A week removed from a lopsided victory, the Gilmer Bobcats received a taste of their own medicine.
GHS made the short trip to face rival Fannin County last Friday. The Rebels’ offense made good use of the pass when their ground game was not gashing the Cats’ defense for big gains.
Coupled with special teams blunders and turnovers, GHS trailed throughout. FCHS built upon its lead in the second half, and sent the Bobcats back to Ellijay with a 38-14 defeat.
“Obviously we’re disappointed,” said head coach Paul Standard. “I’m disappointed in myself for how our players performed. We had a great week of practice, and I know our kids were prepared. There wasn’t a single thing that happened that we didn’t plan for.”
Fannin held the Bobcats to 176 yards rushing and were able to eliminate Gilmer’s big-play ability on offense.
“Hats off to Fannin. They had a great game plan and executed it and just beat us,” Standard said. “There’s no excuses. When things don’t go right, we have to regroup, get back to work, fix our mistakes and get ready for the next game. We’ll be working on fundamentals. Hollering and screaming doesn’t solve the problem. We need to keep getting better at what we do.”
FCHS scored points on four of five first-half possessions. Three of those scoring drives started in Bobcat territory, including one possession that began at Gilmer’s 1-yard line.
The Rebels were in their normal shotgun offense, and the read option between quarterback Lawson Sullivan and tailback Carson Callihan proved to be a deadly combination. The duo handled all of the carries of the Rebels’ opening drive, which spanned 73 yards. Sullivan kept the ball on the drive’s eighth play and raced 41 yards untouched to the end zone.
The point after gave FCHS a quick 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
A 15-yard personal foul on the kick return was costly for Gilmer. The drive started at the Cats’ 10, and they punted from the 13 on the drive’s fourth play. When punter Douglas Callihan fielded the low snap, his knee touched the ground at the 1-yard line, and the Rebels were primed to score.
Carson Callihan’s first touchdown of the game came on second down for a 14-0 lead with 4:35 left in the first quarter.
GHS answered with a 14-play touchdown march. From their 22, quarterback Issac Rellinger hit the outside for 12 yards. With the help of an encroachment penalty coupled with a pair of Wyatt Stokes’ runs up the middle, GHS advanced to Fannin’s 46.
On third down and 9, Fannin held GHS short of the line to gain. However, a Rebel personal foul gave Gilmer new life at Fannin’s 37. Halfbacks Hunter Britain and Kyle Cowart and Stokes kept the offense moving.
Gilmer then faced fourth down and three, and Rellinger’s 8-yard pass to Douglas Callihan resulted in six points. Noah Turner made his first of two extra points as Fannin’s lead was cut to 14-7 with 8:14 left in the second quarter.
The Cats’ defense got the stop it needed, and the offense was back on the field at the Rebels’ 30. GHS lost the ball on first down when halfback Kyle Cowart fumbled and Fannin recovered at the Cats’ 44.
A 23-yard completion on the eighth play of the drive gave FCHS a first down at the 17. Carson Callihan took the ball around the left corner on the next play for a touchdown.
Down 21-7 with 1:36 left in the half, Bobcat Hayden Morrison was unable to field the ensuing kickoff. The Rebels were able to extend the possession with a fourth down conversion to set up a successful 33-yard field goal to lead 24-7 at the half.
Gilmer made the most of its drive to start the third quarter. Three straight runs by Stokes gave GHS a first down at its 38. Douglas Callihan then took a hand-off around the right edge and picked his way for a 23-yard gain. A 15-yard Rebel unsportsmanlike conduct penalty extended the ball to the Rebels’ 12.
Three plays later, Stokes scored from 2 yards out to cap the 70-yard, seven-play drive. The score cut Fannin’s lead down to 24-14 with 8:25 left in the third.
Standard recalled the end of the previous half, noting, “With 2:10 left, the score was 14-7, and we had them third and 20 and let them convert,” he said. “They subsequently score, then we fumble the kickoff and they kick a field goal. We go from being down seven to being down 17. We take the second half kickoff and score. If we had held them, now it’s 14-14 and a whole different deal. But even then (behind 24-14), we were only down 10 and still had a chance.”
The touchdown marked Gilmer’s final points of the night. GHS punted on its next three possessions while only achieving one first down.
The Cats’ first punt of the second half gave Fannin the ball at Gilmer’s 39. Fannin needed only two plays to score, and Carson Callihan added six more points on a 26-yard run. FCHS led 31-14 with a 1:25 remaining in the quarter, and the Rebels were forced to punt on their next drive.
Fannin’s fourth drive of the half got underway at its 37. On the fourth play, Sullivan’s keeper resulted in a 47-yard touchdown.
Behind by 24 points with 3:41 to play, GHS found success against Fannin backups. GHS moved downfield, but Rellinger was intercepted in the end zone in the final seconds of the game.
Standard hopes his team continues to learn and persevere when facing adversity.
“I need our young men to realize that when something bad happens early in the game, you still have a lot of football to play. We’ve got to get that across to our young men,” he said.
Aspen Hataway once again led the GHS defense with 11 total tackles. Stokes was the top rusher with 87 yards on 18 attempts.
Players of the week selected by the coaching staff are junior Wyatt Stokes (offense), senior Aspen Hataway (defense), junior Blane Banks (two-way player) and senior Noah Turner (special teams).
Scout team players of the week are sophomore Noah Davis and freshmen Jase McCollum, Jake Hice and Chaz Curtis.
The Bobcats will make their way to Chatsworth Friday for a 7:30 nonregion game against the Murray County Indians (0-2).