Marist nips Chamblee in thriller

Marist contained speed, overcame a costly turnover and missed tackles, and won a Region 6-AAAA game against host Chamblee on a missed extra point, 14-13.

The victory at North DeKalb Stadium was Marist’s 14th consecutive over Chamblee and put the War Eagles in contention for their fourth region championship this decade and 24th consecutive playoff appearance. Alan Chadwick, whose first game as Marist coach in 1985 was a 12-0 victory over Chamblee, said his team is playing well.

“We gained a little confidence [from beating Stone Mountain 45-13 the previous week] and are coming off the ball more aggressively and playing better on defense,” he said. “We played a good team in St. Pius [in a 21-10 season-opening loss] and didn’t make plays. But we’ve been making plays since.”

Chamblee forced two turnovers in the first half, but was able to cash in on only one. The Bulldogs drew first blood when Eagles running back Matt Connors fumbled, and Dakarai Penn recovered and ran 63 yards for a 7-0 advantage with 45 seconds left in the first quarter. Chamblee’s Darius Jones intercepted Kyle Farmer’s pass near midfield about four minutes before intermission, but the drive ended in a punt.

The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs (2-1, 1-1) led the unranked Eagles (2-1, 2-0) by that touchdown until the third quarter, when Marist got in gear. The Eagles tied the game 7-7 with a 12-play scoring drive that began the fourth quarter and culminated in Connors’ 1-yard run. They led 14-7 on Patrick Sullivan’s 22-yard scoring run with 3:13 remaining.

The Bulldogs answered on their ensuing snap when Warren Norman, who led all rushers with 111 yards, appeared to be tackled well behind the line of scrimmage, but reversed field and raced 80 yards for a touchdown.

Chamblee’s Joshua Benton missed the extra-point kick wide left, after which Marist held on Chamblee’s last drive and ran out the clock.

The victory was Marist’s closest in its streak against Chamblee.