LAWRENCEVIILE — North Gwinnett was seeking a return to the upper-tier in Region 6-AAAAAAA. Mountain View was looking to show it belonged.
Both may have gotten what they were looking for after a 27-14 Bulldogs victory Friday night at Mountain View Stadium.
It was a hard-hitting defensive struggle as the defenses combined to force five turnovers, a safety, and seven sacks. The offenses didn’t help themselves as times committing a dozen penalties each.
First-year North Gwinnett coach Bill Stewart, despite the sloppy play and a key injury, couldn’t contain a wide grin afterwards.
“That’s a good football team,” he said. “We had our hands full all night. We overcame a bunch of adversity and just way too many penalties. But, we were able to make some plays and got a tough win.”
The Bulldogs, already without starting quarterback Cade Fortin for the rest of the season, now will have to make do without junior running back Tyler Goodson, who left after just two series and 39 yards on seven carries.
Sophomore Devin Crosby took his spot and was instrumental down the stretch in helping the Bulldogs (4-1, 1-0 Region 6-AAAAAAA) rally in the fourth quarter. He rushed 15 times for 88 yards, including two big runs in the final drive to help seal the win.
“I don’t know right now (Tyler’s) status but Devin came in and did a great job for just being a sophomore,” Stewart said. “He had some tough runs.”
Mountain View (4-1, 0-1) came out firing behind quarterback Matthew Edwards on its opening drive. The senior engineered a quick, surgical drive going 6-for-6 for 66 yards, capping the drive with a 15-yard pass to Malachi Carter for a 7-0 lead just over two minutes into the game.
The defenses took control after that. North Gwinnett dialed up a series of blitzes over the next two Mountain View drives forcing a pair of three-and-outs. The Bulldogs, after getting a short field at the Bears 31, could not cash in as Clark Cameron’s 41-yard field goal sailed wide left after two straight negative-yardage plays.
The Bears forced another punt and quickly drove to their own 44 with the help of two North Gwinnett penalties. But the Bulldogs finally made their first break when Jayden McDonald stepped in front of an Edwards pass and tipped it to himself to start a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown to tie the game with 10:56 left in the second quarter.
North Gwinnett’s next break came 2 seconds later when Ivey Shiver recovered a Bears fumble at the Mountain View 27 on the ensuing kickoff. But, the Bears defense stiffened in the red zone holding the Bulldogs out of the end zone on three consecutive runs from the 2. Cameron capped the drive with a 20-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead with 8:09 left in the half.
It stayed that until halftime with the Bulldogs defense forcing two more Bears punts and the Mountain View defense stopping the Bulldogs on downs once and then time ran out on North Gwinnett’s final drive of the half.
North Gwinnett got another break early in the third quarter. Both defenses forced punts on the opening drives, but the Bulldogs got a gift when the Bears long-snapper sailed the snap over Ayala’s head. Ayala just barely beat a North Gwinnett defender to the bouncing ball in the end zone and was forced to fall on it for a North Gwinnett safety and a 12-7 lead.
The Bears would recover a Riley Walker fumble at the Bulldogs 34 on the next possession but could not cash in as Ayala missed a 52-yd field goal attempt.
Mountain View got its biggest defensive play of the night on the ensuing North Gwinnett drive. The Bulldogs' Cameron Butler was clobbered trying to stretch for a first down and fumbled. The Bears’ Trevon Salter picked up the loose ball and returned it 46-yards to the North Gwinnett 6.
Mountain View capped the short drive three plays later with a 4-yard touchdown strike from Edwards to Keelan Marion for a 14-12 lead with 1:04 left in the third quarter.
It stayed that way until midway through the fourth quarter. Jimmy Urzua found Butler for a 34-yard screen pass to the Bears 12 and two plays later threaded a needle to Bryce Fowler for a 5-yard touchdown throw. Urzua connected with Walker for a 2-point conversion to give North Gwinnett a 20-14 lead with 7:20 left.
The Bulldogs special teams pinned the Bears inside the 20 and the defense sacked Edwards for a fourth time at the 1 to force another punt. They pinned Mountain View at the 1 on the next possession and after a short punt Urzua capped a quick 4-play, 40-yard drive with a 4-yard scoring run to put the game out of reach with 1:05 left.
Stewart wasn’t ready to proclaim that the Bulldogs should be considered a favorite in 6-AAAAAAA. But, his smile suggested they are contenders.
“We’re just trying to get better each week. We’ve got a long ways to go but we’re happy with where we are right now,” he said.
SCORING SUMMARY
North Gwinnett.....0.....10....2....15 -- 27
Mountain View.....7.......0....7.....0 -- 14
First Quarter
M -- Carter 15 pass from Edwards (Ayala kick) 7-0, 9:27
Second Quarter
N -- McDonald 60 INT return (Cameron kick) 7-7, 10:54
N -- Cameron 20 FG 10-7, 8:09
Third Quarter
N -- Safety 12-7, 7:54
M -- Marion 4 pass from Edwards (Ayala kick) 14-12, 1:04
Fourth Quarter
N -- Fowler 5 pass from Urzua (Walker pass) 20-14, 7:20
N -- Urzua 4 run (Cameron kick) 27-14, 1:05
