HIAWASSEE — In John Cornett's mind, it was just another frustrating first half for his Towns County football team.
The Indians trailed Athens Christian 21-14 going into intermission -- despite driving up and down the field most of the first 24 minutes. Yet turnovers and penalties had canceled several big plays, and two of the Towns turnovers even helped the visitors to touchdowns.
It was starting to resemble the storylines of other early-season losses and another missed opportunity for a program desperately looking for a season-defining victory -- one that could turn the postseason fortunes of a program never to have reached the state playoffs in its near 50-year history.
“We felt going into the game we were as good if not better than them on paper,” Cornett said. “I think the kids felt that as well. But we’ve had several games like that. We moved the ball real well I thought. We just had trouble getting into the end zone.”
And things did not improve in the second half as Athens Christian wore down the Indians defense for much of the third and fourth quarters before punching in another score midway through the fourth.
“I feel I’m a positive person but when they went up 27-14 I looked around and I saw the same look (on the players) I’ve seen when we felt like we were letting a game slip away from us that we felt we could win,” Cornett said. “The Hebron loss was like that [29-7] and the George Walton game [a 17-7 loss]. It was hard not to start feeling that maybe the goals we had set weren’t going to happen.”
But over the course of the next two minutes of real time, the fortunes of the game, and perhaps the future for the Indians program itself, changed dramatically.
Cole Ledford snuck through the line to block the Eagles ensuing extra point attempt to keep the score at 27-14.
“Our offensive coordinator Clay Livingston turned to me after that play and said that play will win us the game,” Cornett said. “The kids got fired up and I saw the look come back into everyone’s eyes that the game wasn’t over.”
While Ledford gave them the spark, Zach Davenport lit the fuse on the Indians' next play. He gathered in a Trent Bradshaw pass 30-yards downfield, broke a one-on-one tackle, and then sprinted the rest of the 55 yards for an 85-yard touchdown to pull within 27-21.
“I could see the mood change after those two plays,” Cornett said. “I think the kids have believed in what we’re doing and that they can compete. We may look back on that sequence and say that is when things changed for Towns County."
The Indians have just one winning season in their history, a 7-3 mark in 2008 in non-region play. Only three times have they won four or more games in a season, yet Cornett says things are definitely evolving in Hiawassee.
“The culture is changing here," Cornett noted. "If you’re on the outside that seems like a bold statement considering the tradition of this program. But we have some talented kids and they just needed someone to believe in them.”
And now they also have players like Ledford -- who provided another spark as time was draining away on Friday, picking off an Athens Christian pass to help set up what may go down, for now, as the most inspiring comeback in Towns County history. Davenport also played a key role, making the most of a gutsy call by Livingston to connect with a streaking Will Travis on a 40-yard halfback pass that tied the game at 27-27.
A successful extra point by Wesley Calhoun yielded a 28-27 Towns County lead with just 2:09 remaining.
The Indians forced a turnover on downs -- with help from a couple of crucial Eagles penalties -- to seal the improbable victory that saw Towns County hold the ball for just 15 minutes as compared with Athens Christian's 33 minutes. Yet the Indians made the most of their opportunities, piling up 370 total yards on just 41 snaps (9.0 yards per play), including 247 yards on the ground on 37 attempts (6.7 yards per rush). The Towns defense, meanwhile -- despite being on the field for what probably seemed an eternity -- limited the Eagles to 267 yards rushing on 51 attempts (5.2 ypc) and just 28 yards passing.
The win helped the Indians (3-4, 2-4 Region 8-A) climb into 23rd in the Class A Public power rankings with the win. If they are to continue their rankings ascent, however, they will need another stirring performance this week, as they play host to perennial power Commerce (6-1, 5-1). The Indians are 0-21 all-time against the Tigers.
“Everyone knows the tradition of Commerce and there’s no doubt we’re huge underdogs,” Cornett said. “We always go into every game looking to win but I think we would all be very pleased if we can just stay close with them. If we can do that then who knows.
“A win would obviously be huge but a close loss would be just as good from the rankings standpoint. We just want to keep getting better. The key game may be the next week against Lakeview Academy. That game could decide who gets into the playoffs because we are both right on edge of the rankings.”
Cornett, who is just in his second season at the helm of the Indians, said the early part of this week has been one of the highlights so far.
“We had a lot of people come up to the kids and coaches and tell us what a game. To have the fans talk about us is neat,” he said. “The first step in building a program is to be competitive. I think we’re at that stage. Now we’re going to try and see if we can begin to take that next step.”
