Last Friday night, the Gatewood Gators dropped their non-region match 35-13 to the visiting Edmund Burke Academy Spartans at Sammons Field in Eatonton.
It marked the Gators' second straight loss, leaving them with a 3-4 overall record and 0-1 in region play.
“We’ve got to be better. I mean, that’s just the bottom line. We’ve got to be better. And that means tackling, blocking, not turning the ball over, all of the above. We’ve just got to be better,” Gatewood head coach Jeff Ratliff said shortly after the game ended.“I still have a lot of confidence in my team.
"I think we can pose problems for people, but we’ve got to figure out those problems,” he continued. “The last two weeks, the other team’s been able to run the ball up and down, and we’ve turned the ball over. That’s just not a good recipe.”
Still, Gatewood struck first about halfway through the opening quarter. Following an outstanding catch by junior wide receiver Ben Brannen near the Spartans’ 10-yard line, senior Hunter Johnson carried the ball in on the next play, capped by a diving play for a touchdown.
Freshman kicker Connor Mitchem then tacked on the extra point for an early 7-0 Gators lead.
Edmund Burke answered quickly, however, to eventually take a 21-7 lead before Gatewood’s Jackson Hewatt caught a pass from fellow senior Ames Johnson in the end zone with just 14 seconds left in the half. However, the Gators’ two-point attempt was unsuccessful, sending the teams into halftime with EBA leading 21-13.
Gatewood started strong in the third quarter, but its opening drive ended in a fourth-down turnover.
“We were inside the 20 when the drive stalled, and we got off the field on fourth down. If there was a turning point in the game, it’s not converting on fourth down right there,” Ratliff said.
The Spartans controlled play throughout the rest of the second half, adding two more scores while keeping the Gators off the board to reach the 35-13 final.
Next up for Gatewood is a trip to Sandersville on Friday to face regionleading Brentwood (7-1, 3-0). Ratliff knows if his Gators are to stand a chance at winning, they need to step up and take the play to the War Eagles.
“For two straight weeks, we have let the other team dictate to us the style of play and game we would be in throughout the night. We must find a way to change that moving forward. We have to set the tone and match what the other team gives us,” Ratliff stated in his weekly post-game email to Gatewood fans and parents. "Football is still about blocking and tackling. It is about mental toughness. It will take us being better in all those areas to get things back on track, and that is exactly what we will try to do as we prepare for Brentwood.”