Defense leads Lassiter past Centennial

By Michael Blum

For the AJC

The final score said offensive shootout, but the Lassiter Trojans owe Friday’s 42-35 victory over Centennial to their defense and special teams.

Quarterback Hutson Mason passed for 231 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for a fifth score to rally the visiting Trojans from a 21-7 halftime deficit, but he had a lot of help from a series of big plays while he was on the sidelines.

The Trojans scored three touchdowns in the first 6:15 of the third quarter to take a 28-21 lead, with the scores set up by a recovery of the second-half kickoff, a Rip Rowan interception and a heads-up play to stop a fake punt.

A pair of Mason touchdown passes pulled the Trojans even just 2:35 into the second half after Lassiter got the ball inside the Knights’ 15. The Trojans went 44 yards after stopping the fake punt 1 yard short of a first down on fourth-and-2, with Mason taking it into the end zone from 10 yards out to put Lassiter ahead.

Centennial, which ground out 338 yards rushing with its triple option attack, responded with an 80-yard drive to tie the game, but Mason took over to give the Trojans the lead for good midway through the fourth quarter.

The senior quarterback accounted for 106 yards on the go-ahead drive, completing four of five passes for 79 yards and rushing twice for 27 yards, as he passed the Trojans out of a first-and-31 hole after a penalty. He hit Charlie Hegedus for 18 yards and the touchdown.

The Trojans scored the clinching touchdown after another fumble recovery at midfield, with the Knights tacking on the final points of the game with 2.3 seconds on the clock.

The Trojans (8-0, 9-0) host Roswell next week, with the winner claiming the Region 6-AAAAA championship and the loser still assured a first-round home game in the state playoffs. Centennial (4-4, 4-5) needed a win over the Trojans to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.

Mason drove the Trojans 80 yards in 12 plays on the opening possession of the game, but the rest of the half was all Centennial.

The Knights responded with a 64-yard drive keyed by fullback Carlson Carty’s 33-yard run, but that was the only big offensive play of the game for Centennial, which capitalized on a turnover and two big penalties to take a 21-7 halftime lead.

Centennial needed to gain only 23 and 16 yards on its two scoring drives, with Lassiter managing just four plays from scrimmage in the second quarter, all from inside its 15-yard line.