Prep Football: Landmark Christian eliminated in playoffs
From Staff Reportssports@newnan.com
The Landmark Christian War Eagles hopes of returning to the Georgia Dome and the state title game for the second year in a row ended Friday night with a 32-22 loss to Prince Avenue Christian Academy in the semifinals of the Class A private school bracket.
This is the first year the Georgia High School Association has divided its Class A schools into public school and private school brackets.
With the victory, Prince Avenue advances to play Eagle’s Landing Christian next week. Landmark ended its season with a 9-4 record.
Despite the loss, Landmark’s Jeremiah Kirkland went over the 2,000-yard mark for the season thanks to his 140-yard effort in the first half.
Friday night’s contest came down to a fourth-quarter shootout.
Trailing 17-7, the War Eagles cut the lead to 17-14 when quarterback Stockton McGuire tossed in 35-yard pass to Josh Nobles.
Prince Avenue scored a long touchdown pass on its next series to take a 24-14 lead, but the War Eagles made a last effort to trim into the lead when Kirkland found the end zone on a 2-yard scamper.
Landmark Christian added a 2-point conversion when backup quarterback Ben Bagett connected with Will Walters.
The Wolverines secured the victory with a final score after it added a touchdown and a 2-point conversion with 1:55 left.
Prince Avenue took control of the game on its first possession turning a fake field goal into a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The War Eagles put their first points on the scoreboard in the second half when Jacob Cobb recovered a Wolverines fumble to set up the team’s first score of the game..
Landmark capped the scoring drive on a 4th-and-14 touchdown pass from Bagett, who hit Josh Nobles on a 32-yard scoring strike to tie the game at 7-all.
The Wolverines converted its next series into a touchdown drive when Carl Mattox scored on a 75-yard scamper for his first score of the night to give Prince Avenue a 14-7 lead.
That margin held up going into the locker rooms at the end of the first half Landmark’s final drive of the second quarter stalled.
The War Eagles moved the ball from their own 17 to the 2, but the drive ended when they missed a short field goal.
Prince Avenue scored the only points of the third quarter on a 35-yard field goal to go up 17-7.
