Last Friday’s rain showers turned Northwest Whitfield’s football field into a sprawling morass.
The Bruins hosted the Gilmer High Bobcats for a game that pitted two teams against each other who are battling for a state playoff spot.
Yards were hard to come by, and the game only needed one score to declare a winner. The Bruins breached the goal line late in the opening quarter and held off the Cats for a sloppy 6-0 victory.
“You can only control what you can control,” head coach Kevin Saunders said when asked about Gilmer facing one of the region’s top teams on a slick track. “I don’t think our guys have ever been in a game that was that important. We’ve got to learn from our mistakes. It’s not a failure unless you don’t learn from it.”
Saunders added, “I had a feeling whoever scored first was going to win the game. I felt like we played fairly tough and fairly physical. Once again, we played with a team that’s going for a region championship. We were a touchdown away from winning the game.”
Gilmer was limited to four first downs and 89 yards of offense. GHS running backs were often bogged down in the backfield and dropped for losses or short gains.
Northwest split four receivers wide and operated from the shotgun on most downs. The Bruins relied on running back Gavin Ellis, as well as quarterback Owen Brooker, who made good use of a passing game that consisted of screens and quick throws.
Both teams punted six times and each did so on their first possessions of the game. GHS was backed up to its 9-yard line on its initial drive, and the ensuing punt gave NHS the ball at the Cats’ 31.
The Bruins covered 11 yards with a pass and the remaining 20 came on the ground. The 8-play drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Ellis. A missed extra point gave NHS a 6-0 edge with 2:25 left in the first quarter.
Of Gilmer’s next three possessions, two began just across midfield in Bruin territory. On those drives, GHS gained just one first down and punted each time. Northwest did not do much better, and punted twice.
The Bruins’ final possession of the half ended when Bobcat safety Spenser Smith intercepted Brooker’s third down pass at Gilmer’s 36.
The teams traded punts to begin the third quarter. Gilmer’s second drive of the third was its most productive.
The Bobcats rushed 10 straight times to progress from its 46 to the Bruins’ 26. But on fourth down and six, a reverse to Bobcat Kanaan Walker was stopped short of the first down.
Gilmer’s drive took just under six minutes off the clock. When Northwest took the field offensively, it trimmed away 6:02.
The Cats’ took over with 6:50 to play but were unable to gain a first down and punted.
NHS milked the clock to less than a minute, and Smith left his safety position with a foot injury.
Seth Darling filled in for Smith at quarterback when GHS took the field for its last possession with 53 seconds left in the game. Darling completed a 34-yard pass to Kobe Stonecipher to move GHS to the 50 on first down.
But on the ensuing third down, Darling was intercepted and time expired shortly after.
Bobcat defenders combined for 13 tackles for losses and Gray McClure had four. McClure also made 10 total tackles, and Will Bradburn led Gilmer with 12 total stops.
What’s next?
Gilmer will host Ridgeland Friday, and Panthers Jordan Blackwell, Terrance Roberts and Torrence Roberts have the ability to score anytime they touch the ball.
“They’re more athletic than we are right now,” Saunders said. “We have to take care of ourselves and that’s given us chances to win. We’ve got to line up right and make plays when we get the chance to. Sometimes you make those plays and sometimes you don’t, but we’re learning how to.
“It’s a learning process, and I know people would like for this process to move faster, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. We just have to keep going. I think we’re way ahead of schedule.”
That schedule includes Gilmer contending for a state playoff spot in week nine of the season. The Bobcats’ standing is a far cry from the previous three seasons when they did not win a game.
“If we win out, we can make the playoffs,” Saunders said. “We’re playing another meaningful game Friday. Our whole goal is to go 1-0 this week and not worry about the playoffs.
“Who would have thought that in year one we’d even be in position to have people talking about Gilmer having a chance at the playoffs. That says something about the kids and what they’ve done.”
GHS will recognize its senior athletes and band members prior to Friday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff.