Embroiled in a close game at the half, junior tailback Kyler McMichael only needed one touch to flip the switch for the Class AAA No. 1 Greater Atlanta Christian Spartans.
With his team leading 9-7 at halftime, GAC took the opening possession of the second half at its own 41 following a short kickoff. McMichael took the ball and took off around the left, eluding some defenders and jetting past others. When he finally stopped, he was in the end zone, GAC had a 16-7 lead and was on its way to a 37-7 victory over St. Pius.
“Loved it. We came out with a lot of energy after that,” McMichael said. “Saw the hole, put the ball under my left hand … I was wanting to score.”
McMichael rushed for 148 yards and the one touchdown.
“Kyler’s run sort of popped it open for us a little bit and we got them behind the sticks and sort of got the field slanted that way,” GAC coach Tim Hardy said. “The big difference was we just clicked on offense. Davis (Mills, quarterback) was on his game and was accurate and we caught the ball well.”
Mills completed 13 of 16 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns, a 2-yarder to McMichael and a 29-yarder to Harrison Sloan. Jake Floyd caught four passes for 59 yards and Floyd had three receptions for 43 yards.
Mills also rushed six times for 39 yards and scored on a 1-yard run.
“(Mills) looks good,” Hardy said. “Last week we didn’t know until midweek if he was going to be able to play and he played fine. He really looked comfortable, like himself tonight. “
GAC scored on its first possession when Mills connected with McMichael to complete a 12-play, 65-yard drive. The kick failed and the Spartans led 6-0 with 3:04 left in the first period.
Credit: Stan Awtrey
Credit: Stan Awtrey
The St. Pius defense held GAC out of the end zone on its next possession and made the Spartans settle for a 21-yard field goal from Brooks Buce.
The St. Pius option attack clicked in the second quarter. With sophomore Connor Egan at the controls, the Golden Lions drove 80 yards for their only points of the night. Egan scored on a 3-yard keeper, but most of the heavy lifting was done by fullback Bobby Campbell, who wound up with 115 yards and 18 carries, most of them up the middle.
The second half was a different story. GAC scored on its first four possession of the second half before turning the fourth quarter over to the reserves.
“Played really well in the first half, it just didn’t turn into points,” Hardy said. “It was a complete game.”
GAC improved to 3-1. St. Pius, competing with a young team against a brutal schedule, dropped to 0-4.
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