Bulloch Academy

Region Champs!

Gators down No. 3 Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke Academy at Bulloch Academy

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It was the most memorable Bulloch Academy Senior Night in over a decade.

“I challenged the seniors before the game started and asked them what they wanted to be remembered for,” said head coach Clint Morgan after his Gators upset Edmund Burke Academy 18-15 to win the GISA Region 2-AA championship Friday night.

Seniors Brian Atkinson, Taylor Burke, Kyle Ellis, Tyler Hendrix, Zach Lane, Matthew Sapp and Josh Story all did their part in the monumental victory.
          But it was junior Ellis Lane who provided most of the offensive thrills as he rushed for 107 yards and scored two first-half touchdowns to lead Bulloch to its first region football title in 11 years.

“The big monkey is finally off our backs,” Morgan said with a smile.

Both squads host first-round playoff games next Friday night against opponents from Region 4-AA. The top-seeded Gators (7-3, 4-0) take on fourth-seeded Heritage Christian from Newnan while the second-seeded Spartans (7-2, 3-1) face third-seeded Arlington Christian from Fairburn.

The region championship game lived up to its billing as both squads pounded on each other from the opening kickoff to the closing whistle.

While the first half was an offensive battle, the second half was a defensive one. And it was the Gator defense, battered all night long by the tough Spartan running game, which had several big key stops that killed EBA drives and helped BA hold on to take the region title.

“Offense sells tickets but defense wins championships,” said Morgan.

Early in the third quarter as BA clung to the three-point lead, EBA drove down to the three-yard line. Four plays later, the Gators took over on downs at the five.

Midway through the fourth, the Spartans had a fourth-and-five from the BA 17. The Spartans got only four yards and turned the ball over on downs.

With 2:13 left in the game, EBA had one last chance to win. After one first down, the Spartans netted negative three yards on the next four plays to relinquish the ball with less than a minute to play.
          “They had their chances but our guys just did a great job on defense,” said Morgan.

All the scoring was done in the first half.

Bulloch took it in on the second play of the game. A short kick gave BA good field position at their own 44. Quarterback Brandon Walker ripped off a 21-yard run to the EBA 35. Lane took an option pitch, cut it inside, barreled over a couple of Spartan defenders, made a couple of more miss and took off to the end zone for the opening score.

The Gators took a 10-0 lead early in the second when John Harden booted a 27-yard field goal after a BA drive was halted at the EBA 11.

Then the Spartans came alive with 15 unanswered points. Senior Cameron Towler capped a nine-play drive midway through the second with an eight-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion run. In the drive, Bulloch’s defense had held EBA to a fourth-and-one at the 11-yard line.

A Brandon Walker on BA’s ensuing possession at the Gator 17 set the stage for the Spartans’ second score. Four plays later, Towler’s three-yard plunge and Jon Jon Evans’ PAT put Edmund Burke up 15-10. Again, Bulloch forced EBA to take a fourth-and-short gamble.

Late in the second quarter, Lane toted the mail for the Gators, carrying four straight times. He had big gains of 41 and 14 yards and scored on a five-yard scamper with 1:01 left. Walker’s two-point conversion gave the Gators the three-point lead which they nursed throughout the entire second half.