Norcross and Tucker, two perennial state powers, collided in a physical, sweaty overtime battle that featured a wild ending and served notice that high school football season is here.
Norcross, the two-time defending AAAAAA state champion, survived, 32-29, behind a near flawless performance from new quarterback Griffin Barker, on Saturday in the Corky Kell Classic at McEachern High School. Tucker was left kicking itself for 15 penalties and four turnovers, including a fumble at the Norcross one-inch line and a final fumble that ended their overtime possession and the game.
Barker, a senior making his first varsity start, was terrific. He threw touchdown passes to Jared Pinkney and Jared Simpkins and ran in for another to cap a go-ahead scoring drive with seven minutes to play.
“He was great, cool under pressure,” said Norcross coach Keith Maloof of quarterback. “He probably only made one mistake.”
That one mistake—an fourth-quarter interception and 48-yard return by Tucker’s Akeam Peters—set up the Tigers for the tying score. Down 29-21, Delvin Weems, a bruising back who transferred in from Sandy Creek, plowed in from 3 yards out to tie the game with 1:51 left.
Poised, Barker shook off the interception from the previous possession and led a two-minute drive down to the Tigers’ 2-yard line with nine seconds left. That’s when things went crazy.
Blue Devils kicker Blake Bingham and field goal unit raced onto the field, but weren’t organized. Time ticked down to two seconds, before they got a rushed snap off. Binghman missed. But Tucker coach Bryan Lamar had called one of those last-second timeouts that are designed to ice the kicker and look really bad when they backfire.
With a second chance, Bingham and the field goal team ran back on the field. And the senior missed again, sending the game into overtime.
It was fitting that Bingham received a shot at redemption in OT. He connected from 28 yards on the Blue Devils’ opening overtime possession. But the way Tucker ran the football in the second half, it didn’t seem like Norcross’ field goal would stand up.
After rushing for only 20 yards in the first half, the Tigers’ ground game exploded in the second half for 150 in third quarter. But on the second play of Tucker’s overtime possession, quarterback Garrett Rigby fumbled, and Norcross’ JB Kouassi recovered it to seal the win.
Lamar sat slumped in a chair outside the locker room after the loss. He seemed exhausted and exasperated by the turnovers.
“We just had so many guys that hadn’t had enough reps in that kind of situation,” Lamar said. “It came back to bite us.”
Norcross lost more than 60 seniors, including a bevy of bevy of big-name college signees, from last season’s championship team. The Blue Devils have new faces all over the field. But they appear to have a leader in Barker.
“We know we have something special,” said Barker.
Tucker returned a plethora of stars, like linebacker Jonathan Ledbetter, a recent Georgia commit, and dynamic kick returner Yaquis Shelley, a Kansas State commit. The Tigers were the more physical team and delivered a handful of jarring hits. Weems rushed for 161 yards on 17 carries, and Elijah Sullivan scored two touchdowns for the Tigers, who were making their debut in AAAAAA.
“Tucker is very, very good,” said Maloof. “They’ll be in the mix.”
