T unanswered points and WDNH WhH OHDd, onOy for VoPH fourWh-TuDrWHr SODyV Wo dooP the Patriots in a 42-4N loss to BODir.
“IW wDV dHfiniWHOy D roOOHrcoDVWHr for uV,” VDid 1oOWH, who wDV 13-for-20 on WhH dDy for 321 SDVVinJ yDrdV, connecting with seven different receivers on the afWHrnoon. “BuW, I WhinN if wH were down that much last yHDr, wH wouOd noW hDvH coPH bDcN. (SDWurdDy), wH NHSW fiJhWinJ Dnd NnHw wH could make good things happen.
“7hH wDy wH bDWWOHd bDcN, I’P Sroud of WhH WHDP.”
Trailing P4-N4 in the second TuDrWHr, GA (2-1) uVHd some big plays of its own to take a PR-P4 lead by the PiddOH of WhH Whird TuDrWHr, and would be up by 4N-P4 early in the fourth.
“te fought till the bitter Hnd,” VDid Lou SWHvHnV, who was on the receiving end of Wwo of 1oOWH’V Vix Wouchdown passes and whose
third-quarter interception would set up the go-ahead score when Nolte found hyle Donahue for a PN-yard strike on the next play.
“It shows we have heart. te don’t have a lot of guysI but guys have really stepped up. te played our hearts out.”
then Joe Taylor pulled down the second of his TD receptions at the 9W2M mark of the fourth quarterI getting loose beyond the Blair secondary and backing into the end zone as he caught the Nolte passI GA seemingly had some breathing room. The Patriots ledI 4N-P4I with the extra point still to come.
HoweverI on the PATI Blair’s Jordan Stone got through the line and blocked the attemptI leaving the margin at seven. This would be critical.
The GA defense would hold the Bucs once moreI but then the Patriots fumbled WKH EDOO ULJKW EDFN Rn fiUVW downI Blair taking over PM yards from the goal. Pretlow used three runs to get the ball down to the sevenI from where David Showunmi would take it across. then Pretlow ran in the two-point conversionI Blair led by 42- 4N.
The Patriots drove down to the Blair four before the Bucs got to Nolte for the only time all gameI the sack putting the ball on the NP on fourth down with less than three minutes to play. GA atWHPSWHG D 30-yDUG fiHOG JRDO, which came up just short as D SHnDOWy flDJ ZDV WKURZn Ln WKH EDFNfiHOG. An LnLWLDO VLJnal of “roughing the kicker” was then discussed and the flDJ ZLWKGUDZn DV WKH RIfiFLDWLnJ FUHZ UuOHG WKH fiHOG goal attempt had been tipped by the defender.
Blair then ran out the clock for the victory.
“There are some guys in Ethe GA locker roomF not feeling so good about things ULJKW nRZ,” fiUVW-yHDU 3DWULots coach jatt Dence said. “In a one-point gameI things FDn UHDOOy JHW PDJnLfiHG, those mistakes we made.
“I’m looking in the mirrorI too. te all look at those things.
“One or two playsI it’s a totally different ballgame.”
,W ZDV nRW MuVW WKH finDO score which was so even between the two sides. The teams combined for U9M yards of total offenseI 449 for GA and 44N for Blair. GA OHG WKH fiUVW-GRZn WDOOy, NT-NS. Blair rushed for P29 yards – 2RM for Pretlow – while the Patriots threw for P2N yards.
And nowI both teams are 2-N on the season.
After giving up touchdowns on each of Blair’s fiUVW fivH SRVVHVVLRnV 6DWuUdayI GA could have easily accepted this was going to be a bad day. InsteadI the Patriots dug in and kept battlingI eventually taking the lead and nearly pulling off one of the program’s bigger comeback wins in recent memory.
LATE FLAGSW Nolte had TD passes for P4 yards to StevensI SP yards to Robert Gorman and a 24-yarder to 6WHvHnV Ln WKH fiUVW KDOI. ,n the second halfI he connected on strikes of N2 yards to TaylorI PN yards to Donahue and then a 2M-yarder with Taylor. … GA is on the road Friday at the Pennington School before opening InterAc play the following week at jalvern Prep.