Chris Duckworth (23) with the tackle. Athens beats Green Hope, at Green Hope, 24 to 20.
Sep 8, 2012
Friday night’s match up between Athens Drive and Green Hope was close down to the last minute before the Jaguars squeezed by with a 24-20 win.
Slideshow
The game started out at a slow pace, with only a 20-yard field goal by Athens kicker Tommy Evanoff making it onto the scoreboard in the first quarter.
The second quarter started out slow as well until around the two minute mark when the Falcons began to show some life. A touchdown catch by junior running back Demetrius Massenburg from quarterback Chris Tutwiler got the scoring started in earnest. Green Hope kicker Zach Doernburg connected on the extra point, which brought the score to 7-3 in favor of the Falcons.
In less than a minute after the Falcons got on the board, Athens responded with a 41-yard catch and run by the Jaguar’s Henry Smith off a pass by senior quarterback Brad Bowling. Evanoff connected on the extra point, which gave the Jaguars a 10-7 lead going into the half.
The pace of the game did not speed up in the second half. However, with 55 seconds left in the third, the Falcons took the lead with a Tutwiler pass to wide receiver Mitch Chalker that gave Green Hope a 14-10 lead.
The contest began to pick up in the crucial fourth quarter, as the Jaguars came out with a long drive that led to a five yard rush by running back Dominique Lynch off a handoff which gave the Jaguars a crucial fourth quarter lead. The Jaguars struck again with another touchdown with around six minutes left, but this time it was Jason West who completed a 10-yard pass to Steven Parrish, which brought the lead to 24-14.
Despite a 10-point deficit, the Falcons did not let up. In a late surge, Green Hope made a valiant fourth quarter desperation effort on the back of Tutwiler, who completed a 19-yard pass to Eddie Auslander, which brought the Athens lead down to 24-20. This proved to be the last score for the Falcons, as a last minute drive by the Falcons ended in an interception by the Jaguar’s Parrish at the 42-yard line.
The Jaguars then took victory formation and escaped with a 24-20 victory.
“This game showed signs of our maturity and our gelling as a football team and coming through in stressful situations. We showed a lot of poise out here tonight,” first year Jaguars head coach Chris Martin said.
The now 2-2 Green Hope Falcons will be away against Holly Springs next week, and the 3-1 Athens Drive Jaguars will face Lumberton at Lumberton next Friday night.
This story is closed for comments.
