GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Superman has ex-ray vision. The Hulk has superhuman strength. Wonder Woman can fly. North Hall has The Brickyard Magic.
It wasn’t if, but when the magic would appear, and when it did, the crowd erupted.
Buddy Clark stepped up to stop Gilmer’s Douglas Callihan on fourth-down-and-one in overtime to seal the Trojans 21-14 win and send them to the second round of the Class 3A playoffs Friday night at Lynn Cottrell Stadium.
After the game, North Hall head coach Sean Pender talked about how fitting it was for Clark to make the game-winning stop. Clark’s father, Shane, was an assistant coach at North Hall before passing away unexpectedly in June.
“For him to come up as big as he did in that situation is a storybook in itself,” Pender said. “I know that he was asking his dad for help, and sure enough, he delivered.”
Tight end Justin Allen hauled in the game-winning touchdown in overtime, a nine-yard pass from quarterback Smith McGarvey, to put the pressure on the Bobcats.
"The touchdown was like one of the most unlikely guys," Pender said. "I think that's the second varsity catch of his career. So, for Justin Allen to come up big in that situation was huge for him. I'm very proud of that young man. He's mostly known for his blocking, but he was able to catch a game-winning touchdown in the playoffs."
It was a magical ending to a game riddled with penalties on both sides — 245 combined penalty yards, to be exact.
Gilmer, a No. 28 seed and the recipient of an at-large bid to the playoffs gave No. 5 seed North Hall all they had. The Bobcats' triple-option offense outgained North Hall 375-307 — all of which came on the ground for the Bobcats.
So, before we fast forward to the final three minutes of the game, here are the cliff notes from the first half until the final three minutes of the fourth quarter: The Bobcats stopped the Trojans on their first drive of the game, then drove down the field on a six-minute drive to take the lead and kept for most of the first half. North Hall tied the game with 53 seconds left in the second quarter when Smith McGarvey found Ty Kemp on an 11-yard pass. In the second half, North Hall cashed in a Gilmer fumble, McGarvey connecting again with Kemp on a nine-yard pass for the Trojan's first lead.
But Gilmer answered back to tie the game on a Hunter Britain 72-yard touchdown run with 9:32 to go in the game to tie 14-14.
That’s when things got interesting. Penalty flags, referee huddles on every call, both sides getting antsy, and both teams trading punches and possessions. But the final 3 minutes of the game would set up the thrilling overtime finish.
North Hall had the ball with less than three minutes to go and began marching toward the end zone. But Gilmer’s Kyle Cowart snatched McGarvey’s pass out of the air and returned into North Hall territory with less than 1:30 remaining.
However, Gilmer’s drive stalled at the North Hall 24-yard line with two seconds left, leaving it in the hands of sophomore kicker Carter Gearhart to boot the game-winning 41-yard field and missed it. But wait, there are more … flags on the play. North Hall roughed Gearhart, giving the Bobcats another try, this time 15 yards closer. However, because Gearhart was injured, backup kicker Miguel Reynoso entered the game to kick the game-winning field goal. It clanged off the left field goalpost upright, sending the wild game into overtime.
North Hall quickly went to work in overtime, handing the ball off to Parker Carlton for a six-yard run on the first play. On the next play, McGarvey found a wide-open Justin Allen for the nine-yard TD pass and the lead, 20-14. Blayde Carmona tacked on the extra point and gave the keys to the Trojans’ defense.
And they stepped up to seal the game.
McGarvey was 25-for-38 with 243 yards passing, three TDs and one interception. Cole Cable had nine catches for 94 yards. Ty Kemp finished with seven catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
Gilmer was led by Wyatt Stokes with 23 carries for 111 yards, and Britain had six catches for 92 yards and a touchdown.
North Hall will host Upson-Lee next week in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.
