MT. AIRY — Habersham Central coach Benji Harrison and the Raiders have been looking for that signature win.
They finally got it Friday with an impressive 36-15 victory over Lanier in a huge Region 8-6A contest at Raider Stadium.
It was the first-ever win for the Raiders (4-4, 2-2 Region 8-6A) over the Longhorns (4-2, 1-2 Region 8-6A). It gave them the head-to-head tiebreaker over Lanier. And it put them within one win of a postseason playoff spot.
What was really significant was that the Raiders, known for their offensive prowess, dominated with their defense. They forced five Lanier interceptions and held them to 222 total yards, just 78 yards rushing, and 2-of-13 on third down. Austin Wood had three interceptions alone.
“Our coaches and the kids had a great week of preparation and the defense played lights out and was aggressive the entire way,” Harrison said afterward. “It was just a great team effort. This was a big, big win for us.”
While the defense was locking down the Longhorns, the Raiders offense pounded the Longhorns top-10 defense for 329 yards on the ground, with Joshua Pickett almost outgaining the Longhorns by himself with 212 yards rushing. Jackson Clouatre added 1117 and the pair combined for five rushing touchdowns.
Habersham also never trailed as Pickett’s 6-yard scoring run less than seven minutes gave them a 6-0 advantage the Raiders would not relinquish. The Longhorn’s first mistake came as they fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Clouatre capped the short 47-yard drive with an 11-yard TD run and a Pickett 2-point pass to Grayson Taylor made it 14-0 two minutes later.
Lanier trimmed it to 14-7 late in the opening period on a 58-yard pass from Andrew Blackford to Aaron Prum but Clouatre ripped off a 42-yard scoring run late in the first half for a 21-7 lead.
The Raiders got a safety midway through the third quarter but the Longhorns pulled within 23-15 on a 1-yard run from Savodd Underwood on the opening play of the fourth quarter. It stayed that way until the final four minutes.
Pickett sealed the win with a 64-yard touchdown run and capped it off with a 1-yard TD run with just under a minute left.
“I’m just so proud of the guys. The offensive line was great up front all night and Joshua and Jackson were outstanding,” Harrison said. “We talked all week about having confidence that they could win games like this against great teams like this. This was huge for the guys and hopefully, we'll be able to build on it.”
Habersham moved into sole possession of third place in the region with two games left. The Raiders play host to Central Gwinnett (1-6, 0-3 Region 8-6A) next week with a chance to clinch a playoff spot.
