Technically, The Kell Longhorns were underdogs heading into their matchup with the GAC Spartans. That didn’t matter to them.
Led by senior quarterback Bryce Clavon, the Longhorns topped GAC 42-32 on Friday at The Stockyard at CJ Kell Stadium in a pivotal Region 6-5A contest.
With the win over GAC, which was a 1-point favorite, the No. 10 Longhorns move to 6-1, 3-1 in Region 6, and into the driver’s seat for their first region championship since 2014. Their remaining two games are against North Springs and Chattahoochee, neither of which had a winning region record heading into Friday.
Since dropping their season-opener to 7A’s No. 7 Parkview, the Longhorns have won seven in a row, with all wins coming by double digits.
“This put us in great position for a region championship, so we just want to dominate these last two teams and go into the playoffs feeling good,” said Clavon, who accounted for three of the team’s touchdowns, including an 85-yard pass and an 86-yard run, both in the first half. “I feel like this was a great challenge for us. We needed it going into next week, because we haven’t really faced anyone other than Parkview that has given us a run for our money. This was a great win for us.”
Clavon, the team’s leading rusher with 118 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, was 10 for 17 passing for 170 yards and two touchdowns to an interception. The 85-yard touchdown pass was to senior Kyle Vaka, who had 141 yards on three catches.
The Longhorns led 21-14 at halftime, but the Spartans opened the second half’s scoring with a 51-yard scoring run from GL Tiberia to make it 21-20 after the failed extra kick. Kell responded with a six-play, 69-yard drive that was capped by Tyriq Green’s 6-yard run.
The Longhorns defense forced and recovered a fumble of the first play of the Spartans’ next possession, then went 71 yards in seven plays, scoring on Quinterrius Gipson’s 1-yard run, making it 35-20 with 9:51 left in the game.
“That was the turning point,” Clavon said. “It was a close game and we couldn’t take our foot off the gas. A 1-point lead wasn’t enough, so to get that touchdown, a stop, and another touchdown, that was big.”
The Spartans (7-1, 3-1), who entered ranked No. 7, were led by Tiberia’s 157 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
GAC 7 7 6 12 — 32
Kell 7 14 7 14 — 42
K — Kyle Vaka 85 pass from Bryce Clavon (Colin Mitchell kick)
G — Braylen Burgess 13 pass from Jack Stanton (Brandon Beckham kick)
K — Bryce Clavon 86 run (Mitchell kick)
G — GL Tiberia 27 run (Beckham kick)
K — Peyton Zachary 28 pass from Clavon (Mitchell kick)
G — Tiberia 51 run (kick failed)
K — Tyriq Green 6 run (Mitchell kick)
K — Quinterrius Gipson 1 run (Mitchell kick)
G — Stanton 1 run (pass failed)
K — Elijah Washington 10 INT return (Mitchell kick)
G — Xavier Daisy 2 pass from Stanton (game over)
