ATLANTA, – Team Swarm and Team Wreck ‘Em combined for 751 yards of offense as Swarm edged Wreck ‘Em, 27-24, in Saturday’s Georgia Tech football White and Gold Game at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.
On a beautiful afternoon and in front and estimated 12,000 fans, four different Tech quarterbacks threw touchdown passes and six different Yellow Jackets found the end zone in the entertaining contest.
Running back Jamal Haynes opened the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown run, but the games final six touchdowns all came through the air, with sophomore Zach Pyron and true freshman Aaron Philo each tossing a pair of scoring passes and juniors Haynes King and Brody Rhodes throwing one scoring strike apiece. Wide receivers Malik Rutherford, Abdul Janneh, Leo Blackburn and Zion Taylor caught one touchdown pass apiece, while redshirt freshman Chris Elko hauled in two scores to highlight a five-catch, 143-yard performance.
However, perhaps the most impressive scoring play of the day was a 62-yard field goal by sophomore Aidan Birr. The 62-yarder would shatter the Georgia Tech regular-season record of 55 yards, which is shared by three former Jackets (most recently David Bell vs. Georgia in 1986).
Pyron led the Jackets in passing, completing 11-of-20 passes for 194 yards and two scores. In limited action, King connected on 11-of-15 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, graduate transfer Warren Burrell and redshirt freshman Kace Adams each had an interception, while junior linebacker Jackson Hamilton tallied a game-high seven tackles.
The White and Gold Game completed Georgia Tech’s spring practice season. The Yellow Jackets now return their focus to offseason workouts in anticipation of their 2024 season opener versus defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Florida State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic on Aug. 24 in Dublin, Ireland.
