When opportunity knocked, Grayson didn’t answer. Tucker raced for the door.
Following a drop on a potential Grayson pick-6, Tucker’s Jonathan Ledbetter recovered a Grayson fumble two plays later and ran 45 yards to the end zone to give the Tigers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 26-23 victory in the Class AAAAAA second round.
Tucker advances to host McEachern, who beat Alpharetta 44-14.
The Rams (10-2) led 23-19 when Tucker quarterback Garrett Rigby threw a short pass to his right, late in the third quarter. Adesola Abisoye read the play and broke for the ball, stepping in front of the receiver. No one stood between him and the end zone, but he couldn’t hang on to the ball. On the next play, he earned redemption with an interception on the Tucker 49-yard line as the quarter ended.
On Grayson’s first play of the drive, though, a mishandled snap led to a fumble. The ball bounced around before finding the arms of Ledbetter. The senior never broke stride, outrunning the Rams offense to the end zone for the go-ahead score.
Grayson had chances to come back and tie or regain the lead in the fourth quarter, but the Tucker defense held firm.
The Rams' best opportunity came on their drive following the Tucker touchdown, when two big passing plays moved them into Tiger territory. When Deshaun Warren broke a run near the 20, it looked like the Rams might be able to answer the score from Tucker (10-2). But a holding call brought them back to the 44 for 2nd and 11. After two more plays, they had backed up inside their own territory and had to punt.
Grayson’s final shot came after a perfect Tucker punt set the Rams up with first down at their own 2-yard line and only 1:59 to play. Tucker’s defense played safe with three safeties deep and, while the Rams did enough to get three first downs, the Tigers survived.
The Rams led by as many as 8 points, taking a 20-12 lead into halftime with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Chase Brice to Evan Sturgill with 37 seconds left before the break.
When Tucker scored its first touchdown of the second half, the Tigers decided to kick the extra point rather than going for two, despite a 20-18 deficit. They made the kick, and the move worked out in the end for the victorious Tigers.
Brice finished 12 of 19 for 219 yards and 1 touchdown. Teammate Cameryn Brent ran 19 times for a game-high 84 yards and a score. Elijah Sullivan had 52 yards and 2 touchdowns on 13 carries for Tucker.
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