AA Blog: Appling endures for 4OT victory

Appling County faces the longest odds when it comes to winning the Class AA championship. It will have to survive a trip to No. 2-ranked Calhoun for the semifinals and then defeat either No. 4 Carver or No. 1 Buford in the championship game.

But none of that really matters today, as the Pirates can take a deep breath and enjoy a little time in front of the television. They played perhaps their guttiest game of the year just to reach the semifinals for the first time since 1999. Appling endured four overtime periods before coach J.T. Pollock’s club was finally able to put away Region 4 champion Lamar County 35-33. It was the second consecutive road victory for Appling County (12-1), the only unranked team remaining in the AA playoffs.

The Appling County-Lamar County game will go down as a classic, as more than 3,000 fans packed Trojan Field in Barnesville, many of them driving in from Baxley for the quarterfinal game.

The teams fought to a 7-7 draw after four quarters. Lamar’s Tyler Scandrett, the team’s outstanding sophomore kicker, was just wide to the left on a 42-yard field goal with six minutes left.

Appling had a chance to win in regulation when Byron Buxton intercepted a pass with less than two minutes remaining. But the Pirates were flagged for holding to negate a touchdown run by C.J. Nails with 36 seconds left and wound up running out of downs.

That set up four breathless overtime periods.

Lamar County started first and scored on Maurice Bloodser’s 15-yard pass to Quay Searcy. Appling answered on Donnell McMillan’s 6-yard run. That made it 14-14.

Appling began the second OT and scored on a 4-yard run by Nails, only to have Lamar answer when quarterback Tevin Childs scored from the 1. That made it 21-21.

In the third OT, Lamar overcame a holding penalty that negated an apparent Lawrence Austin touchdown run. Bloodser scored on the next play, running in from the 12 on a busted play. Lamar failed on its mandatory two-point conversion attempt, which opened the door for Appling.

The Pirates responded, but not without their share of drama. On fourth-and-goal from the 5, Leshune Moore scrambled around long enough to throw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Justin Javis. But Appling’s two-point conversion pass failed, leaving the game tied at 27-27.

Appling put an end to it in the fourth extra period. The Pirates needed only five plays to punch it in, with Nails scoring from the 1. Nails then powered in for the two-point conversion and a 35-27 lead.

That put the onus on Lamar, which was able to score on Lawrence Austin’s 3-yard run, but unable to convert the two-point conversion, as Austin was stopped short.

In the other semifinal games played Friday:

No. 1 Buford 49, No. 6 Elbert County: The four-time defending state champions (13-0) had five different players score touchdowns. Nathan Staub scored twice, an 82-yard reception and a 1-yard run. Andre Johnson scored on runs of 3 and 65 yards.

The Buford defense limited Elbert’s Tyshon Dye to 39 yards on 15 carries; he entered the game with 1,400 yards rushing. Elbert (11-2) didn’t get a first down until the third quarter and Buford caused four fumbles.

No. 2 Calhoun 45, No. 9 Dublin 7: The road game wasn’t a big deal for Calhoun (13-0), which went ahead 28-0 at the half and coasted home. Quarterback Taylor Lamb had a great first half, scoring on runs of 21 and 10 yards and throwing a pair of touchdowns passes, 50 yarsd to Ben Lamb and 5 yards to Alex Kirby. Alex Urbano ran for two touchdowns in the second half and finished with 81 yards on eight carries.

Dublin (11-2) was trailing 7-0 when it fumbled on the Calhoun 35. That led to a Calhoun touchdown and put Dublin in a hole from which it could not extricate itself.

No. 4 Carver Columbus 34, No. 3 Fitzgerald 21: Marquez Holloway rushed for 248 yards on 38 carries and scored once to pace the Tigers (12-1), who earn a second shot at Buford. The Wolves beat Carver 35-7 in the regular season.

Quarterback Torrance McGee scored on a pair of 1-yard runs and threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Artumus Samuel. Fitzgerald (11-2) scored on a 32-yard run by Tolerance Shepherd and a pair of pass from Kaleb Nobles, one to Kevin Coney and one to Romarius Gaulden.

The semifinal matchups

Appling County will travel to Calhoun in one game, with Carver and Buford meeting in the other game. The Carver-Buford site will be determined via a coin flip on Saturday, since both teams are No. 1 seeds from their respective regions.

The championship game will be Dec. 9 at 4:30 p.m. at the Georgia Dome.