SUWANEE — Humble, hungry, and focused: three words the North Gwinnett football team has been guided by all season.
Junior running back Tyler Goodson said the focus of a team that had not won a playoff game since 2013 has been there from the start. They’ve been humbled by key injuries during the season, especially after losing starting quarterback and Texas A&M-commit Cade Fortin in the second game of the season.
On Friday night, just as things were beginning to turn sour on a marvelous season, the Bulldogs showed their hunger engineering a season-saving drive and getting a game-clinching interception in the final two minutes to hold off a furious fourth quarter charge by Marietta for a thrilling 51-41 victory in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs at Tom Robinson Stadium.
“We’ve been through a lot this year,” said Goodson, who finished with 260 yards and three touchdowns to lead a punishing Bulldogs ground game. “But we believed in each other all year and never got down. It’s just a great feeling right now.”
The win pushed the Bulldogs (12-1) into the semifinal round for the first time since 2013. They will play host to McEachern, who dispatched Parkview 43-28 in Powder Springs in another quarterfinal matchup, for a spot in the championship game.
North Gwinnett never trailed but also nearly let slip three leads of 9-points or more, including what looked to be an insurmountable 44-21 advantage in the fourth quarter. Marietta staged a furious rally turning a pair of Bulldogs fumbles into scores and pulling within 44-41 with 6:55 left in the game.
But when they needed him most, Goodson responded. He rampaged through the Blue Devils defense for 37-yard and 16-yard runs on consecutive plays to set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Urzua to Riley Walker for the final points with 2:51 left. Warren Burrell iced the game with an interception of Marietta sophomore quarterback Bailey Harrison two plays and 40 seconds later.
First-year North Gwinnett coach Bill Stewart said nothing surprises him anymore with his group.
“That was a tremendous drive but (the kids) have been doing that all year,” Stewart said. “I’m just so proud of these guys and how they just stayed focused and never panicked. Nothing surprises me about these guys. Just a great bunch to be around and coach.”
Marietta opened the second half with a 73-yard catch and run slant pass from Harrison to Ramel Keyton, who caught it 15-yards downfield and then broke a tackle and outraced the defense to trail just 16-14.
Goodson extended the lead back to 23-14 with a 13-yard scoring run, his second of the night. But Harrison and Arik Gilbert connected on a 6-yard TD pass to cap a 9-play, 66-yard drive to pull the Blue Devils back within two points at 23-21 with just over 6 minutes left in the third quarter.
North Gwinnett then appeared to blow the game open with 21 points in a 2:31 span. Goodson scored on a 4-yard run at the 5:10 mark to cap a short drive, then linebacker Jake Stewart pounced on a Harrison fumble after he was sacked at the Marietta 5 on the next play of the game.
Two plays after that Cameron Butler punched it in from 1-yard out for a 37-21 lead and after a quick 3-and-out by the Blue Devils, including another sack and quarterback hit of Harrison by Jayden Turner, Goodson rumbled 43 yards to the Marietta 10 and Urzua and Josh Downs connected on a 10-yard touchdown pass for a 44-21 lead.
Even though it appeared over, the Blue Devils fired back.
Marietta (8-5) used its own scoring blitz scoring 13 points in a 23 second span on a 5-yard run by Jordan Ford and a 53-yard strike from Harrison to Keyton to get back in the game, aided by two North Gwinnett fumbles and a pair of 15-yard penalties to keep one drive alive. Harrison found Gilbert again for a 5-yard touchdown throw with 6:55 left to trim it to 44-41.
Harrison finished 21-of-35 for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns passing. Keyton had 6 catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
“We knew Marietta was a good team and they showed that,” Stewart said. “We made some mistakes and had some turnovers to let them back in and you can’t do that against good teams and always expect to get a win. We were fortunate but we made some plays at the end.”
Goodson and Burrell made sure the comeback ended right there.
“That last drive, the coaches just told us to keep pounding the ball and not fumble,” Goodson said. “That was a big interception by Warren. It worked out for us.”
The Bulldogs defense and special teams on their first opportunities on the field in the first quarter showed a trip to the semifinals would have to go through them.
After a punt pinned the Blue Devils at their own 3 for their first drive, Stewart sacked Harrison for a safety. DJ Turner then took the ensuing Marietta kickoff 77-yards for a touchdown and a 9-point spurt in just 14 seconds for a 9-0 lead.
The teams traded punts and then the Blue Devils took advantage of a short field for their only positive drive of the half. Harrison found Taji Johnson for 7 yards and a 15-yard facemask penalty moved it to the North Gwinnett 25. Two plays later Harrison connected with Keyton for a 22-yard touchdown strike to pull within 9-7 with 3:33 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs defense clamped down on the Blue Devils from there. They allowed just two Marietta first downs, one on a penalty, and sacked Harrison three more times and added four quarterback hits. They also held the Blue Devils to minus-24 yards on 9 carries with seven negative-yard runs.
Marietta managed just 39 total yards in the first hlf. Harrison was 10-of-20 for 63 yards and one touchdown but he also had seven straight incompletions over the final two Blue Devils drives.
Meanwhile, North Gwinnett used its bigger offensive line to open up the run game as Goodson rumbled 54 yards on a simple dive play for a touchdown and a 16-7 lead with 9:54 left in the first half.
Goodson had 80 yards on 8 carries with the one score to outgain the entire Marietta offense in the first half.
SCORING SUMMARY
Marietta............7....0....14....20 -- 41
N. Gwinnett......9....7....28......7 -- 51
First Quarter
N -- Safety 2-0, 8:19
N -- DJ Turner 77 kickoff return (Clark kick) 9-0, 8:05
M -- Keyton 22 pass from Harrison (Kipp kick) 9-7, 3:33
Second Quarter
N -- Goodson 54 run (Clark kick) 16-7, 9:54
Third Quarter
M -- Keyton 73 pass from Harrison (Kipp kick) 16-14, 11:40
N -- Goodson 13 run (Clark kick) 23-14, 9:54
M -- Gilbert 6 pass from Harrison (Kipp kick) 23-21, 6:06
N -- Goodson 4 run (Clark kick) 30-21, 5:10
N -- Butler 1 run (Clark kick) 37-21, 4:25
N -- Downs 10 pass from Urzua (Clark kick) 44-21, 2:39
Fourth Quarter
M -- Ford 5 run (Kipp kick) 44-28, 11:55
M -- Keyton 53 pass from Harrison (run failed) 44-34, 11:32
M -- Gilbert 5 pass from Harrison (Kipp kick) 44-41, 6:55
N -- Walker 13 pass from Urzua (Clark kick) 51-41, 2:51
