In a game that more than lived up to the hype, Mill Creek held off rival Dacula to win 23-15 Friday night.
Playing before a capacity crowd, the Hawks had pulled ahead 14-7 at halftime. With under four minutes left in the game, Mill Creek had expanded their lead to 23-7.
After a 57-yard kickoff return, Dacula had good field position to stage a comeback. With 2:30 left in the game, Dacula scored a touchdown followed by a two point conversion to pull within eight points of the Hawks. The Falcons retained control of the ball after a successful onside kick and began to drive down the field. A face mask penalty against Mill Creek gave Dacula first down at the Hawks’ 25-yard line.
With 1:09 left to play, Mill Creek’s Marcus Kruzel intercepted a Falcon pass at the 22-yard line. A 43-yard run by Tyler Cierski on the next play gave Mill Creek a first down at the Dacula 35-yard line. The possession ended as abruptly as it began when a Mill Creek fumble gave the Falcons another chance to score with 33 seconds left in the ballgame.
Dacula drove the ball 27 yards in half a minute, but was unable to get the ball in the end zone. With just .4 seconds left on the clock, Dacula’s last pass fell incomplete ending the game at 23-15.
Mill Creek head coach Shannon Jarvis was pleased with the win.
“It’s a great win,” he said. “Obviously, I said earlier that I hoped it would be a good game for the crowd. I just didn’t count on it being that good at the end.”
For complete coverage of Friday’s game, see the September 3 edition of The Braselton News.
