The visiting Lancers from Central Fellowship Christian Academy (CFCA) spoiled Gatewood Schools’ homecoming game on Sep. 29, posting a 31-21 win over the Gators. The game was moved ahead one day in case of inclement weather associated with Hurricane Ian over the weekend.
It marked the fourth-straight loss for Gatewood after a 2-0 start to its 2022 AA schedule, while Central Fellowship left Eatonton with a perfect 6-0 record so far this season.
CFCA led 24-0 by the end of the first half, leaving Gatewood head coach Jeff Ratliff feeling a little frustrated by his team’s lack of ability to stop the Lancers’ passing attack.
“We had three turnovers, and you know, you just can’t do that. A good football team’s gonna take advantage of it and that’s a good football team,” Ratliff said of his cross-field opponents.
“And we had trouble covering their pass,” he added. “They hit us with three touchdowns in the first half, and then the long pass to get down there for the field goal. So, I mean, you know, there were at least five or six deep passes or big passes in the first half alone.”
The Gators finally got on the board early in the third quarter to make it 24-7, but in their next possession, CFCA responded with a touchdown and PAT of their own to resume their 24-point lead at 31-7.
The quarter remained a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to take control until Gatewood picked off a Lancers pass with less than three minutes left in Q3. A smooth toss from sophomore quarterback Ames Johnson (10) to senior Evan Bennett (7) in the endzone made it 31-14, after a good extra-point kick by Jayden Daniel (4).
Gatewood then attempted an onside kick, with the ball eventually spotted at midfield, but on the second CFCA play, Gatewood junior Lawson Wooten scooped up a Lancers fumble and ran the ball nearly 50 yards down the left side to score. Daniel added the extra point to make it 31-21 with 20 seconds left in the quarter.
That marked the final score, too, with neither team able to reach the goal line again in the final 12 minutes.
Next up for Ratliff and his team is an open week, which the coach said comes at a good time.
“You know, we’ve gotta get it rolling. We’ve still got problems, whether it’s playing a half doing this or doing that, or taking a half just to get going, we’ve got to get those things out of our game,” he said. “We need (the bye week) just to get back on track. I still think we can play with the best of them in our division. We’ve got some talented players, but we’ve also got some work to do. It’s all u front where we’ve just gotta hold on to the ball. We’ve gotta’ block, tackle and not turn the ball over. Because, you know, when you don’t do those three things, you’re gonna get beat.”