Lineback Jalen Gist stood in front of his North Gwinnett teammates during the postgame huddle and shouted a little “I-told-you-so to” them. “I told you guys we were going to walk off this field with a win,” he said.
What Gist didn’t tell them was it would take a touchdown by an offensive lineman, a kickoff return for a touchdown and that he would force a fumble in the final seconds in order to make his prophecy come true.
Class 6A No. 4 North Gwinnett needed every break it could get on Friday and came away with a 37-34 road victory over No. 5 Mill Creek at Markham Field.
“We talked about handling adversity with great maturity,” North coach Eric Godfree said. “Our defensive coaches made some great adjustments, and our boys answered the ball.”
North Gwinnett (3-0) was led by quarterback Ryan Hall, who completed 13 of 24 passes for 259 yards and one touchdown and rushed seven times for 68 yards and one touchdown.
Mill Creek (2-1) running back Daniel Smith carried 31 times for 157 yards and one touchdown and quarterback Shane Throgmartin completed 19 of 31 passes with one interception and one touchdown and 220 yards.
North Gwinnett took the lead for good with 4:21 left to play on a 73-yard pass from Ryan Hall to T.J. McKnight, who ran a perfect wheel route to get by the Mill Creek defender and outraced him to the end zone.
After an exchange of punts, Mill Creek one final crack at it with 1:02 remaining. The Hawks reached the North 43 and were almost in range of kicker Brady Lane, who booted a 46-yarder to give his team a 34-30 lead. But on second down, Gist flew up to jar the ball loose and teammate Ethan Robinson jumped on the loose ball to secure the win.
Mill Creek opened with a 16-play scoring drive that was helped by a roughing the passer penalty. The Hawks scored when Throgmartin found tight end Luke Metz for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
North Gwinnett answered with an 80-yard drive that took 13 plays, with Ryan Hall hitting Erik Ronning in stride for a 30-yard touchdown.
Mill Creek scored on consecutive possessions in the second quarter. Gabe Hatchell-Van Drie broke through the left side and ran for a 22-yard score. After forcing North to go three-and-out, the Hawks got another score from Hatchell-Van Drie, this one an 11-yard run, to take a 21-7 lead.
North Gwinnett got a field goal with 30 seconds left in the half. The Bulldogs drove from their 9 to the Mill Creek 15 before settling for a 33-yarder from Constantine Dallis that cut the lead to 21-10 at the half.
North scored to start the third quarter. Hall threw a short pass to Bookman, who fumbled the ball forward, where it was picked up by Chase Morrow and returned 22 yards for a touchdown.
“I had to pick up my teammates,” said Morrow, who had never scored a touchdown at any level. “I never gave up on the play. The ball got into my hands somehow and I booked it down the sideline. I have no idea what happened. It’s just an amazing feeling.”
Mill Creek responded with a 26-yard field goal from Lane that gave the Hawks a 24-16 lead.
North Gwinnett changed the momentum when Erik Ronning took the kickoff and returned it for a 96-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion pass from Hall to Jake Godfree tied it 24-24.
The Bulldogs went up 30-24 on a 61-yard keeper by Hall, only to have Mill Creek take the lead on Daniel Smith’s 1-yard run and Lane’s extra point.
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