ROSWELL — It was déjà vu for Flowery Branch Friday night at Blessed Trinity Stadium.
For the second straight year, in a Class 4A top-10 matchup, the Falcons (5-1, 2-1 Region 7-4A) fell in overtime to Blessed Trinity (6-1, 3-0 Region 7-4A), 20-17.
"They really forced us to throw," Flowery Branch coach Ben Hall said. "In the second half, we decided to come and see if we could move it. It was a hard-fought ball game. We played a fine football team."
The game was just as football gurus around the area expected it to unfold -- a defensive battle from the opening kickoff. Both teams combined for 460 yards, with all but 37 combined yards coming on the ground.
"We got what we expected," Hall said. "A physical ball game and we fought them to the wire. I proud of the way our kids played and battled to the end."
It did live up to all the hype and a little bit more.
Junior running back Jaizen Ellingham churned out 88 yards on 27 carries and two scores in a workhorse role for the Falcons.
Ellingham's second touchdown of the night on a 1-yard run with 9:37 left tied the game at 14-14.
Late in the game, the Falcons found themselves in good field position after a BT punt out of bounds to the Branch 47-yard line and started moving the chains. Branch drove the ball inside the Titans' 13-yard line with less than a minute ago. On the 3rd down play, the Falcons failed to get enough for a new set of downs, forcing Hall to make the decision to kick the go-ahead field goal or push ahead for a first down.
Hall made the call to go for the first down after burning a timeout. The leap by Ellingham came up just inches shy of the first down marker, turning the ball over on downs at the Titan 10-yard line with less than a minute to go.
"The thought was ... there was a minute left in the game," Hall said about not going for the field goal at the end. "It was a right angle kick, from the right hash. The kicker had been saying his footing was bad all night. Our guys said swing and let's get it. It was fourth and six inches. I think we got a spot that was very questionable."
In overtime, Branch took the ball first and ended with a Maddux Trujillo 26-yard field goal to give the Falcons their first lead of the game, 17-14.
But Blessed Trinity was determined to find pay dirt, driving ahead for a first down on the first play. A play later, North Carolina-commit Elijah Green walked in from one yard out to seal the game.
The road only gets tougher for Flowery Branch as they host Class 4A No. 1-ranked Marist on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
