ATLANTA — David Renard has ice in his veins.
After falling behind 28-27, with less than three minutes to go, the senior Flowery Branch quarterback connected with sophomore wideout Ethan Fetterman to beat Mays, 33-28, in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs at Lakewood Stadium. The pass capped a 70-yard, two-minute drive.
"It was a gutsy drive," Flowery Branch coach Ben Hall said. "When Mays kicked the extra point to go up 28-27, the boys knew they had to do it. We've just got a resilient bunch led by David. Dang, that sucker played his guts out tonight."
Not only was the touchdown pass unbelievable, but Renard converted a 4th down and 11 with a 22-yard run to give the Falcons another chance. Renard dropped back to pass, but the only option was to take off and run for the sticks. After he picked up the first 10 yards, he scampered another 12 to the Mays' 48-yard line for the first down.
"I've seen him do it a bunch of times," coach Ben Hall said. "You know if anybody had to have the ball in his hands, I'd want it to be him."
Renard, as cool as a cucumber, dropped back and found Fetterman on the next play for a 28-yard pass to the Raiders' 20-yard line, followed it with a 10-yard strike to Jahiem Hayes to the 10 with 48 seconds left before finding Fetterman in the back of the endzone for the go-ahead score.
"He's growing up," Hall said about Fetterman. "He has good hands. He has a bright future."
Renard finished with 114 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown and was 14 of 23 passing for 154 yards and a score. Fetterman hauled in two catches for 38 yards and a score. Seth Larson caught five passes for 59 yards, and Hayes finished with 2 catches for 30.
The Falcons will travel to Perry next week in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.
"Our bunch, I think they know what we are, and what we're up against," Hall said about the next round. "We're going to figure out how to take the best shot and swing as hard as we can swing."
