In a game between two high-powered offenses that was expected to go back-and-forth, the Johns Creek Gladiators edged the Centennial Knights 28-26 with a defensive stand on the final play, moving closer to a Region 7-AAAAAA championship.
With the win, the Gladiators (7-1, 6-0) moved into sole possession of first place in the region over the Knights (5-3, 5-1). They would have to lose their final two games to Alpharetta (4-2 in league play) and Dunwoody (1-5) to miss out on winning their second region championship in three seasons.
“We’ve got two more games left,” said Gladiators quarterback Zach Gibson, who was 20-for-26 passing for 245 yards with two passing touchdowns and two running touchdowns to account for all of Johns Creek’s scoring.
“We’re going to try to get the job done and do what we have to do and take it one game at a time. Our focus now is Alpharetta.”
Though Johns Creek took the lead for good with 4:56 remaining in the first quarter and led 28-14 midway through the fourth quarter, the Knights battled back and had a chance to win. But with two seconds left and the Knights facing fourth-and-10 from the Johns Creek 35, Max Brosmer’s last-second heave sailed past the end zone as the buzzer sounded.
Brosmer, who entered Friday with the second-most passing yards in the state, had another big night, throwing for 393 yards and two touchdowns to one interception on 36-for-51 passing.
With 6:11 remaining, Brosmer found Drake Mason in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown pass to bring the Knights to within 28-20. The play completed a 78-yard drive that included a fourth-and-14 conversion, but a missed extra point would prove to be the difference in the game.
Johns Creek was forced to punt on its next possession after chewing three minutes of clock, and Centennial again marched 80 yards in eight plays, with Cal Dickie’s 1-yard run with 2:05 remaining bringing the score to its final margin. A 2-point conversion that would have tied the game failed with an incomplete pass.
Johns Creek recovered the ensuing onside kick, but didn’t call a run play even though Centennial only had two timeouts. The Gladiators went 2-of-3 passing for eight yards and were even called for a delay of game penalty. An incompletion on third-and-6 forced them to punt, setting the stage for the game’s final drive.
The Knights began on their own 18 and Brosmer would open with five consecutive completions to get them to the Johns Creek 35. From there, he threw four straight incompletions and the drive stalled.
“We battled,” Gibson said. “We kind of let up after we got a big lead and they started coming back. But in the end, we fought hard and it wound up being a real good one. Shout out to Centennial, they’re a hell of a football team and I couldn’t have asked for better sportsmanship from an opponent.”
Centennial 7 7 0 12 -26
Johns Creek 14 7 7 0 - 28
C - Max Brosmer 13 run (Nate Miles kick)
J - Yong Min Lee 47 pass from Zach Gibson (Jack Linne kick)
J - Giovanni Dyer 31 pass from Gibson (Linne kick)
J - Gibson 2 run (Linne kick)
C - Richard Shaw 5 pass from Brosmer (Miles kick)
J - Gibson 1 run (Linne kick)
C - Drake Mason 32 pass from Brosmer (kick failed)
C - Cal Dickie 1 run (pass failed)
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