Late score lifts Dunwoody past Towers

By Jeff Haws

For the AJC

Having been shut out since halftime, Dunwoody stared at a fourth-quarter clock ticking toward 5 minutes and a 1-point deficit, 85 yards from the end zone.

On the second play of the drive, quarterback Justin King hit Ishmael Adams on a jump pass over the middle, and Adams turned it into a game-winner. He went 87 yards through the Towers secondary to give the Wildcats a 29-22 victory.

The victory put Dunwoody (4-2, 3-0 in Region 5-AAAA) in first place in its subregion with three subregion games to play, one game ahead of Towers (3-3, 2-1).

The big play to Adams was only King’s second completion of the game — the first going for a 52-yard touchdown to Dalen Claytor — but it was timed perfectly.

“We had the seam pass; they kept biting because we kept running the option all night,” Dunwoody coach Michael Youngblood said. “We called a seam pass and were fortunate enough to hit it. It just kind of gave us an opportunity, and we hit some big plays tonight.”

Adams was involved in two of them, his first coming on Dunwoody’s second possession, when he took a handoff on the first play up the middle and turned to the right sideline for a 51-yard touchdown run.

Those plays helped Adams finish with 195 total yards and two touchdowns on just nine touches. Claytor added 150, 98 of which came on his 18 carries.

Dunwoody’s offense was efficient when it wasn’t turning the ball over (three times), missing field goals (twice) or giving up safeties (once).

The Wildcats punted twice, both coming in the first half. The rest of the time, the offense kept finding different ways to not score points, and Towers took advantage.

The Titans took the lead in the third quarter, following a safety that cut Dunwoody’s lead to 21-16. Towers went 61 yards in seven plays, finishing with a 2-yard Devin Johnson run to move ahead 22-21.

Dunwoody struggled to finally break through against a stubborn Towers defense, but Youngblood said his team hung in there through its own miscues.