Pope scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:55 remaining and then stopped an extra-point attempt in the final minute to preserve a 14-13 victory over Allatoona in the flag football Division 3 championship game Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
It was the first finals appearance and state championship for Pope (26-2), which defeated its Cobb County rival 40-7 in a regular-season game on Nov. 2. Allatoona (22-3) also was in the finals for the first time.
The all-Cobb final in the highest classification was the second in three years, as Hillgrove defeated Marietta to win the title in 2021.
“It was difficult because they really are a very good team, as you can see,” Pope coach Kevin Fraser said of the Buccaneers. “We got out to a big lead last time and had things go our way, so that was the big thing, to not have our girls be overconfident. So we knew it was going to be a battle. That was one of the challenging parts of getting ready is we had to be ready for a fight.”
Pope trailed 7-6 when it got the ball at the Allatoona 28 after a 12-yard punt return by Olivia O’Connor midway through the fourth quarter. After a penalty on the first play moved the ball to the 18, Riley Bensman threw a touchdown pass and a two-point conversion pass to Carly Oubs for a 14-7 lead.
Allatoona answered with an 11-play, 66-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Maci Strickland to Sophia Settle to cut the lead to one point with 20 seconds left, but Strickland’s pass on the extra-point attempt fell incomplete.
Bensman gave Pope a 6-0 lead in the second quarter with a 27-yard touchdown pass to O’Connor, but the Greyhounds failed on the extra-point attempt. Allatoona took a 7-6 lead three minutes later on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Strickland to Aoife Flynn and an extra-point conversion from Strickland to Ava Glassmeyer.
Bensman was 17-of-23 passing for 130 yards. Oubs had six receptions for 29 yards, and O’Connor had 49 yards on four catches.
For Allatoona, Strickland completed 20 of 30 passes for 184 yards. Hazel Shultz (five receptions, 45 yards), Flynn (4-37), Settle (3-38) and Aubrey Moore (3-31) were the leading receivers.
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