The 10th annual Georgia Elite Classic came to an end at Rome’s Barron Stadium with four all-star games Thursday between two middle school teams, the freshman/sophomore game, the junior game and the senior game.
All four games are being broadcast on PeachtreeTV and you can watch by following the link or checking out the game recaps below.
Senior National 38, Senior American 36
A shift in momentum, a short touchdown run and a key field goal proved the difference for the Senior National team in the second game of the day 10th annual Georgia Elite Classic at Rome’s Barron Stadium.
The game was tied at 21 with 13:30 left in the third quarter when Crisp County linebacker Julian Fox returned an interception 50 yards to give the Senior Nationals the lead. It’d lose the advantage when the Senior American team scored on a 62-yard pass from Alpharetta quarterback Ben Guthrie to Prince Avenue Christian wide receiver Ethan Christian, but the momentum had shifted.
“The first two drives of the quarter are the most important,” said National head coach Boo Mitchell. “Because they were going to get the ball back on offense first. So our biggest thing was to stop them on that drive and not give them any hope. Then, when we had that pick 6, that just kind of gave the team some life. So I told the offense to match that same intensity.”
The offense did and the Nationals scored on a 1-yard run from Banks County running back Andrew Shockley with 3:52 left in the third quarter and on a 32-yard field goal from Brookwood kicker Danny Elrod with 5:33 left in the game to take a 38-28 lead. Christian caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Guthrie as the clock struck zero but the game was out of reach.
The Nationals took a 7-0 lead on a 4-yard run from Grovetown’s Cardelle Rudolph with 9:45 left in the first quarter. Guthrie passed to North Gwinnett wide receiver Xavier Couloute to tie the game. Rabun County quarterback Keegan Stover scored on a 7-yard run with 13:27 left in the first half to put the National team up 14-7.
Marietta quarterback Daniel Gray tied the game for the Americans with a 35-yard pass to Roswell’s Chris Elko. Central defensive back Vicari Swain’s 46-yard reception from Mount Pisgah quarterback Jack Cendoya pushed the lead to 21-14 for the Nationals. Guthrie connected with Cam Vaughan on a 16-yard pass to tie the game at 21 before Fox’s momentum-shifting interception.
Junior American 14, Junior National 10
The National team went up 10-0 in the first half and then could not hang on against the Junior American team which scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second half to come from behind for the win.
In the end, a game-winning touchdown pass from Hebron Christian quarterback Gavin Hall to Warner Robins wide receiver Isiah Canion proved the difference.
“They played their butts off all game,” said head coach Brent Osborne. “They’ve shown that all week, they’ve had that drive and we were fortunate that it fell in our hands.”
Trailing 10-0, Houston County running back Ryan Taleb scored on a 12-yard run with 11:26 left in the third quarter to cut into the lead for the American team. Hall’s 41-yard touchdown pass to Canion with 1:00 left in the game put the Americans on top.
“We’d run the same play on third down,” Osborne said. “We thought we had the back-side post so we went back to it. Isiah is a heck of a player and he played great all three practices and he is a difference maker. He does a great job or Warner Robins and we were glad he was on our team and could make that play.”
Southeast Bulloch kicker Cole Snyder put the Nationals up 3-0 on a 23-yard field goal with 7:12 left In the first quarter. Mill Creek running back Cameron Robinson scored on a 2-yard run with 1:01 left before the half to put the Nationals up 10-0.
Sophomores 24, Freshman 7
The elder classmen showed the younger guys how things work and after Kell receiver Peyton Zachary scored on a 44-yard pass from North Oconee quarterback Harrison Faulkner to tie the game at 7 for the Freshman Team, the sophomores took control.
Tommy LaFayette’s 1-yard run put the upperclassmen up 7-0 before the tying touchdown pass from Faulkner to Zachary at the end of the first quarter. Javen Parker scored on a 5-yard run with 4:55 left in the second quarter to give the sophomores the advantage.
AJ Hill passed to Zeke Washington for a 17-yard touchdown to put the sophomores up 21-7 with :40 left before the half. In the fourth quarter, Conner Deviney kicked a 42-yard field goal with 10:20 left in the game to bring the score to its final tally.
Middle School – National 28, American 14
Grant Hoviland caught two touchdown passes to help the National team to a 28-14 victory over the American team in the opening game of the 10th annual Georgia Elite Classic.
Hoviland, a Milton tight end, made the most of his two receptions, scoring on a 6-yard pass from Pope quarterback Hudson Marinko and a 70-yard pass from Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy quarterback Luke Stansell.
“The biggest thing with these eighth-grade guys,” said National team head coach Joe Stokowski. “They were invited to this because they have elite-level talent. But the biggest thing to go with that, they’re going to learn the elite-level mental game. A lot of these guys can go out and play and they might not have anything bad happen to them. But with a group as talented as we had today, every single kid faced a little bit of adversity. When you get to high school, you’ll face adversity.”
The Nationals went up 7-0 on a 5-yard run from North Gwinnett’s Andrew Beard. The American team tied the game on a 21-yard pass from North Gwinnett quarterback Elam Rahman. Haviland’s 6-yard reception put the Nationals up 14-7 with 9:58 left in the second quarter. His 70-yard reception put the National team up 21-7 with 7:57 left in the third quarter.
“We try to tell them, never let a compliment go to your head and never let criticism go to your heart,” said American team head coach Dusty Phillips. “Now they must be able to handle being successful. Yes, sure, you did great. But what are you going to do next time?”
The American team scored on a 91-yard touchdown pass from Rahman to Long Cane wide receiver Davis Moncus with :47 left in the third quarter. The National team put the game away with a 17-yard pass from Newnan quarterback Hayes Maginnis to Athens Academy wide receiver Keyon Standifer.
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