Johns Creek, Mt. Pisgah Gear Up For Playoff Games

By Mike Blum

The Johns Creek High School Gladiators will compete for their first ever state playoff victory in football Friday night when they host Langston Hughes High School in the first round of the Class AAAAAA playoffs.

The Gladiators finished the 2016 season as 7-AAAAAA co-champions, going 7-1 in region play and 8-2 overall. Johns Creek tied Centennial for first and got the region’s No. 1 seed thanks a 24-21 win over the Knights in mid-September.

Mt. Pisgah also made the playoffs in the Class A private school division and will play Friday night at Athens Christian.

Langston Hughes at Johns Creek

Johns Creek is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2012, going 5-25 the previous three years after regular season records of 9-1 in 2011 and 8-2 in 2012, just the second and third full seasons for the Gladiators at the varsity level.

The Gladiators’ success this season was a product of the region’s most consistently successful defense and an offense that got big performances from three key skill position players. The Johns Creek defense kept the explosive offenses of the region’s other four top teams in reasonable check, allowing no more than 22 points in the four games, including a key 20-14 victory over Alpharetta that effectively locked up a share of the region title.

Offensively, the Gladiators have sported a balanced offense that features one of North Fulton’s best receivers, a top running back and a sophomore quarterback who has had his best games against the team’s main region opponents.

Senior running back Matthew Taylor had seven 100-yard rushing games, finishing with almost 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns. Junior Gerard Hearst has a pair of late season 100-yard games and gives the Gladiators a productive 1-2 punch in the backfield.

The Gladiators’ most dangerous offensive weapon is junior wide receiver Zach Williams, who had 919 yards receiving and eight touchdowns, four of them covering more than 60 yards.

Sophomore Zach Gibson has also connected with other Johns Creek receivers for long touchdown passes, and had 1,827 yards passing and 12 touchdowns in his second season as the Gladiators’ starting quarterback.

When Johns Creek opened in 2009, the football team sported a talented group of players who led the team to a 17-3 record in the second and third full seasons despite the lack of any big time college prospects.

But there was a sharp drop off in talent after the 2012 season and the Gladiators went 1-19 the next two years, costing head coach Mike Cloy his job. Cloy also enjoyed success early in his tenure as head coach at Centennial, with the Knights struggling for years after replacing him as head coach. Matt Kemper left Pope and took over as the Gladiators’ coach after the 2014 season, going 5-5 last year before leading Johns Creek back into the playoffs this season.

The Gladiators lost in the first round of the playoffs in both 2011 and 2012, falling on a long pass into the end zone on the final play of the game in 2011. They will face a Hughes team that went 7-3 and is one of the strongest No. 4 seeds in 6A.

The Panthers are in the state playoffs for the fifth straight year and have advanced to the second round three times, including 2014 when they lost 17-14 at Milton. Like the Gladiators, the Panthers are balanced offensively, with senior quarterback Isaiah Green passing for almost 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns, spreading the ball among four receivers. Langston Hughes averages 170 yards rushing per game.

Langston Hughes lost close games to the region’s No. 2 and 3 teams late in the season, and won early in 2016 against Westlake, a 7A region champion.

Mt. Pisgah at Athens Christian

The Patriots were a beneficiary of an expansion of the Class A playoffs from 16 schools in both divisions to 24 this season. They finished 18th in the power rankings and would not have made the playoffs had the field been limited to 16 teams.

Mt. Pisgah travels to 15 seed Athens for its playoff opener to face an Athens Christian team that went 6-3 in a tough Region 8-A and 7-3 overall. The Eagles’ three region losses came by seven points or less, including 7-0 in overtime early in the season against unbeaten Prince Avenue Christian, the No. 2 team in the private school rankings.

The Eagles are primarily a defensive team, allowing fewer than 10 points a game. The Patriots (5-4) rely more on a high-scoring offense, averaging almost 35 points a game. The defense has struggled against the top teams on Mt. Pisgah’s schedule, allowing 130 points in the team’s last three games, all losses.

Mt. Pisgah’s offense is led by junior quarterback, who had a huge season statistically. In nine games (an early season contest was in progress when halted by a storm and not completed), Cendoya passed for 2,000 yards and rushed for around 1000, including more than 200 in the Patriots’ season opener and a number of 100-yard rushing performances. Juniors Kai Williams and David Woodward are his two main targets.

The Patriots started 5-1, but lost their last three games 35-21 to Fellowship Christian, 38-26 to Mt. Paran and 57-39 to Trion in a region crossover game. Fellowship and Mt. Paran are third and fourth in the private school power rankings and Trion made the public school playoffs.

Mt. Pisgah is making its fifth straight playoff appearance, reaching the semifinals in 2013 when the Eagles went 12-1 behind the play of quarterback Aaron Winchester, currently playing for Georgia State. Athens Christian has lost four straight years in the first round.

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