Raiders Roll To Region Title With 41-14 Win Over Cougars

By Mike Blum

JOHNS CREEK, GA -- Coming into Friday night’s game at Chattahoochee, the Alpharetta Raiders faced the unappetizing prospect of falling from their perch atop the 7-AAAAAA standings to the region’s third seed in the playoffs if they lost to the Cougars.

A report in a local publication had the winner of the Alpharetta-Chattahoochee game taking the region title, when in fact Centennial would have won a three-way tiebreaker, with the Raiders dropping to the third seed if they lost Friday’s game by more than eight points.

After squandering a chance to put the Cougars in a deep hole in the opening period, the Raiders found
themselves in a 7-7 tie early in the second quarter, with Chattahoochee inside the Alpharetta 30. A bad snap forced a punt by the Cougars, and a struggling Raiders’ offense suddenly shifted into high gear, scoring three touchdowns before halftime, the last two coming inside the final two minutes.

The Raiders took a 27-7 lead into the second half and went on to a 41-14 victory, clinching a region title and a home game in next week’s state playoffs opener. The Cougars wound up a successful season with a third place finish in the region and will play their first state playoff game since 2012 next week.

“We have a very talented, resilient team,” Alpharetta coach Jacob Nichols said. “We have a big senior
class and they play with a lot of camaraderie.”

Nichols was a little concerned that the Raiders were unable to put the Cougars away early, but noted "we had a six or seven-minute run in the second quarter when things fell right into place.”

The Alpharetta coach said the possibility of dropping to the No. 3 seed “would have been a shot to our ego,” but the Raiders combined stout defensive play with an explosive offense to dominate the Cougars from early in the second quarter forward.

The veteran, talented Alpharetta defense did its job from the outset of the game, containing a Chattahoochee offense that clearly missed starting quarterback Jack Corrigan, who suffered a severe leg injury two weeks ago.

Chattahoochee held on that night to defeat Pope 46-41 after Corrigan led the Cougars to a 39-13 halftime lead, and backup Damon Stewart directed the team to more than 500 yards in a 50-28 win last week over Northview, which is not in Alpharetta’s league defensively. The Raiders limited the Cougars to 160 yards of offense and an average of less than three yards per play and kept tailback Max Webb in check. Webb rushed for 1168 yards and 12 touchdowns in the Cougars’ first nine games, and had some respectable stats against the Raiders (21 carries, 92 yards), but could not carry the Chattahoochee offense by himself.

The Cougars completed just nine of 21 passes for 47 yards, with all nine completions on short passes against an Alpharetta secondary that intercepted one downfield pass and almost picked off several others. Jaycee Horn, Marcus Webster and Dane Motley were part of an Alpharetta pass defense that frustrated the inexperienced Stewart, who was pressured by a strong rush by the Raiders, who have been led defensively by Jack Stanton, Nick Markus and Reid Schulz. The Raiders are the lone team in the region that plays well defensively on a weekly basis, with the Cougars overcoming defensive lapses throughout the second half of the season to finish 6-2 in the region and 7-3 overall.

Alpharetta (8-0, 9-1) won its last nine games after losing its opener to Milton, with region runner-up Centennial the only team to inflict any damage to the Raiders’ defense after a disappointing second half showing in the loss to Milton. Other than a sub-par offensive output in a 14-6 win over Cambridge, the Alpharetta offense has consistently held up its end, and that was the case Friday night despite a few minor stumbles. The Raiders scored on their first series, going 54 yards in three plays with the aid of a late hit penalty against the Cougars. Senior running back Nolan Edmonds, who had a huge night, scored on a 20-yard run fewer than four minutes into the game.

Chattahoochee fumbled away the kickoff, but the Raiders were forced to punt after a sack and a dropped pass in the end zone. The Cougars pulled even after Joseph Sayles returned an interception of a Matthew Downing pass 40 yards to the Alpharetta 3. Stewart passed to Jordan Coleman for five yards and a tying touchdown, and the Cougars had a chance to take the lead before the bad snap cost them 19 yards. Downing kept the ball on the read/option for 37 yards to the Chattahoochee 35, and hit Edmonds on a third down screen pass for 32 yards and a score. Edmonds broke a tackle just after he caught the ball before strolling unimpeded into the end zone.

The Cougars twice sacked Downing on the Raiders’ next series to set up third downs with Alpharetta needing 14 or 15 yards. Downing hit Michael Marbaugh for 16 yards to convert the first one and connected with a wide open Marbaugh for 58 yards and a score to make it 20-7. The Raiders got the ball back at their 35 in the final minute of the second period, and Downing and Marcus Hill teamed up for a 65-yard pass and run to make it 27-7 at the half. Downing completed only five of 14 passes, but they were good for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Downing was 0-for-4 in the second half, but Edmonds took care of the offense.

The senior running back shot through the line and went 63 yards untouched for a touchdown on the second play of the second half, and closed out the Raiders’ scoring with a 45-yard run midway through the third period.

Edmonds finished with 163 yards on eight carries with three touchdowns, and had 195 yards from scrimmage and four scores on nine touches. He benefitted from some excellent work by the Raiders’ offensive line. Excluding the three sacks, the Raiders rushed for 243 yards on 20 attempts before the reserves took over in the fourth quarter. The Cougars drove 61 yards in eight plays to score in the final period on a 5-yard run by Stewart, with Webb contributing 43 yards on four carries.

Alpharetta and Centennial play home games next week with Chattahoochee opening the playoffs on the road. Winder-Barrow, Lanier and Gainesville tied for second in Region 8 and will serve as the three opponents for the North Fulton trio, with the pairings yet to be determined as of late Friday night. Pope, the No. 4 seed from Region 7, plays at Region 8 champion Dacula.

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