Gilmer High School is home to Georgia’s second best Rocket League team.
The GHS Bobcats earned their runner-up spot at the Georgia High School Association’s Spring Esports State Championships against Lambert High School.
The Longhorns notched a 4-0 win over the Bobcats last Wednesday at Kennesaw State University. Gilmer’s runner-up placement is the school’s highest in the three-year history of Esports as sanctioned by the GHSA.
Gilmer’s Rocket League team members are Canyon Adams, Holden Vines, Austin Long and Jackson Fountain.
Rocket League is a video game that can succinctly be described as “soccer with cars” that are controlled by players. Cars zip around the field with turbo boosts and the ability to launch into the air all in an attempt to knock the ball into a stationary goal while keeping the opponent from doing the same.
The state tournament consisted of 32 teams, the Bobcats were seeded 12th and entered the event with an 8-2 record. Regular season matches used a best-of-five game series. The scores from those matches were used as the tiebreaker between teams with identical records, which is how the Bobcats secured the 12th spot.
Coach Rodney Thurman and the Bobcats were not short on confidence after seeing the opposing teams in their quadrant of the bracket.
“We knew the 12th seed was way too low for us,” Thurman said. “A lot of these guys play each other online all the time so they’re familiar with other student athletes on other teams. I was so confident we were going to make the finals, I went in a week ahead of time and told (athletic director) Matt (Johnson) we needed a bus because we were the best team in our bracket.
“We went in knowing we were going to win our bracket and basically had to go out and prove it.”
State matches were determined by a best-of-seven game format. Each game lasted five minutes with three players per side.
Gilmer’s road to the finals was paved with 4-0 wins over its first three opponents, Dalton, Academy for Classical Education and Decatur. In the semifinals, Gilmer defeated No.1 seeded Bacon County, 4-2.
Lambert is one of the schools that has put Forsyth County on the map as an Esports “powerhouse,” according to Thurman. Gilmer went into the finals with a defensive game plan.
“Our strategy depends on who we’re facing, and against that team, we already knew we were going to be struggling to win,” Thurman said. “We kept one guy back as basically a safety net, and the other two guys’ job was to get as aggressive as they could.”
The Longhorns took a 1-0 lead 1:37 into game one. Long tied the score 17 seconds later, but LHS jumped back ahead 2-1 on the ensuing kickoff. Long was there for his second goal with six seconds on the clock, but LHS claimed sudden victory with a goal seven seconds into overtime.
Lambert led 1-0 a minute into game two. Gilmer’s Long scored his third goal of the finals with three minutes left in the game. With 21 seconds on the clock, the Longhorns netted the go-ahead goal to claim an eventual 2-1 victory.
“After we lost those first two that were neck and neck, then we had no choice but to get aggressive to find a way to get more points to finally get a win,” Thurman said. “But it went the other direction. Lambert was able to take advantage of us basically having an open net and they turned it up a notch.”
Lambert surged ahead 5-0 by the midway point of game three. GHS got a goal from Long and Vines, but LHS held on to win by three.
Thurman made a substitution for game four, and Fountain took over one set of the controls. LHS scored 55 seconds into the game, and Long evened the score at 1-1 with 1:05 to play. Fountain added a final goal for Gilmer, but Lambert outscored the Bobcats 3-1 over the final minute for a 4-2 championship clinching win.
This was the highest state finish by a GHS Esports team. Gilmer previously reached the semifinals in League of Legends.
Thurman discussed the season and what lies ahead, saying, “I’m delighted, and we have everybody coming back. The team we just faced, who has been twice champions, has at least one senior who is graduating. I hear there is another eighth grader (at Clear Creek) who is out there who will be coming up.
“With Rocket League right now, I don’t see us dropping below the top four in state any time in the next two or three years. As long as these guys stay out there, we’re going to be a tough out.”
Esports seasons are held in spring and fall. Aside from Rocket League and League of Legends, schools compete in Smash Bros. Ultimate and Madden.