SUGAR HILL — After holding down a potent Loganville offense most of the night, it seemed only fitting that senior Derrick Brown and junior Michael Allen would put the exclamation point on Lanier’s 21-6 win over Loganville Friday night at Lanier Community Stadium.
The bookend defensive linemen had tormented the Red Devils the entire game. With 2:57 left in the game Allen batted down a Cameron Perkins pass and Brown snatched it out of the air and rumbled 30 yards for a touchdown to seal the victory in a battle of undefeated Region 8-AAAAA foes.
“We had gotten a few already and I knew where he was going and got a hand on it,” Allen said. “It was cool that Derrick was able to get it.”
Allen was all over the field recording half-a-dozen tackles, harrassing Perkins constantly, and knocking down three passes. Brown had four tackles for loss and swatted down two passes of his own while manhadling a smaller Loganville offensive line.
It was a dominating performance from start to finish by the fourth-ranked defense in Class AAAAAA. Loganville came in averaging 243 yards rushing. The Red Devils finished with just 26 yards on the ground against the Longhorns.
“Those guys have played well all season and they really did a nice job tonight,” Lanier coach Korey Mobbs said. “The whole defense just went to work right from the start.”
Despite the final score, it was just a 7-0 lead midway through the third quarter. That’s when the Longhorns went back to the basics.
They pounded out an 85-yard, 12-play, 5:27 scoring drive, powered by 11 runs, and capped by a 1-yard touchdown run from Marcella Baity with 1:00 left in the third quarter. The only pass was huge, however, as Tahj Tolbert connected with Cole Paschall for a 38-yard strike to the Red Devils 24 to help set things up.
The only Loganville score was set up by an interception from Brandon Oglesby at the Lanier 23. The Red Devils scored three plays later on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Perkins to Shy Kim with 8:55 left in the game.
Loganville would get the ball twice more before Allen and Brown sealed the win. The Longhorns forced a turnover on downs in the final minute and ran out the clock to seal the win.
The victory gives Lanier (5-0, 4-0 Region 8-AAAAA) a perch along atop the region standings after Salem fell to Winder-Barrow 35-34 in overtime. The loss drops Loganville (4-1, 3-1) into a tie for third place.
“It was a big win for us but there is still a long way to go,” Mobbs said. “It was a hard-fought game. I can’t say enough about how the guys responded to a big challenge.”
The Longhorns got what appeared to be the first break of the game early in the first quarter. Loganville moved the ball to its own 47 but the Lanier defense forced two straight incompletions and then Loganville punter Chad Colvin bobbled the snap and was tackled at the Red Devils’ 20 to cap the opening possession. But the Loganville defense stiffened and forced a 38-yard field goal attempt by Noah Thomas that he pushed wide left to keep the game scoreless.
The Lanier defense held Loganville on a three-and-out on its next possession and the Lanier offense went to work. Tolbert connected with Paschall on a 34-yard pass to the Red Devils 14 and Marcko Baity capped the quick 52-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead at 6:32 in the first quarter.
The teams then traded a pair of punts to close out the first quarter and one more each to start the second. The Longhorns took a short punt and drove to the Loganville 30 but the drive stalled on three straight incompletions to turn it over on downs with 6:50 left in the half.
The Longhorns defense stifled the Red Devils offense until the final drive of the first half. Loganville moved the ball to midfield with 20 seconds left on its first two first downs since the first drive of the game but could get no further as the Longhorns pressured Perkins into a wild scramble and an incompletion to end the half.
The third quarter did not start the way the Longhorns wanted. A misplayed kickoff had them starting on their own 8 and a quick three-and-out followed by a 23-yard punt return by Loganville’s Shy Kim gave the Red Devils the ball at the Lanier 31.
But the Lanier defense again answered the call. Four straight blitzes forced four incompletions and the Red Devils turned it over on downs.
Loganville finished with just 140 total yards total and Darryl Giles, who had a career-high 172 yards rushing last week for the Red Devils, was held to just 30 yards on 12 carries by the Lanier defense.
Marcella Baity finished with 108 yards rushing to pace Lanier.
SCORING SUMMARY
LOGANVILLE....0....0....0....6 -- 6
LANIER.............7....0....7....7 -- 21
First Quarter
LAN -- Marcko Baity 5 run (Thomas kick) 7-0, 6:32
Third Quarter
LAN -- Marcella Baity 1 run (Thomas kick) 14-0, 6:32
Fourth Quarter
LOG -- Kim 17 pass from Perkins (kick failed) 14-6, 8:55
LAN -- Brown 30 INT return (Thomas kick) 21-6, 2:57
