Johns Creek quarterback Zach Gibson led the offense to a big night as the Gladiators rolled over their crosstown rivals, the Northview Titans, with a 65-20 win in Region 7-AAAAAA action on Friday at The Colosseum in Alpharetta.
Gibson, a senior committed to Chattanooga, completed 10 of his 16 passes for 333 yards and seven touchdowns, with Giovanni Dyer and Dalton Pearson catching three touchdowns each.
The Gladiators moved to 4-1 and 3-0 in league play, while the Titans dropped to 3-2 and 2-1.
“We felt really strongly about our performance tonight and it really showed,” Gibson said. “The defense and offense played phenomenal — there’s still some things to clean up — but going forward, we’re really excited.”
The Titans opened the game with a three-and-out punt that was blocked out of the end zone for a safety, and things only went further downhill for them from there. The Gladiators would score touchdowns on six of their next eight possessions to build a 44-14 lead they’d take into halftime.
Highlights in the first half included Gibson touchdown passes of 61 and 21 yards to Dyer and 68 and 48 yards to Pearson. Will Watson had a 50-yard touchdown run and Matt Casey caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Gibson.
In addition to the safety, the Gladiators defense had an interception from Cameron Hinson through the first two quarters.
The Gladiators opened the second half scoring with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Gibson to Dyer to make it 51-14 with 6:44 left in the third. They would tack on two more touchdowns for good measure.
Watson led the Gladiators with 101 rushing yards on nine carries. Pearson had 183 receiving yards and Dyer had 131, with both pulling in just four receptions.
The Gladiators are gunning for their first region title since 2016, but still have defending 7-AAAAAA champion and No. 9 Alpharetta (3-1, 2-0) to play on Oct. 26 in their next-to-last game of the season. They’re on bye next week and will host Pope (1-4, 1-2) on Oct. 5. They’re undefeated against Peach State teams so far, with their only loss coming to Saint Johns (D.C.), the No. 5 team in the nation according to USA Today.
Northview will look to get back on track next week at home against North Atlanta (3-1, 1-1).
Northview 0 14 6 0 - 20
Johns Creek 23 21 14 7 - 65
J - Team safety
J - Giovanni Dyer 61 pass from Zach Gibson (Jack Linne kick)
J - Matt Casey 17 pass from Gibson (Linne kick)
J - Dyer 21 pass from Gibson (Linne kick)
J - Dalton Pearson 48 pass from Gibson (Linne kick)
J - Will Watson 50 run (Linne kick)
N - Christian Watson 29 pass from Beau Lark (Liban Ismael pass from Lark)
N - Lark 1 run (pass failed)
J - Pearson 63 pass from Gibson (Linne kick)
J - Dyer 34 pass from Gibson (Linne kick)
J - Pearson 61 pass from Gibson (Linne kick)
N - Jonathan Baker 34 pass from Lark (run failed)
J - Yong Min Lee 11 pass from Lonnie Ratliff (Brian Proctor kick)
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