Though unable to pull off the upset, Mill Creek head coach Shannon Jarvis said he was very pleased with the effort his team made.
“I’m very proud of them. We played our best game of the year against a very good team,” he said. “They came out focused, executed on both sides of the ball.”
Even though the Bulldogs walked away with the victory, the Hawks showed they can compete with the best in the state.
Leading or tied through most of the first three quarters, the Hawks’ downfall resulted from a couple of big plays by North Gwinnett late in the game.
“[Mill Creek] played at a level tonight that is the best I think we’ve played this year,” Jarvis said. “Obviously, the score is not indicative of how we played.”
With arguably the toughest part of the season behind them, the Hawks must now focus on securing a playoff berth.
First on the agenda – Peachtree Ridge.
The Lions (3-2, 3-0) were tested early in the season against top ten teams Harrison and Lowndes. Peachtree Ridge lost those games, but has since been undefeated with three consecutive wins in region 7-AAAAA .
A win against the Lions, the most formidable team remaining on the Hawks’ schedule, would put Mill Creek in excellent position for post season play.
Jarvis said he and his team have to be ready for a strong challenge from the Lions.
“We’ve got to get this team regrouped and ready to go,” he said. “We’ve got an off week. I wish we could play tomorrow night. I know physically we couldn’t, but mentally, I have to get this team back on the field and get them playing.”
Mill Creek travels to Peachtree Ridge on Friday, October 10. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Letting the Dogs Out
North Gwinnett entered Friday’s contest as the number six team in the state. After a huge, come-from-behind win against Norcross last week, the Bulldogs probably thought Mill Creek would be a much easier opponent.
Any thoughts of an easy victory were quickly dispelled on Mill Creek’s opening drive.
On the third play of the game, quarterback Ed Russ ran 67 yards for touchdown to give the Hawks an early lead. Brian Heinze kicked the extra point to make the score 7-0.
The Bulldogs answered on their next drive, but Mill Creek was undeterred.
After going to work on their own 12 yard line, Mill Creek drove 41 yards before facing fourth and one at the North Gwinnett 47 yard line. The Hawks successfully converted to keep the drive alive. On the next play, Mill Creek picked up 27 yards on the reverse to Marcus Kruzel.
Two plays later, on third and eight, Russ found receiver Zach Landis with a 13 yard pass to bring up first and goal at the three. On the next play, Russ scored his second touchdown of the night on a quarterback keeper. After the extra point by Heinze, Mill Creek led 14-7 with 2:17 left in the first quarter.
Mill Creek’s defense got in one play on the next series before North Gwinnett quarterback Michael Tamburo took off on a 77 yard touchdown run. With 1:25 left in the first, the score was tied 14-14.
After three and outs by both teams, Mill Creek got the ball back at the North Gwinnett 40. Facing third and 19, the Hawks were helped on the conversion by a personal foul penalty against North Gwinnett.
After picking up short yardage on the first two downs, Ramael Wilson ran 20 yards on third and seven to set up first and ten at the 11 yard line. The Hawks turned to Wilson twice more and he delivered. After picking up three yards on first down, Wilson ran the ball in on the next play for Mill Creek’s third touchdown of the night. With Heinze’s extra point, the Hawks held a 21-14 lead at the half.
Both teams were unable to make any progress during their first possessions of the second half, but North Gwinnett started rolling on their next drive.
After Mill Creek’s Ryan Robinson tackled the Bulldog quarterback for a loss, North Gwinnett looked as if they might go three and out once again. Facing third and 15 at their own 34, Bulldog wide receiver Cordero Dixon made one of the biggest plays of the night, scoring on a 66 yard touchdown reception to tie the game with 7:23 left in the third quarter.
The big plays did not stop there.
After forcing Mill Creek to punt, North Gwinnett got the ball back near midfield. Once again, Tamburo found Dixon, this time for a 46 yard touchdown. The Bulldogs missed the extra point, but took the lead for the first time in the game with 4:44 remaining in the third.
Though forced to punt on their next possession, Mill Creek quickly got the ball back when North Gwinnett fumbled near midfield.
Down, but not out, the Hawks drove all the way to the North Gwinnett 11 before the Bulldogs’ defense stiffened. After getting backed up to the 15, the Hawks were forced to settle for a field goal. With Heinze’s 32 yard kick, the Hawks trailed 24-27 with just under nine minutes left in the game.
Mill Creek’s defense fought hard to hold the Bulldogs on the next drive, but, on fourth and one, North Gwinnett’s Tyler Jarry ran 35 yards for another Bulldog touchdown.
Trailing by ten with less than four minutes left in the game, Mill Creek pulled out all the stops on their next possession. After converting once on third and ten, the Hawks soon found themselves in another hole, facing fourth and 15 at their own 38 yard line with just under three minutes to play. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Mill Creek attempted to convert but failed. North Gwinnett got the ball back at the Mill Creek 48.
The conversion attempt could have been costly, but the Hawks’ defense held off a big effort by North Gwinnett. The Bulldogs attempted to convert on fourth and nine, but Mill Creek stopped the run and forced North Gwinnett to turn the ball over on downs.
In what would be their last possession of the game, the Hawks moved the ball 32 yards before committing their only turnover of the game. On second and 10 at the North Gwinnett 30, Russ was picked off by Robert Nelson. Nelson ran the ball 80 yards to score the final touchdown of the game.
Fighting to the bitter end, Mill Creek blocked the extra point to keep the final score 40-24.
By the Numbers
Quarterback Ed Russ led an outstanding offensive effort in Friday’s loss to North Gwinnett. Russ was 12 of 31 for 120 yards passing and led the Hawks in rushing with 110 yards. Russ scored two of Mill Creek’s three touchdowns.
Zach Landis was the top receiver, pulling in five passes for 53 yards.
Brian Heinze finished the evening 3-for-3 on PATs and 1-for-2 on field goals. Punter Trent Tignor had three punts for an average of 42 yards each.
Defensively, the Hawks were led by Huram Joseph and Scott Ooley. Joseph had five solo tackles and six assists. Ooley was responsible for three solo tackles, eight assists and a sack.
James Powell had a team high seven solo tackles, two assists, one sack and one quarterback pressure.
Ryan Robinson had five solo tackles, an assist, a pass break up and a sack.
Overall, Mill Creek had 310 yards of total offense compared to 364 for North Gwinnett. The Hawks had 14 first downs compared to five for the Bulldogs.
Big Plays
Jarvis said the game boiled down to a few big plays.
“[North Gwinnet has] got a great team, great players and they have players that made plays. They got every big play in the game,” he said. “You’ve got to give credit to North Gwinnett. They’re a really good football team.”
Jarvis praised North Gwinnett’s quarterback Michael Tamburo for making the plays happen.
“Their quarterback is the best high school quarterback in the state bar none,” Jarvis said. “I’m looking forward to him graduating and moving on to a great college career. He’s a tough kid.”
While the loss was a disappointment, Jarvis said he could not be prouder of how his team played.
“I think our kids played their guts out the entire night. We played well,” he said.
The offense played particularly well, he added.
“Last week, we kind of got in our rhythm offensively. We were able to do some things that gave [North Gwinnett] some trouble on their defense,” he said.
The Hawks fell to 1-2 in the region with the loss to the Bulldogs.
