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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, November 3, 2018
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL I Flowery Branch 28, Denmark 19
TOUGH HOME VICTORY
Photos by AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Flowery Branch running back Zarian Brawner tries to slip past Denmark’s Zach Burchfield during Friday’s game in Flowery Branch.
Falcons overcome slew of mistakes to earn No. 3 spot to playoffs
BY SARAH WOODALL
swoodall@gainesvilletimes.com
Denmark’s Devin Ducille is taken down by a swarm of Flowery Branch defenders during
Friday’s game in Flowery Branch.
DAWSON CO. 17
NORTH HALL 10 (OT)
Battle to
the end
Troj ans take No. 3
spot to the playoffs
BY NATHAN BERG
nberg@gainesvilletimes.com
It took more than 48 minutes for North
Hall and Dawson County to settle who
would come out of Region 7-3A as the
second-seeded team. But an overtime
touchdown pass from Tiger quarterback
Sevaughn Clark to tight end TJ Wilson and
a holding penalty on the Trojans’ (8-2, 4-2
Region 7-3A) answering drive that negated
a Daniel Jackson equalizer were just
enough to push Dawson County (9-1,4-1) to
a 17-10 overtime victory at home.
“We made some mistakes, and those
mistakes cost us,” said
North Hall quarterback
David Seavey. “Dawson’s
a good opponent. They
put up a good fight. It is
what it is.”
Just two plays after
Wilson’s score, Jackson
took a pitch around the
right side, extending the
ball over the plane and
appearing to come up
when the Trojans needed him the most. But
a holding call on the play pushed the team
back to a second and 19 situation, and like
they did for most of the night, the Trojans
had difficulty picking up
chunk yardage.
Following an incom
pletion from Seavey on
second down, JT Fair’s
pass attempt on a trick
play was intercepted,
sealing the game for the
Tigers.
“That’s a good foot
ball team,” North Hall
head coach David Bishop said of Dawson
County. “We don’t get credit for as good
as we are with all the rankings and all that
other junk, but we knew going in that we
could play with these guys, and our kids
showed it.”
North Hall was led offensively by JT
Fair — who carried nine times for 62 yard
and caught two passes for 34 yards — as
well as Daniel Jackson,
who had 12 carries for
21 yards and two recep
tions for 16 yards and
the team’s only touch
down. And despite having
offensive difficulties for
much of the night, North
Hall very nearly won the
game in regulation. Jackson
The Trojans trailed
for much of a first half in
which they picked up just 66 yards and only
one first down. A 34-yard score from Daw
son County running back Ahmad Kamara
put the Tigers on the board early, and
North Hall struggled for much of the night
to match that offensive output, going into
the break down by a score.
“You’ve got to give your hats off to coach
Maxwell and their coaches for having their
kids ready to play and shut us down the
way that they did in the first half,” North
Hall coach David Bishop said.
But the second half was an entirely dif
ferent story. The Trojans continued to keep
things locked down defensively — open
ing the half by turning over the Tigers on
■ Please see NORTH, 2B
Friday’s games
■ Buford 45, Clarke Central 3
■ West Hall 62, Chestatee 19
■ East Hall 32, Lumpkin County 31
■ Flowery Branch 28, Denmark 19
■ Lanier 6, Gainesville 2
■ Loganville 27, Johnson 10
■ Athens Christian 24, Lakeview
Academy 21
■ Dawson County 17, North Hall 10
(OT)
■ Prince Avenue Christian 48,
Riverside Military 27
■ Habersham Central 28, Apalachee
21
It wasn’t pretty, but the Flowery Branch
High football team found a way past a
determined Denmark program on a frigid
Friday night in Flowery Branch.
In a regular-season finale full of incon
sistencies on both sides of the ball for
Flowery Branch, the ninth-ranked Fal
cons (8-2, 4-2 Region 7-4A) still overcame
those errors to hold off a late Denmark
rally and win, 28-19.
With the win, the Falcons secure a No.
3 seed for the Class 4A tournament and
most likely visit Rossville next Friday
night when they face No. 2 seed Ridge-
land, which finished second behind
unbeaten Pickens in the Region 6-4A, in
the opening round. The Panthers are back
in the playoffs for the third straight year,
including second-round appearances in
2016-17.
“It was a good win in some less-than-
ideal situations, if you might say,” said
Flowery Branch coach Ben Hall, who has
the Falcons back in the postseason for the
second-straight season. “I am proud of the
kids for finishing. .. “(Denmark’s) first-
year program is a little misleading. ...They
have five or six starters that started at
South Forsyth, and with that split, they
have some really good players. They
played hard tonight, and hats off to them.
They had a great game plan. ”
The Falcons were penalized numer
ous times through the game, and gave
the Danes a short field on a few occasions
in the second half due to short punts cre
ated by low, off-balanced snaps. Hall was
also relieved to see his defense get off the
field despite busted coverage on a few
deep pass plays, which Denmark failed
to connect.
“ It was just us holding our breath on the
sidelines at times,” Hall said. “Our kids
played hard, we just have to play smarter
moving forward.”
As for Denmark, its inaugural season
■ Please see BRANCH, 2B
SCOREBOARD
West Hall rolls past Chestatee, 62-19
Solomon Riley and Michael
Thompson each had four touch
downs for West Hall in a 62-19
win against Chestatee on Friday
in Oakwood. With the win, it cre
ated a three-way tie for the No. 4
spot to the playoffs from Region
7-4A, which goes to White
County, according to Spartans
coach Krofton Montgomery.
Riley had three rushing
touchdowns and one receiv
ing, while Thompson rushed
for three scores and returned a
blocked punt for a touchdown.
Also for the Spartans (3-7,
2-4), John Stoecker recovered
a fumble and returned it for a
touchdown.
West Hall lost to White County
48-34 in the regular season.
The Spartans’ season is now
finished.
EAST HALL 32, LUMPKIN
COUNTY 31: Cambren Harri
son scored on a 2-yard run for
East Hall in the final minute to
beat Lumpkin County on Fri
day in Dahlonega. The winning
drive of 75 yards consisted of all
run plays, according to Vikings
coach Scott Patrick.
Harrison also scored on a run
following an Indians turnover to
■ Please see SCORES, 2B
Seavey
Fair
NFL
Alford, Bryant ruled out for the Falcons
Associated Press
Falcons cornerback Robert
Alford and kicker Matt Bryant
missed practice for the third
straight day and have been ruled
out for Sunday’s game at Wash
ington. Coach Dan Quinn said
rookie Isaiah Oliver will take
Alford’s spot. Oliver, a second-
round draft pick from Colorado,
makes his second career start.
Alford, a starter in 67 of 79
career games, is out with an
ankle injury and will miss his
first game since 2015. He was
hurt in a win over the New York
Giants 11 days ago but
did not come out.
Giorgio Tavecchio
takes Bryant’s place
for the second straight
game. With Bryant
hobbled by a sore
hamstring since kick
ing a 57-yard field goal Tavecchio
against Tampa Bay,
Tavecchio kicked three field
goals against New York.
He sealed the outcome with a
56-yarder in the closing minutes.
The 43-year-old Bryant is
the Atlanta’s franchise scoring
leader. Before this season he
had not missed a game
since 2009.
The Falcons (3-4)
hope that receiver
Mohammed Sanu will
be active against the
Redskins (5-2). He has
been limited in prac
tice two days this week
and did not participate
Thursday because of a hip
injury.
Quinn said Oliver has a better
understanding of his role since
misaligning in zone coverage
and allowing A.J. Green to score
a late touchdown in Cincinnati’s
Falcons at
Redskins
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Washington
TV: Fox
Week 4 win over Atlanta.
The Falcons, who rank third
worst in scoring defense and
yards allowed per game, will be
without their best linebacker,
Deion Jones, for at least another
two more weeks.
Jones has been sidelined with
a foot injury since the season
opening loss at Philadelphia.
JOHN AMIS I Associated Press
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Torrey Smith
(11) makes a touchdown catch against
Atlanta Falcons defensive back Robert
Alford during the Sept. 16 game in Atlanta.