Stephens County High School added another tally to the win column in the Battle of Currahee Mountain rivalry Friday night with a 31-29 win over Habersham Central High School in Mt. Airy.
The Indians (1-0) took their only lead of the game on a 31-yard field goal with five seconds remaining on the clock.
Still, they had to see out the Raiders (0-1) pitching the ball all over the yard on the kickoff and an untimed down before they could celebrate the win.
Indians Head Coach Wesley Tankersley said he hopes this shows his team there’s no reason to give up.
“Hopefully, it gives them confidence to not give up in any situation,” Tankersley said. “They didn’t and they just have to learn from that. This team’s going to continue to grow and get better. We’re definitely not anywhere near as good as we can be.”
HCHS led by as many as 16 points at different times in the game but was unable to hold on to a nine-point lead it held as late as a minute, 47 seconds left.
“We thought we had the game won with a minute, 50 (seconds left) in the game,” said Habersham Head Coach Benji Harrison. “We should have won that game, and I felt like we gave it to them on a silver platter.”
With 1:46 remaining, the Indians scored on a 16-yard pass from Tripp Underwood (12-of-26, 160 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception) to Jasec Smith (4 receptions, 101 yards, 2 touchdowns). They added the two-point conversion to tighten the gap from 29-20 to 29-28.
On the ensuing kickoff, SCHS converted an onside kick with the ball bouncing twice before careening off a Raider’s hand and being recovered by the visitors.
With 16 seconds left, the Indians ran a play to minimal effect, but its outcome buoyed the hopes for victory as two off-setting penalties preceded an announced unsportsmanlike, 15-yard penalty on HCHS. The yardage moved the ball to the 14-yard line of the home team.
On 1st-and-10, SCHS wasted no time lining up the field goal and splitting the uprights with just five ticks left.
“Great effort by a lot of different guys,” Tankersley said. “From our kicker to the quarterback to running back and receivers. Just a great effort overall. The kids kept battling the whole night and came out with a win.”
The Indians’ head coach also attributes the never-give-up attitude to some results over the last few years.
“Luckily – or unluckily – we actually had a few of these the last couple of years. We won the region championship pretty much on the last play of the game last year versus Oconee,” he said. “Some of these kids are a little bit used to that; some of them aren’t. Luckily the kids that are used to that are the ones that stepped up big for us tonight at the end.”
Despite being in control throughout most of the game on the scoreboard, Habersham was buried by penalties. The team amassed 14 calls against them for 158 yards, including the unsportsmanlike penalty that put Stephens County in field goal range.
In comparison, the Indians had just five penalties to the tune of 42 yards called against them.
“I thought we continued to come up with some big plays,” Harrison said. “We just made some crucial mistakes that weren’t because of the moment, I don’t think. I think they were just mistakes that sometimes teenagers make, and they bit us.”
The Raiders wasted no time scoring early in the contest.
Less than four minutes of playing time had passed before Hayes Gunn (16 carries, 79 yards, 1 touchdown) ran in for his lone score of the game. Two minutes and 25 seconds later, Carson Parker (17-for-27, 192 yards, 2 touchdowns) found Zeke Whittington for a 21-yard touchdown.
Whittington finished the contest with eight catches for 101 yards and two scores.
“When you look at offensive production, obviously numbers can lie, but numbers tell a certain story,” Harrison said. “We had 168 rushing yards, 216 passing yards. We did some really good things.”
The Indians would find the end zone with 4:07 left in the first quarter as Underwood found Smith for 31 yards. The failed extra point attempt left a 14-6 deficit for the Indians.
Habersham added eight points in quick succession in the second quarter.
A Camden Meads punt was downed on the Stephens County 1-yard line, and on the first play from scrimmage for the Indians, Branden Henslee (8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) stopped Indians running back Javin Gordon in the end zone for a safety.
On the free kick from Stephens County following the safety, Somdee Satiphone took the kick back 73 yards for a touchdown.
Gordon (22 carries, 123 yards, 2 touchdowns) scored with two minutes left in the first half, leaving the Raiders with a 22-13 lead heading into the locker room.
“I thought this team had the right look in their eyes at halftime. I thought they had the right look in their eyes late in the game,” Harrison said.
Parker found Whittington with 4:32 on the clock in the third quarter, capping a seven-play, 64-yard drive to push the lead back to 16-points after the successful extra point by Michael Hill.
From there, Stephens County would put 18 unanswered points on the board.
Gordon punched in an 8-yard run with just inside three minutes left in the third quarter.
Then the 16-yard pass and two-point conversion and the field goal to seal it.
Habersham’s untimed down was set at the Stephens County 31-yard line. The Raiders attempted a 48-yard field goal, which was pushed wide and fell short.
Harrison said he wasn’t sure how many guys were still listening toward the end of his post game speech to the team because several had tears in their eyes, which he understands.
“The team’s hurting, the coaches are hurting, everybody’s hurting because it was hard,” Harrison said. “When you lose one like that, it probably makes it a little extra tough because, when you look at the game, you beat them in every category except the one that counts most.”
Harrison and his coaching staff will begin on Saturday preparing for their next opponent, White County. The players will get an extra day to sit with this game before coming in for film sessions on Sunday.
Still, Harrison knows his team will have to put this one behind them quickly and move on.
“You’ve got to be over it by Monday because White County don’t care,” Harrison said.
“Our season is a lot more than this one. That’s why you play 10 regular season games instead of one,” he continued. “We’ll start feeling good again if we go beat White County. We’ll get back on track. We’ll get our momentum back. I think the kids are resilient.”
The Raiders will travel to Cleveland on August 25 to take on the White County Warriors. The Warriors fell 49-34 at North Hall in their opener.
The Indians will host Rabun County at the Reservation next Friday. The Wildcats topped Haralson County in Week 1, 45-21.
