By -- Seth Ellerbee
Kell running back Moonie Gipson is entering his sophomore season and was just hoping for a decent night.
A few carries, maybe a first down or two.
But after rushing for two touchdowns Wednesday night and watching his defense hold off a talented North Atlanta team, all while earning MVP honors, Gipson was focused on one thing.
“Winning with my team,” he told Score Atlanta’s Najeh Wilkins, who presented him with the Robbie Hunter MVP award after the game while he was surrounded by his teammates on his home field.
The game was tied at 15 with 7:27 left in the third quarter but two late touchdown runs from the Longhorns proved to be the difference.
Gipson – who had 22 carries for 169 yards -- scored two of Kell’s three rushing touchdowns which helped lead the hosting Longhorns past North Atlanta 29-15 in the nightcap game of the opening day of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic.
“Winning with my team,” Gipson emphasized.
Kell’s rushing attack, which outran North Atlanta 314-114, can be credited to the hiring of alumni and former Georgia Tech great Jonathan Dwyer, who will be inducted into the third class of the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame in October, as the team’s running backs coach.
“Training wise, every day, he just stays on me,” Gipson said of Dwyer, who played five seasons in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. “Like being the first to practice and all of that.”
On the ground, Donte Grant had 10 carries for 90 yards while junior quarterback Kaleb Narcisse had four carries for 35 yards and a touchdown. And with all the talk of the running game, Kell and North Atlanta each fielded quarterbacks with mid-season level performances in the opening game.
“I think he did great,” said Kell head coach Bobby May of Narcisse. “He didn’t make any mistakes, the interception he threw wasn’t on him. I think he led the team; he played great on third down when he needed to and I think he can handle it.”
Narcisse was 10-of-14 passing for 147 yards and a touchdown – a 20-yarder to Jaden George in the first quarter which put Kell up 8-7 after Narcisse added a 2-point conversion run. North Atlanta quarterback Ian Reynolds was 15-of-26 passing for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
“He is a tough kid and is a really, really good player,” May said of Reynolds. “He is going to have a good year. He ran the ball on us, he threw it on us, he took hits. He is a really good player.”
Reynolds gave North Atlanta a 7-0 lead on a 10-yard pass to Josh McCullough with 5:11 left in the first quarter. Kell retook the lead with the George touchdown in the second quarter and extended the lead to 15-7 on a short run from Gipson late in the first half.
Reynolds passed to McCullough – who finished with four receptions for 132 yards – on a 42-yard touchdown to tie the game at 15-15 with 7:27 left in the third quarter. But a touchdown run from Gipson (22-15) with four minutes left in the third quarter and from Narcisse (29-15) with 11:52 left in the game were decisive.
“We just have to build on the positive things,” May said. “And learn from the mistakes we made. We turned the ball over too much and gave up a lot of yards on penalties. We had a touchdown called back. So it’s a good start but we have a long way to go.”
