Gipson still not 100%, but Kell shows off other weapons in win over Creekview
A lot of things went wrong for Kell in the first half of its Region 6-6A game Friday night against Creekview.
The Longhorns failed to secure two of Creekview’s kickoffs, gave up 9 yards on a fourth-and-5 at their 11-yard line that led to Creekview’s first touchdown, ran 18 plays compared to the Grizzlies’ 39, and had just 21 yards rushing.
Still, Kell led 17-14 at halftime. The Longhorns (4-1 overall, 2-0 in Region 6-6A) turned things around in the second half, scoring on their first three possessions on the way to a 41-21 victory at Carlton J. Kell Stadium in Marietta.
“In the first quarter, we didn’t tackle well, obviously,” Kell coach Bobby May said. “We had two turnovers. They got the onside kick, which was a great kick by their kicker, and we fumbled a return. It wasn’t very pretty. It wasn’t like our offense was on the field a lot, but we played well in the second and third quarter, which is what I think carried us.”
The victory was the fourth straight for Kell since a loss to Class 7A McEachern in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic. And the Longhorns have put together the winning streak without major contributions from running back Moonie Gipson, who has seen limited action as he continues to recover from an ankle injury suffered in last year’s playoffs.
Gipson, an AJC Varsity Super 11 pick and Georgia Tech commit, entered the season with 4,343 career rushing yards, including 1,918 last year as he led the Longhorns to the semifinals.
“He’s getting better every week, so we’re hoping in a couple of weeks he’ll be at full speed,” May said.
Gipson was held to 4 yards rushing on nine carries Friday night, but Kell had plenty of weapons to put away Creekview (3-2, 1-1).
Junior quarterback Boston Pierce passed for 262 yards and threw touchdown passes of 97 and 10 yards to Brock Burrus, who finished with five receptions for 211 yards.
Noah Daniel ran for 67 yards on seven carries and had touchdown runs of 13 and 23 yards, and Donte Grant scored on a 34-yard run.
Gabe Dias kicked a 24-yard field goal with 1:51 remaining in the second quarter that gave Kell the lead for good at 17-14. Kell then pulled away with three touchdowns in the third quarter.
Creekview recovered an onside kick on the opening kickoff and recovered a loose ball when Kell mishandled a short pooch kickoff early in the second quarter. The turnovers put Creekview well inside Kell territory, but neither resulted in points for the Grizzlies.
Creekview opened the scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run by Carson Lott and later added a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Landon Barnes. But Kell answered each time, on Daniel’s 13-yard run, set up by Kamoni Adams’ 49-yard punt return, and the 97-yard pass from Pierce to Burrus. Adams is committed to BYU, and Burrus is committed to West Virginia.
Lott led the Grizzlies with 128 yards on 23 carries, most of which came in the first half, and Elijah Kawa ran for 94 yards. Creekview was just 4-of-18 passing for 40 yards.
“I think it takes a little bit to get going sometimes,” May said. “Obviously we had two possessions taken away from our offense, and if we get a chance to move the ball a little bit and score, that changes the mojo for our defense.”