There is no replay review in high school football in Georgia. But then again, maybe there is.
The giant video boards inside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium may have played a role in the outcome of Brookwood’s 28-24 win over Norcross in the second of four Corky Kell Classic games on Saturday.
With Norcross leading 24-21 early in the fourth quarter, senior QB and Alabama commit Dylan Lonergan lofted a pass down the near hash mark into the endzone, intended for junior WR Lee Niles. But sophomore DB Lionel Burns III leaped with Niles and both went to the ground with the ball.
Officials originally gave Burns the interception but called pass interference which nullified the turnover and gave the ball back to Brookwood. But after more prodding from Brookwood head coach Philip Jones and his staff, who kept pointing to the replay being shown on the big screens, the officials got back together for another discussion and overturned the original call completely, awarding Niles with a 24-yard touchdown reception.
“I was just advocating for my guys,” Jones said. “We clearly caught the ball and I told them their player never made contact with our guy, so there was no interference. We caught the ball. I just wanted [the officials] to do what was right.”
Norcross head coach Keith Maloof didn’t see it that way. At all.
“We don’t have replay review in high school football,” he said after the game. “They made the call, and then kept looking up at the scoreboard at the replay. And then they decided to change their decision? You can’t do that.”
Norcross still had a couple of chances to re-take the lead but the Broncos thwarted both opportunities. First, on the Blue Devils’ possession after losing the lead they drove 60 yards to the Brookwood 20-yard line. But the drive stalled and junior QB AJ Watkins’ pass into the endzone on fourth-and-15 was intercepted by senior Noah Holton with 4:37 left to play.
Then on the Broncos’ possession, the Norcross defense forced a fourth-and-one from the Brookwood 29-yard line. Jones called timeout and put the game on his players’ shoulders.
“I told them we’re going for it and we’re going to get a yard and win the game,” Jones said. “This is what those January workouts at 5:30 in the morning are for.”
Lonergran bulled his way over the left side for the first down yardage but kept his legs churning and busted out of the pile for a 42-yard run that sealed the comeback win.
Maloof said he may make a call to the Georgia High School Association to talk about how things went down. But he didn’t make any excuses.
“We’ll be fine. We’re still a really good team and we did some really good things,” Maloof said. “We had some breakdowns on kickoff coverage, and that’s on me. I need to get that unit better prepared to play. But we’ll learn from this and regroup.”
Norcross’ first drive of the season was textbook worthy as the Blue Devils marched 73 yards in 11 plays, all but one of them on the ground. The lone pass was a key play in the series as junior QB AJ Watkins hit senior Zion Taylor on a slant over the middle, which Taylor took 22 yards to the Bronco’s 9-yard line. Three plays later, Watkins lofted a back-shoulder fade to senior TE and Georgia commit Lawson Luckie to put Norcross on top 7-0 after senior Drew Duva’s successful point-after kick.
The Blue Devils added to their lead one quarter later when they took advantage of Brookwood’s second turnover in as many possessions. The Broncos’ first drive of the season ended when Lonergan, an AJC Super 11 selection, was hit hard by senior safety Devin Hunter and fumbled. Norcross recovered at its own 49-yard line but the Brookwood defense responded with a three-and-out.
On the next Bronco possession they moved the ball from their own 1-yard line to midfield, but that’s when Hunter struck again. This time he undercut an out route and picked off Lonergan’s pass at Norcross’ 43-yard line, early in the second quarter.
On the sixth play of the drive, Watkins pulled the ball on a fake jet sweep and sprinted up the middle 17 yards for a touchdown to push the Blue Devils’ lead to 14-0.
But Brookwood wasted little time pulling off Big Play No. 1 to make up for their two first-half turnovers. Senior WR Bryce Dopson took the ensuing kickoff at his 1-yard line, started up the middle, found a seam to his right, and sprinted 99-yards untouched to the endzone. Danny Elrod’s kick pulled the Broncos to within 14-7 with just under six minutes left in the half.
Norcross appeared to be on the verge of answering with its third touchdown of the half when the Blue Devils drove inside the Broncos’ 5-yard line. But Brookwood’s defense stood firm and an offensive pass interference call on the goal line pushed Norcross out to the 18-yard line, where the Blue Devils settled for a 35-yard field goal by Duva to go up 17-7 with a little over a minute left in the quarter.
That’s when the Broncos queued up Big Play No. 2. Two passes from Lonergran to senior Miles Massengill – one for 10, the other for 35 yards – moved the ball from the Brookwood 20 to the Norcross 35. As time expired in the half on third-and-10, Lonergran rolled to his right a flipped a pass down the far sideline intended for Massengill. A Blue Devil defender stepped in front and leaped to bat the ball down, but tipped it behind him instead, right into the hands of Dopson who was standing in the endzone to cut the Norcross lead to 17-14 at halftime.
Brookwood threatened to take the lead on the first possession of the third quarter but the drive stalled and the Broncos missed a 44-yard field goal. The Norcross offense responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 3-yard run by senior Jonathan Mathis, and the Blue Devils expanded their lead to 24-14, with a little over three minutes to play in the third quarter.
But Brookwood responded quickly as another long kickoff return by Dopson set the offense up at the Norcross 24-yard line. On the sixth play from scrimmage, Lonergan pushed his way into the endzone from 2-yards out to trim the lead to 24-21 heading into the fourth quarter.
Jones said the Broncos had a little extra motivation as a former player and assistant coach in the program, Isa Washington, passed away suddenly earlier in the week.
“We played with heavy hearts out there. Isa was a real special person and very special to us,” Jones said. “You saw the character and grit our team played with tonight. We found a way to win.”
Norcross 7 10 7 0 24
Brookwood 0 14 7 7 28
N – Lawson Luckie 6 pass from AJ Watkins (Drew Duva kick)
N – Watkins 17 run (Duva kick)
B – Bryce Dopson 99 KO return (Danny Elrod kick)
N – Duva 35 fg
B – Dopson 35 pass from Dylan Lonergan (Elrod kick)
N – Jonathan Mathis 3 run (Duva kick)
B – Lonergan 2 run (Elrod kick)
B – Lee Niles 24 pass from Lonergan (Elrod kick)
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