It took all 48 minutes for Rome to score. But when they did, they made it count.
Wolves receiver Jai Creamer caught an 11-yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock to stun Class AAAAA No. 2 Stephenson 7-6 in the first round of the playoffs.
Rome (8-3) advances to play at the winner of Saturday’s Ware County-Northside Warner Robins game.
Creamer's winning score capped off a furious final drive that covered 55 yards over the final 1:21 of the game, and included conversions of third and 22, and 4th and 10. Both of those plays were passes to Creamer, who finished with 8 catches for 125 yards, 95 of those coming in the second half.
The last 11 were the biggest, and they came the same way almost all of his yards came – straight hitch, turn and catch the bullet from quarterback Knox Kadum. Stephenson’s secondary simply had no answer for it, particularly in the second half. And the last one was the dagger.
“That was the game winner,” Creamer said. “I didn’t think he was gonna throw it because he took too long. But when I saw it coming out of his hands and it was coming toward me, I knew I was going to catch it.”
When he did, there was still the matter of the extra point to win it, and the Jaguars (9-2) weren’t ready to go quietly.
On Rome’s first attempt, several Stephenson defenders got penetration and were able to block the kick. But they were called for unsportsmanlike conduct for hurdling the line, and the Wolves got to re-kick.
On the second attempt, Rome made it, but the Jags were offside, officially meaning the play was dead, and the Wolves had to take one last crack at it.
The third attempt was good, sending Rome into the second round for the first time since 2008.
They may never have gotten a chance to score, though, if not for two key plays earlier.
Five plays before the touchdown, Kadum threw a pass over the middle that looked like it was going to be intercepted by Eugene Brown in a crowd of Stephenson defenders, but the pass was ultimately ruled incomplete.
Stephenson coach Ron Gartrell said that wasn’t the right call.
“That was a big blown call down there at the end,” Gartrell said. “He caught it, ran four steps, got hit, fumbled, and they gave them the ball back. That’s the biggest thing about this game, right there. But they won the game – good luck to them.”
Another key play was on Stephenson’s last possession, when quarterback Xavier Sheppard ran right and stepped out of the bounds on third and 9, stopping the clock with 1:30 left and saving Rome a timeout. Without that, the Wolves may not have had time to score the winning touchdown.
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