Last-second field goal gives North Gwinnett a nerve-wracking win
North Gwinnett coach Eric Godfree spent the final two minutes of Friday night’s game against Parkview trying to convince his players that the game wasn’t over, even though it appeared to be done several times.
The Bulldogs somehow emerged with a 57-55 win when sophomore kicker Wesley Rogers kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired.
“That’s got to be one of the more exciting high school football games because every play was so important,” Godfree said. “I mean every play, so we had manage the emotions, because it’s easy to get down with such a little time left.”
The recipe was simple. Trailing 49-42, North scored a touchdown on Christian Jackson’s 5-yard jet sweep with 1:42 left, but its two-point conversion try failed.
Parkview then scored on a long run, but missed the conversion, giving North a slight pulse with 1:19 remaining. Trailing 55-48, North scored on Elam Rahman’s pass to Jackson with 21 seconds left, but the would-be winning two-point conversion pass was knocked down, leaving Parkview ahead by a point.
North kept its hopes alive when freshman Colten Coblentz recovered the onside kick. After a run got the Bulldogs to the 33, they called on Rogers to win it. He didn’t have time to think about it and calmly made the kick.
“This was the closest game I’ve ever been in,” North Gwinnett senior Jake Godfree said. “When we got the onside kick, it was like holy crap, we’ve got a chance to win this and when that field goal went in, I can’t even explain it. I’m still shaking right now.”
Rogers lined up the kick on the right hash – he prefers the left hash, where he’s more accurate – and split the uprights as time ran off the clock.
“I just knew I had to do it,” Rogers said. “Especially senior night. Some of these boys are never going to play in college, so I’ve got to give better every game, got to be special. With the short clock, I didn’t really have time to be nervous. Just trusted myself.”
No. 7-ranked North Gwinnett (9-1) is expected to draw a high seed, even though Brookwood won the Region 7-7A regular season title. Parkview (7-3) would have won the league title with a win, since it defeated rival Brookwood during the regular season.
The win was especially meaningful to Godfree, who coached nine seasons at Parkview before taking over at North Gwinnett in 2023. Many of the current seniors on the Parkview team were eighth graders when Godfree was there.
“It means a lot because there’s so many people that are so special to me at Parkview,” Godfree said, pausing long enough to get a hug from the mom of a Parkview player. “I love those kids to death and I’m glad to see the rebound they’ve had and they’re going to have a shot to go to the playoffs and make some noise.”
North Gwinnett rode the emotion of Senior Night to jump to a quick lead. The Bulldogs, after sustaining a 5-yard penalty, scored on the first play from scrimmage when Wilson Taylor broke free and raced 85 yards. A run by Luke Smith gave North an 8-0 lead.
Then, after forcing Parkview to kick, Josh Williams blocked the punt and Harrison Johansen recovered in the end zone. The Rogers kick made it 15-0 with only three minutes elapsed.
Parkview refused to panic and answered with two straight scoring drives. Jason Brown Jr., a Clemson defensive end signee, fell into the end zone from the 1, and Greg Hart threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Christian Ema to close the gap to 15-14.
North responded with its first scoring drive, moving 80 yards in 13 plays, with Josiah Saunders powering in from the 2.
The Bulldogs added another score with 4:00 left. Jackson took a pitch and fired a strike to Jake Godfree, who raced untouched for a 52-yard touchdown and a 28-14 lead.
Parkview got to within 28-21 by scoring with nine seconds remaining on Zandon Mullins’ 1-yard run. The play was set up by a 29-yard throw from Hart to Ema, who snagged the pass at the 1 before he ran out of bounds.