MT. AIRY — After a wild first half that saw 49 combined points five scoring plays of 15 or more yards, the Winder-Barrow defense decided to take control in the second half.
The Bulldoggs defense held high-scoring Habersham Central to just one second half touchdown to help the offense eventually pull away for a 40-28 victory at Raider Stadium Friday night.
The win clinched a playoff berth for the Bulldoggs (8-1, 3-1 Region 8-AAAAAA) who despite the gaudy record were facing the prospect of possible elimination next week against Dacula (5-4, 4-0) if they could get past the hard-luck Raiders. The loss officially knocked out Habersham Central (1-8, 0-4), which still had an outside shot at the playoffs if it could have won out and gotten a Winder loss to Dacula.
The key for Winder was holding down senior quarterback A.J. Curry, who came into the game averaging over 350 yards a game rushing and passing combined. Curry got his yards through the air ging 13-of-29 for 267 yards and three touchdowns. But he was held to just 6 net rushing yards as the Bulldoggs sacked him eight times on the night. The Raiders managed just 46 total yards on the ground.
Meanwhile, senior Winder quarterback Brock Landis was efficient finishing 10-of-17 for 259 yards and three touchdowns but was sacked just once and added 61 yards rushing and another score.
The first half saw three lead changes and two ties with the Bulldoggs evetually taking a 28-21 lead into halftime after Curry connected with Jim Barnett on a 16-yard pass with just 15 seconds left before halftime. Winder broke the final tie of the game at 14 with an 11-yrd scoring run from Jamar Mack and a 63-yard bomb from Landis to Tyreek Perkins late in the second quarter.
Landis and Lamonta Mack hooked up for a 19 yards touchdown pass for the only points of the third quarter for a 35-21 lead but Curry trimmed the lead back to 35-28 with a 6-yard scoring run less than two minutes into the fourth quarter. But that's as close as the Raiders could get as Harlan brown booted a 30-yard field goal with just over 5 minutes left and the Raiders were awarded a team safety with 2:52 left to put the game out of reach.
