The Banks County Leopards pulled out a last minute victory over the Fannin County Rebels in Blue Ridge Friday night with a two point conversion play. The Leopards 47-46 win finally puts a positive mark in the region column. BCHS remains in a four way tie at 1-3 in the region with East Hall, West Hall and Fannin County.
The Leopards are trying to stay positive in a difficult season as the coach told his players to enjoy the deserved victory over the Rebels Friday night at the mother's huddle at the end of the game.
Fannin County started the game with the first possession and took it 69 yards for the score. The PAT was no good and the Rebels led the Leopards 6-0 with 8:47 to play in the first quarter.
Tanner Thompson took the kickoff return nine yards and the Leopards started their opening drive. BCHS fumbled on second down and the Rebels were back in business. The Leopards held Fannin out of the end zone and took over the ball. Kevin Mayfield got the call on third down and took it 82 yards for the score and the Leopards had tied up the game. The PAT attempt by Carman Hicks was good and the Leopards led 7-6 with 3:08 to go in the fist quarter.
Fannin made several pass completions and was back in the red zone for a two yard td score on the ground. The Rebels went for a two point conversion but the Leopards wouldn’t let them have it and the lead was 12-7 Rebels.
Tanner Thompson called a fair catch and the Leopards started on the 20 yard line near the end of the first quarter. Fifteen plays later, Kevin Mayfield stuffed one in from 15 yards out to take the lead once again. The PAT attempt by Carman Hicks fell short and the score was 13-12 Leopards.
Fannin County came back fast with five play drive that ends with a 68 yard touchdown pass play that put the Rebels back on top 18-13. The PAT attempt was good and they led 19-13 with 4:21 to play in the half.
The Leopards roared back with a 67 yard drive consuming most of the clock and finally scoring on a seven yard quarterback keeper by Tyler Hubbard. The score tied the game at 19-19 and the Leopards had a chance to pull back ahead but the PAT was no good. The Rebels got the ball back with 18 seconds on the clock. The Leopard defense did a good job and the ball teams headed to the locker room tied 19-19 at the half.
BCHS got the ball in the second half and went downs and out. Carmen Hicks made a beautiful 44 yard punt that puts the Rebels on the 22 yard line. Fannin came out throwing the ball and moved quickly down the field to the eight yard line. The Rebels then put the ball on the ground for the score. The eight yard touchdown run gave the Rebels the lead once again and the PAT was good. The Leopards trailed 19-26 early in the third quarter.
The Rebels fought back with a score and retook the lead 33-25 on a two play drive covering 63 yards. Noah Trebec took the kickoff return 16 yards and the Leopards were on their way to score. Hubbard kept the ball for a five yards run and the two point conversion was good and the Leopards had the game tied 33-33.
The Leopard defense held the Rebels and sacked the quarterback for a big loss as the Leopards took over on a short punt by the Rebels. Kevin Mayfield got the call once again and made a 16 yard touchdown run. The Leopards looked for a two point conversion to extend the lead but come up short on the play. BCHS lead 39-33 over the Rebels.
Fannin County put together a six play scoring drive with a PAT to take the lead back from the Leopards 40-39. BCHS made a long drive before giving up the ball. The Rebels took advantage and scored on a 43 yard run and missed the PAT afterwards. The score was 46-39 as the Leopards got a 23 yard return from Noah Trebec on the next kickoff.
The Leopards run three plays on the scoring drive. Tyler Hubbard ran 44 yards for the score and slipped in for the two point conversion to go ahead by one point. The Leopard defense now had to hold the Rebels out of the end zone in the last two minutes if the game.
BCHS sacked the Rebels quarterback and held on three pass plays to end the game victorious for the first time this year in region play.
The Leopards will celebrate senior night at the last home game of the season this week against East Hall High School.
