Fourth-ranked Lovejoy got a 53-yard touchdown pass from Stephin Craig to Quentavius Scandrett midway through the third quarter to break a 7-7 tie and held on to beat Tucker 13-7 in a region 4-6A game Monday night at Adams Stadium.
The game originally was scheduled for two weekends ago but was postponed because of COVID-19 issues at Tucker.
Lovejoy led 7-0 at halftime, but Tucker pulled even about three minutes into the third quarter. Lovejoy answered quickly, with Scandrett’s touchdown coming about three minutes later to provide the final points of the night.
Lovejoy, which had never beaten Tucker, improved to 7-0 for the first time since 2011, when the Wildcats were 14-0 before losing to Tucker in the state championship game. That was the first meeting between the teams, and the Tigers won the next six matchups after the schools were placed in the same region in 2014.
The victory allowed Lovejoy (7-0, 2-0) to move into a tie for first-place in Region 4 with Westlake (5-1, 2-0). Tucker (2-2, 1-1) fell into a tie for third place with Hughes (6-1, 1-1). With three weekends remaining in the regular season, those are likely to be the four playoff teams from the region, as North Atlanta and Morrow are winless in region play and would need some upsets and some help to work their way into the top four positions.
Lovejoy is back in action Saturday at Twelve Oaks Stadium against Hughes and will play at Westlake on Nov. 13 in the game that could decide the region championship. Tucker will play Morrow at Tara Stadium on Friday and faces Hughes and Westlake in its final two games.
Schedule
Here is the schedule of this week’s games in Class 6A, as of Monday night:
*Region 1: Lee County at Northside-Warner Robins; Valdosta at Houston County
*Region 2: Richmond Hill at Glynn Academy; Bradwell Institute at Effingham County; Statesboro at South Effingham
*Region 3: Evans at Southeast Bulloch; Alcovy at Lakeside-Evans; Grovetown at Rockdale County
*Region 4: North Atlanta at Westlake; Hughes at Lovejoy (Saturday); Tucker at Morrow; Lakeside-Atlanta at Washington (Saturday)
*Region 5: Carrollton at East Paulding; Douglas County at Dalton; Alexander at Rome; South Paulding at Paulding County
*Region 6: Kell at Allatoona; Pope at Sprayberry; Kennesaw Mountain at Wheeler (Monday); South Cobb at Osborne
*Region 7: Sequoyah at River Ridge; Chattahoochee at Creekview; Johns Creek at Centennial; Riverwood at Cambridge
*Region 8: Buford at Lanier (Saturday); Shiloh at Dacula; Central Gwinnett at Habersham Central; Salem at Winder-Barrow (Thursday)
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