PEACH CO. 56, STEPHENS CO. 42
Peach holds off Stephens
Trojans outlast Indians in shootout
By
ROB MORTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/19/05
Fort Valley — The credo of defense and special teams always deciding playoff fate was thrown right out the window Friday night. Class AAA No. 5 Peach County (10-3) showed that by surviving a quarterfinal game that could best described as basketball played on grass: The Trojans held off No. 6 Stephens County 56-42.
The two teams combined for 858 total yards and 14 touchdowns in often dizzying fashion.
Peach senior quarterback Antonio Henton led the parade by completing 9 of 20 passes for 227 yards and one touchdown while running for 90 yards on 12 carries and two more touchdowns. Henton, who has committed to Ohio State, had a twisting and turning 20-yard scoring play early in the final period that proved to be the back-breaker for Stephens.
"It was bananas," said Peach coach Rance Gillespie, who returns to the semifinals after making it in 2003. "Football is such a game of momentum. We had it; they got it, but we finally held on. Both teams showed a lot of character tonight."
Peach, AAA's highest scoring team, ran to a 28-0 lead and seemed on course for its third consecutive postseason game ended by halftime. It all got started on the game's first play when Henton lofted one to wide out Chris Slaughter, who has committed to Auburn, for 27 yards.
Sophomore running back Mareo Howard capped the 64-yard march with the first of his four touchdowns to make it 7-0. Moments later, Henton again went to Slaughter, who made an over-the-shoulder catch at Stephens' 15 and sprinted to the end zone.
The 59-yard play gave Peach a 14-0 lead.
Three sustained Peach drives then pushed the lead to 35-7 late in the second quarter, but Stephens (11-2) got out off the deck. First, senior quarterback Will Cox hit running back Taurean Poole on fourth-and-goal from Peach's 13 for a touchdown with one second left in the half.
Stephens then made the score 35-21 on the first drive of the second half when Cox hit Deshawn Scott on a screen pass for a 14-yard touchdown.
PEACH CO. 56, STEPHENS CO. 42
Peach County 14 21 14 7 — 56
Stephens County 0 14 21 7 — 42
P — Mareo Howard 2 run (Juan Rodriguez kick)
P — Chris Slaughter 59 pass from Antonio Henton (Rodriguez kick)
P — Howard 4 run (Rodriguez kick)
P — Duranzo Brown 37 run (Rodriguez kick)
S — Deshawn Scott 50 run (James Sieb kick)
P — Howard 2 run (Rodriguez kick)
S — Taurean Poole 13 pass from Will Cox (Sieb kick)
S — Scott 14 pass from Cox (Sieb kick)
S — Deon Jones 27 pass from Cox (Sieb kick)
P — Henton 14 run (Rodriguez kick)
S — Poole 1 run (Sieb kick)
P — Howard 10 run (Rodriguez kick)
P — Henton 20 run (Rodriguez kick)
S — Lucas Harvey 71 pass from Cox (Sieb kick)
