Just when Westside-Macon got itself back within striking distance, Cedar Grove struck back.
The Seminoles’ first touchdown was matched by Israel Spivey’s 95-yard kickoff return and Westside never recovered, with Cedar Grove pulling away for a 41-25 win in the Class AAA quarterfinals.
This will be Cedar Grove’s first trip to the semifinals since 1991. The Saints will face the Westminster at James Hallford Stadium in Clarkston next week.
Westside (9-4) had struggled all game to sustain a drive, so the Seminoles turned to a swinging gate-type formation early in the third quarter. The first time they tried it, the play went for no gain. The second time, Ty’Gee Cunningham was wide open on the left side. He caught it, avoided a couple of tacklers and sprinted to the end zone to cut the Cedar Grove lead to 14-7.
Suddenly, it was a game. But they kicked it to Spivey, and Spivey found a hole. A couple of cuts and 95 yards later, it was back to a two-score game, and the Saints were 19 minutes away from the semifinals.
“What I did was, I saw the hole and I just took it,” Spivey said. “All I needed was one more block, and my teammate did it for me. And I thank him for that.”
As much trouble as both offenses had up to that point, there was no reason to think nearly 40 more points would be scored. Regardless, Spivey’s return altered the complexion of the game.
“That was huge,” Cedar Grove coach Jimmy Smith said. “(Spivey) is really good at returning the ball. He was kind of banged up; his hamstring was bothering him. But he pulled that one out. He couldn’t go back in after that, but he’s a 10.7 guy in the 100, so he can run.”
The Saints eventually went up 41-7 before going into a Prevent defense and taking out most of their starters, allowing Westside the chance to score some late points.
The story of the first half for Westside-Macon was missed opportunities. The Seminoles started four consecutive possessions no worse than their own 48-yard line, and came away with two missed field goals from less than 30 yards, an interception and a punt.
Cedar Grove, meanwhile, bookended the half with touchdowns of its own.
On their opening drive, the Saints (11-1-1) marched quickly through the Westside defense, going 67 yards on just 6 plays, capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Jelani Woods to go up 7-0.
That remained the score until a Tre Shaw interception gave Cedar Grove the ball on its own 10 with 23 seconds left.
Three plays later, Woods looked to be cornered for a sack, but he found Labron Morris (16 carries, 115 yards) on a short dump-off before he went down. Morris ran right into the open field, then cut hard left and fought through two tacklers to barely reach the end zone from 30 yards out as the clock expired.
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