If Friday night's North Gwinnett-Mill Creek game was a prizefight, somewhere in the second quarter -- when a low-scoring game became a shootout -- was when both sides dropped all pretense of a boxing match and turned it into a slugfest.
Or maybe it was late in the third quarter and early in the fourth when three touchdowns were scored in just over a minute of game time.
Finally, after seven lead changes and three ties, when the dust settled and the final whistle blew No. 7 North Gwinnett stood victorious, 51-41.
In the end, it was the Bulldogs' big-play passing game and timely defense that made the difference. Mill Creek ran for 443 yards, but North Gwinnett had three crucial sacks in the second half, and the Hawks couldn't keep pace with the Bulldogs' offense, which hit three touchdown passes of 62 yards or more.
North Gwinnett senior quarterback John Urzua finished 14-20 for 370 yards and four touchdowns, completing his final six passes. Among a deep receiving corps, Josh Imatorbhebhe was his favorite target, finishing with six catches for 92 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown late in the game that gave the Bulldogs some breathing room.
North Gwinnett took the early lead, recovering an onside kick on the opening kickoff and moving 40 yards for the score on four straight runs.
The fireworks truly commenced in the second quarter, though, when the teams combined for five touchdowns.
Quarterback Daniel David handled the scoring for Mill Creek, rushing for three scores, including an 80-yard highlight reel run in which he spun out of a sure sack, bulled through two more tacklers and outraced the Bulldog defense the rest of the way to the pylon.
David's third score, a 36-yarder on third and 9, gave the Hawks a 21-14 lead with 2:48 remaining. But North Gwinnett only needed two plays to even the tally, scoring from 76 yards out when a busted coverage left Daniel Imatorbhebhe running wide open under an easy pass from Urzua.
The back-and-forth action continued in the second half, with both sides trading blows until North Gwinnett took the lead for good on a 68-yard scoring pass from Urzua to Kyler Knudsen with 11:23 in the fourth quarter.
David ran 19 times for 193 yards and four touchdowns for Mill Creek, while teammate Johnathan Hawkins led all rushers with 207 yards and two scores on 15 carries.
Mill Creek is at Meadowcreek next week, while North Gwinnett hosts Norcross in a rematch of last year's Class AAAAAA state championship game.
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