It was a heartbreaker of an opener for the Habersham Central Raiders as they lost their first game of the season in the final seconds of the game. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
It was a familiar story for the Habersham Central Raiders, dropping yet another heartbreaker in a hard-fought 32-28 Dawson County win. Senior all-state quarterback Sevaughn Clark scored three touchdowns, but none more impressive than the winning score with 53 seconds left on a 4th & 2 from the 5. In a 28-25 situation, trailing, coach Sid Maxwell and Clark elected to go for the win rather than a chip-shot field goal and the tie.
Habersham Central (0-1) trailed throughout until 6:32 left in the game when sophomore Jackson Clouatre found a hole and raced 50 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The Tigers drained the next five minutes off the clock, leading to Clark’s dramatic touchdown.
The Tigers (1-0) used a strong running attack by Clark and Dawson Christian transfer Ahmad Kamara, who scored the games first points on a 29-yard run on the opening drive of 2018. Dawson County expired five minutes from the clock on that opening drive as well.
It didn’t take but one play for the Raiders to respond. Senior all-state quarterback and Gainesville transfer Tre Luttrell picked up the first snap that rolled on the ground, nearly slipped and fell, and darted in and out of the defense on his way to a 74-yard touchdown to tie the game on his first play as a Raider.
Just before the end of the first, Clark netted a huge run to get inside the red zone and polished the drive off with his first touchdown of 2018 from 14 yards out. They successfully added a 2-point conversion.
The second quarter saw the Tigers add to the lead by way of a 24-yard field goal by Caleb Bonesteel, which put Dawson County up 18-7 into the break. Habersham Central came out firing on all cylinders, as Luttrell checked over to DonDon Bailey in the flats, who turned a small play into a 64-yard touchdown on the opening drive. The deficit was trimmed to 18-14.
Clark immediately responded for the Tigers, taking one 66 yards to put Dawson back up 25-14. Minutes later though, the Raiders again found new life. Luttrell used small passes and one huge one to Tarin Westbrook to set up an easy 12-yard touchdown to Bailey, his second of the game. The Raiders pulled within 25-21.
Midway through the fourth quarter and near midfield, Clouatre’s 50-yard touchdown set the Raider sideline and half of the stadium in an uproar. It marked his first career touchdown and put Habersham up 28-25.
Clark rose to the occasion, orchestrating a time-consuming drive that ended with the dramatic touchdown. The Tigers initially brought the field goal unit out with 4th & 2 from the 5, but a Habersham timeout gave Dawson County and Maxwell a chance to think about it. It was a no-brainer with Clark in at QB as a power runner. He slipped through the line and in for the winning score.
The Tigers still left 53 seconds on the clock and rolled the dice once again with a surprise onside kick. Riley Herndon fell on the ball to clinch the win for the Tigers.
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