The outcome was never in doubt on Halloween night as Gatewood delivered a scary 47-13 beatdown to the visiting Heritage Hawks out of Newnan.
It was an important win in the opening round of state playoffs, setting up a rematch against Southwest Georgia Academy (SGA) this Friday night in Damascus.
“We’ve struggled the last couple of weeks. We have. We’ve struggled and it’s been tough on us,” Gatewood head coach Jeff Ratliff acknowledged of a three-game losing streak that wrapped up his team’s regular season. “But these guys, they kept fighting. They kept their heads up and came out here tonight and played hard and got the win, and now it’s on to the next round. I’m proud of them.”
Playing quarterback in place of his recently injured younger brother, Blake, senior Ben Brannen opened scoring with a 5-yard rushing touchdown for the Gators with 3:08 left in the first quarter. Junior kicker Drew Love then tacked on the extra point.
Gatewood didn’t strike again until 5:13 left in the second quarter when sophomore Talon Jones returned a punt for a touchdown. The point after attempt was blocked, leaving the home team with a 13-0 advantage.
Brannen scored again, this time on a 31-yard rush with just under two minutes left in the half, as Gatewood led 20-0 after the extra point.
It didn’t take long for the Gators — and Brannen — to score once more before the half ran out, as he scrambled from 31 yards out to send the teams off the field with a 27-0 lead for Gatewood.
“Ben ran the option well, threw the ball well, and I mean, he’s a senior and he’s good at what he does. We expected big things out of Ben when we put him behind center tonight, and he came through,” Ratliff said after the game.
Gatewood came out swinging again in the second half, as senior running back Mason Sinclair scored from 13 yards out just 42 seconds into the third quarter, with Love delivering the extra point to go up 34-0.
Two minutes later, junior running back Landon Moreno completed a long 69-yard run down the left sideline, culminating in a heroic dive across the goal line with two Hawks players hanging off his back. The extra point was no good, but the Gators led 40-0.
The shutout finally broke, however, with 5:24 to go in the final quarter when Heritage scored a 29-yard touchdown but missed the extra point attempt.
The Gators quickly responded, as Brady Haley rushed for a 14-yard touchdown for their last score. Heritage then scored its last touchdown in garbage time with just over a minute left.
“That was exactly what we needed,” Ratliff declared in his weekly email message to team parents and supporters.“We played great defense on a Heritage offense that was very explosive. Our ability to stop their run game limited what they could do. It was a great team effort against a team that had some weapons.
“On the other side of the ball, our offense was electric at times. More importantly, we were consistent and balanced. I thought we did a good job of mixing in the run with the pass, and we had a lot of players step up and produce. It was nice to light up the scoreboard, too.”
Ratliff stressed, however, that this Friday’s game against SGA will demand all of that effort and more from his team. Southwest Georgia beat Gatewood in this same matchup 46-13 last year, finished first in its region (7-3, 3-0) this year, and was seeded second overall for GIAA Class AA playoffs.
“They (SGA) have a really, really talented running back, one of the best players in the league, and they’ve got a really, really good offensive line. And they play well together,” Ratliff said. “They’re a good unit. It is going to be a tough challenge for us, but hopefully we’re up for it.”