Northside holds off St. Pius
Comeback attempt falls short for the Golden Knights
St. Pius X vs. Northside-Warner Robins
Georgia Dome – Atlanta, Georgia
Coming into the Class 4A semifinal, Northside-Warner Robins had a fairly easy route with two shutouts. The Golden Knights of St. Pius X traveled another road. In their previous game, the Knights had to stage a comeback to make it to the Georgia Dome. The two teams went head to head in a battle that went down to the wire.
Early on, it looked as if Northside would have yet another easy win on their road to the championship by jumping out to an early 13-0 lead. St. Pius’ first possession led to a punt but the snap went over the punter’s head and was recovered at the Golden Knights’ two-yard line by Northside, setting them up for an easy score. Junior Tijuan Green punched it in for the first score of the game. Northside added another score when Green took it 62 yards to the house.
St. Pius added a Chris Philpott field goal before the half but they looked down and out at intermission. But the second half gave the Knights new life. With 6:00 remaining in the 3rd quarter, sophomore Jonathan Davis broke loose for a 40-yard scoring run to bring the Knights within three.
With momentum on their backs, St. Pius had the ball back, down by three and started driving. The Knights moved the ball with relative ease against the stingy Eagle defense, but that same stingy Eagle defense stepped up when they needed to. With the Knights driving inside Northside’s 30 yard line, Davis lost the rock and it was recovered by the Eagles’ Eric Green. And the Eagle offense did exactly what they were supposed to do.
A 31-yard pass from quarterback Marques Ivory to Othman Falah took Northside to the St. Pius nine yard line. The Eagles went for it on fourth and goal and gave it to who else? Tijuan Green. Green capped off his hat trick for the day scoring his third touchdown. The score put the Eagles up 20-10.
With time winding down and the Eagles facing a fourth down with four to go, St. Pius got a gift. On a short pass attempt, Northside gave the Knights and extra 30 yards due to a pass interference call and unsportsmanlike conduct. Twenty seconds later, the Knights were only down by three, 20-17, as Dylan Knight hit Jodie Flint for the second big catch of the drive. Of course, this one was the most important as it pulled the Eagles within three.
With 1:23, the only hope that was left was an onside kick. It didn’t work. Close but no cigar. Almost wasn’t good enough. No moral victories in the playoffs. (Insert more generic statements here). Northside moves on to face a Marist squad that can rack up some yards on the ground. But they can celebrate for now.
Final Score: Northside-Warner Robins 20 – St. Pius X 17
4SHOT Player of the Game: Tijuan Green (20 carries for 183 yards)
