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-| g November 30, 2016
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The best
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for Monroe
County sports
Dogs will forever remember the ‘titans’
Blessed Trinity kicker’s unlikely miss puts Mary Persons into semifinals
BY RICHARD
DUMAS
forsyth@mymcr.
net
With just 37 sec
onds left to play at
Dan Pitts Stadium
on Friday night,
the Mary Persons
Bulldogs’ offense,
leading by a lone
point, was just
beyond midfield
with two chances
to gain a single
yard to give MP
a clinching first
down and secure
a spot in the state
semifinals for the
first time since
1998.
But the Bulldogs
found out that
making history is
never as easy as
it seems. Instead
of running out the
clock, MP quarter
back Caleb Speir
slid down short
of the first down
marker on third
down and then a
debatable false
start penalty on
fourth down forced
MP to punt. One shanked
punt and several defensive
Mary Persons senior star Malik Herring is overcome by emotion after Blessed Trinity’s Brooks Hosea missed a 28-yard
field goal that would’ve eliminated the Bulldogs from the playoffs. Hosea’s miss came after he had made all four of his
previous field goal attempts. MP will next travel to top-ranked Cartersville on Friday with the winner to advance to the state
finals on Dec. 10. (Photo/Kim Holderfield)
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miscues later and MP found
itself depending upon the
hands of fate to decide wheth
er its season would continue.
With
seven
seconds
remain
ing,
Blessed
Trinity
senior
kicker
Brooks
Hosea,
who had
nailed
all four
previ
ous field
goal
tries
from the
Junior linebacker
Bralen Harvey • No. 22
had 8 tackles, 5 solo, and
a sack in a 28-27 win
Jason Jungberg. AAMS
Financial Advisor
First Vice President-
Investment Officer
right hash on the exact same
side of the field, lined up a rel
ative chip shot from 28 yards
to put his team into the AAAA
state semifinals and send
MP fans home distraught.
As Hosea lined up his kick,
MP head coach Brian Nelson
decided to expend both of his
final two timeouts in an effort
to ice Hosea and also to set up
a block attempt.
After several minutes that
seemed like hours, the ill-
fated play finally unfolded. A
perfect snap followed by a per
fect hold followed by referees
waiving their hands in a hori
zontal motion. What followed
were shrieks of joy from the
home side and heads hanged
from the visiting side. In what
seemed like impossible odds,
Hosea narrowly missed wide
right by mere inches, and MP
stood just three seconds away
from an unlikely berth in the
state semifinals. One Speir
kneeldown later, and MP fans
were able to flood the field in
celebration of a 28-27 win that
capped one of the greatest
nights in MP program history.
Nelson was still stunned by
the turn of events minutes
after the game concluded.
He said, “It was back and
forth. If we would’ve tried to
screw up that last minute-
and-a-half, we couldn’t have
done it better than what we
did. And that wasn’t trying to.
So just late-game execution
and things like that that could
have cost us. But I don’t know
what to say other than we’re
fortunate. It just hap
pened. Maybe there’s some
magic out there or some
thing. The kid’s been kill
ing it all night long from
40-plus and he misses a
20-something yarder.”
Speir, who had one of the
finest nights of his career
with 186 passing yards
and the game-winning
69-yard touchdown throw
to Roger Akins, repeat
edly used a single adjec
tive to describe the entire
sequence.
“It’s unbelievable,” Speir
said. ‘You can’t write stuff
like that. You don’t see
that on TV. It’s unbeliev
able. It’s an unbelievable
feeling.”
MP senior standout
Malik Herring said the
only way he could explain
the outcome was that a
higher power intervened.
Herring said, “The last
15 minutes, I was like,
‘Come on. We got it.’ And
when it came down to that
field goal I was like, ‘Oh
my God. He’s made them
all game.’ I was like, ‘God,
just come through with
it. God, please help us.’ I
prayed for it. We worked
for it. I feel like we earned
it as a team. We got what
we wanted, and God came
through for us.”
Herring, who was on the
field during Hosea’s miss,
described the experience of
watching the kick miss.
“We set up to try to block
it,” Herring said. “And when
we didn’t block it, I saw it and
it didn’t go over the guard
like it was supposed to. So I
was like, ‘It’s going away. It’s
going away.’ So I watched to
make sure it didn’t curve, and
then I broke down crying. I
thanked God. I didn’t even
know how to react. It was the
best feeling ever.”
see BULLDOGS page 3B
MP to face top squad in AAAA in semifinals
Cartersville junior quarterback Lawrence is nation’s top prep prospect
key weapons to assist
him in Cartersville’s
spread passing-heavy
offense. Senior running
back Trey Creamer, 6’0”,
175 pounds, leads the
Purple Hurricanes in
rushing with 565 yards
and 17 touchdowns while
averaging 5.4 yards-
per-carry. He is also
Carterville’s third-leading
receiver with 36 recep
tions for 508 yards and
four more touchdowns
through the air. Creamer,
who projects as a corner -
back at the next level,
has committed to play
at Minnesota. Another
of Lawrence’s favorite
targets is senior Avery
Showell, who is second
on the team in receptions
with 40 and receiving
yards with 710 while
scoring a team-leading
16 touchdowns. Showell,
6’1”, 195 pounds, also
projects as a defensive
back on the next level,
having committed to play
at Wake Forest. Another
senior, Antoine Jefferson,
5’8”, 165 pounds, leads
the Purple Hurricanes in
receiving with 771 yards
and four touchdowns
on 54 receptions. In all,
the Purple Hurricanes
have six different pass-
catchers with at least 300
receiving yards.
The Purple Hurricanes
are led by head coach
Joey King, who has com
piled a remarkable 40-2
mark over three seasons.
Cartersville has been
tested on three occa
sions in 2016. The Purple
Hurricanes defeated
defending AAAAA cham
pion Allatoona 30-14 at
home on Aug. 19. One
region opponent, 5-AAAA
power Sandy Creek, gave
the Purple Hurricanes a
see PREVIEW page 2B
Mary Persons at Cartersville
Friday, Dec. 2 • 7:30 p.m.
Weinman Stadium • Tickets: $15
Last meeting: Dec. 6,1991 Cartersville 21, MP 17
Prediction: Cartersville 35, MP 17
coin toss late
Friday night to
Blazing sophomore running back Quen Wilson led MP with 152 yards, averaging 10 yards per
carry, in
decide homefield
in the semifinal
round. The cost of admis
sion is $15. Pre-sold tick
ets are available through
Thursday at United Bank
and in the Mary Persons
High School office.
The Bulldogs and
Purple Hurricanes have
only faced off once in
their storied histories.
That lone meeting also
came in the state semi
finals in 1991 when MP
fell 21-17 at Cartersville’s
Weinman Stadium as the
Purple Hurricanes went
on to claim the program’s
a rare start against Blessed
first-ever state title.
Friday’s contest will come
nearly 25 years to the
day after the only previ
ous meeting. Cartersville
added two more champi
onships in 1999 and in
2015.
Cartersville, 13-0
overall (6-0 in Region
5-AAAA), has not lost
a game since a 27-3
state semifinal defeat
to eventual state cham
pion Buford in 2014.
The Purple Hurricanes
then avenged that loss
to the Wolves in last
year’s state champion-
Trinity. (Photo/Kim Holderfield)
ship game, shutting out
Buford 10-0 to complete a
perfect 15-0 season.
The 2016 version of
the Purple Hurricanes
features one of the top
prep quarterbacks in
the entire nation in
junior Trevor Lawrence.
The 6’6”, 201-pound
Lawrence, who is 40-2
as a starter, is the con
sensus No. 1-ranked
junior QB prospect in the
country. Both Rivals.com
and Scout.com recruiting
sites also have Lawrence
currently rated as the
top overall prospect
at any position in the
Class of 2018.
Lawrence, who
is expected to
decide between
Clemson,
Florida,
Georgia or
LSU, has
passed for
3,450 yards
and 45 touch
downs in 2016
with a 63 per
cent comple
tion percent
age.
Lawrence
has several
BY RICHARD
DUMAS
forsyth@mymcr.
net
Now that the
Mary Persons
Bulldogs have
advanced to the
state semifinals
for the first time
in 18 years, per
haps their biggest
challenge of the
season awaits.
MP will travel
to Cartersville
to take on the
No. 1-ranked,
defending state
champion Purple
Hurricanes, who
enter Friday’s
contest on a
program record
28-game win
ning streak. The
Bulldogs lost a