Story and Photos
by Lance McCurley
Lance@msgrnews.com
Gatewood will face a familiar opponent in Trinity Christian (Dublin) on Friday night at The Swamp.
The Gators defeated the Crusaders 40-16 last season. That win marked the fifth time in a row they have defeated Trinity Christian, which is a winning streak that dates back to 2014.
The Crusaders (1-0) will try and break that mark this upcoming Friday after a tough one-point win against Piedmont Academy last Friday. Trinity Christian won an overtime thriller over the Cougars 41-40 to open up its 2022 season on Friday, Aug. 19.
Jed Marsh’s squad of Crusaders trailed by 14 late in the fourth quarter but mounted a comeback on the shoulders of a quarterback-wide receiver duo in Jim Coleman and Jack Polhill. The two connected on a pair of long pass plays and tied it at 34 late in the game.
Piedmont’s Justin Reynolds found Luke Welch for six to take a 40-34 to start the overtime period, however, a missed PAT would doom the Cougars. Coleman had a rushing score on the ensuing possession and a made PAT by Zane Shirley solidified the win.
“This past week Trinity did not quit,” Gatewood School head coach Jeff Ratliff said. “They rallied from being down 14 points to beat Piedmont in OT (overtime). Thus, they know how to win, and they have played four quarters of football. We must be ready to go.”
The Gators had a bye last Friday after its scrimmage was rained out the week before. So, they spent time focusing on themselves before their season opener.
“It was my intention to only focus on us, and that is what we did,” Ratliff said. “It was important to work on the fundamentals and correct mistakes from the first few weeks of practice. By running our offense versus our defense, it gave us a chance to get better at our scheme on both sides of the ball. I feel like we accomplished that this week.”
Gatewood had an intrasquad scrimmage last Thursday, Ratliff said.
“I was pleased with our energy and execution,” he continued. “Of course, if one side of the ball succeeded, then the other side did not. In saying that, we still managed to get better on both sides of the ball. Now, it is time to turn all of our attention to Trinity.”
The kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in Eatonton.