Allatoona relied on running back Russell Halimon, as it has done all season, in the early portion of its Class AAAAA quarterfinal Friday against Gainesville. But it was Josh Bettistea, the Buccaneers’ feature back in 2013, who made the difference against the Red Elephants.
Bettistea ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 15-yard run with 3:14 to play, as the Buccaneers rallied to beat Gainesville 24-17.
The victory puts fourth-ranked Allatoona (13-0) in the semifinals for the first time in the program’s history. The Buccaneers will play next weekend against Region 2-AAAAA champion Northside-Warner Robins, at a site to be determined by a coin flip. Northside advanced with a victory against Glynn Academy.
Bettistea ran for 1,938 yards in 2013, with at least 100 in every game, and was a preseason all-state back this year. He had 709 yards this season going into Friday’s game.
Gainesville had one last chance after Bettistea’s second touchdown, but the Red Elephants fumbled a pitch out of the Wildcat formation on a fourth-and-2 play at the Allatoona 15. Juanyea Tarver recovered at the 29 for the Buccaneers, who then ran out the clock.
Allatoona trailed 17-7 midway through the second quarter. Bettistea’s first touchdown, on a 5-yard run with 1:16 to play in the first half, capped a 14-play, 77-yard drive to pull the Buccaneers with 17-14. Allatoona got the ball first to start the second half, and the Buccaneers took advantage. Their third long drive of the night moved the ball to the Gainesville 11, and Skylar Davis kicked a 28-yard field goal for a 17-7 tie.
Gainesville (10-3) struck first on the second play of the game, scoring on a 70-yard pass from Mikey Gonzalez to Chris Williamson for a 7-0 lead with 11:16 to play in the first quarter.
Allatoona answered as it often does, with a long, time-consuming drive that was dominated by Halimon. The Buccaneers went 63 yards on 14 plays in about six minutes, tying the score on Halimon’s 3-yard run. He carried 11 times on the drive for 52 yards and finished the game with 101 yards on 27 carries.
Gainesville scored the next 10 points, on a 33-yard field goal by Chandler Staton and another touchdown pass from Gonzalez to Williamson, this time for 5 yards.
Gonzalez was 15-for-21 for 235 yards, giving him 3,175 yards for the season. Williamson had eight receptions for 191 yards, and Michael Byrd had 117 yards rushing on 17 carries.
Gainesville – 10-7-0-0 – 17
Allatoona – 7-7-3-7 – 24
G – Chris Williamson 70 pass from Mikey Gonzalez (Chandler Staton kick)
A – Russell Halimon 3 run (Skylar Davis kick)
G – Staton 33 field goal
G – Williamson 5 pass from Gonzalez (Staton kick)
A – Josh Bettistea 5 run (Davis kick)
A – Davis 28 field goal
A – Bettistea 15 run (Davis kick)
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