Alpharetta pushes past Centennial

In one of the wildest finishes imaginable after a lifeless and scoreless first half, Alpharetta scored in the final 13 seconds to win 20-13 at home Friday night against 6-AAAAA rival Centennial.

Centennial had taken a 13-12 lead on a 38-yard pass from backup quarterback Scott Laffler to Denzel Campbell with 1:30 to play, about the only offensive highlight of the game for the Knights (0-2 in the region, 1-2 overall).

The Raiders were seemingly on the way to running out the clock late in the game when sophomore quarterback Mikal Abdul-Saboor fumbled. Laffler, filling in for injured starter James Floyd, found Campbell behind the Alpharetta secondary.

But the Raiders (2-0, 3-0) came right back with a seven-play, 77-yard drive, keyed by Abdul-Saboor, who had a huge second half. On Alpharetta’s three scoring drives, Abdul-Saboor amassed 239 total yards and passed for all three scores.

Abdul-Saboor was 5-for-5 for 72 yards on the final winning drive, and connected with Jordan Owens for 27 yards and the winning touchdown after escaping Centennial pressure.

Centennial took a 7-0 lead midway through the third period, scoring on a 4-yard run by Marcus Nabors after recovering a fumble at the Alpharetta 6. The score was set up by the third straight punt by Centennial’s Andrew Lord that was downed at, or inside, the Alpharetta 2.

Abdul-Saboor capped an 80-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Michael Bennett, but the extra point was blocked.

Alpharetta made it 12-7 on the final play of the third period when Bennett caught an 88-yard pass from Abdul-Saboor.

Centennial held the ball for more than eight minutes to start the fourth quarter, but after converting two fourth downs on Alpharetta penalties, came away without points when Lord missed his second field goal of the game.

Laffler hit Tyler Forrester on a 54-yard desperation pass to the Alpharetta 3 on the final play of the game, but the play was nullified by a penalty.