The new-look Gatewood Gators got off to a rough start Friday night, falling 20-6 to the visiting Flint River Academy Wildcats out of Woodbury.
Under hot, miserable, muggy conditions, Flint River struck first with a diving touchdown at the 6:30 mark of the opening quarter, though they missed the extra point.
The score remained stable until 3:59 of the second quarter when the Wildcats scored again on the ground from inside the 10-yard line, but this time tacking on a PAT to make it 13-0 at halftime.
Gators running back Brady Haley eventually made a couple of determined drives to get the ball to the Wildcats’ 1-yard line, where fellow sophomore Blake Brannen took over with a quarterback sneak to finally put Gatewood on the board with 7:53 left in the third.
Just a couple of minutes later, junior wide receiver Drew Love came so close to making an extended, one-handed catch in the end zone, but just couldn’t make it stick.
Following a half-hour delay for lightning protocol at the midpoint of the fourth quarter, the visitors put the game away with just 1:01 left, punching it in on the ground and tacking on the extra point for the 20-6 win.
“We’ve got a young team, but we’re not going to make excuses. We’ve just got to get better,” Gatewood head coach Jeff Ratliff said following the game. “There were some things that we just didn’t adjust to that they did, and that’s on me. We’ve got to fix that kind of stuff, and we have got to recognize it quicker.
“Even that first touchdown, we had three chances to get off the field, and we didn’t. So, things like that, that’s what’ll cost you, and they cost us tonight,” he added later. But if I could put a finger on anything, I would just tell you it was some inexperience and mistakes. Mistakes both in the turnover game and just with assignments, not recognizing things.”
Ratliff stressed that he was happy with his players’ effort and desire, but working on the game’s fundamentals will dominate practice this week.
“Our pad level was too high; we missed some tackles; we missed some blocks,” he said. “And then we didn’t recognize what [formation] they were in quick enough and didn’t get the calls made. But again, all of that comes back to me.”
The coach added that he thinks Brannen gained some valuable game experience and was showing improvement even as the contest progressed. He also singled out running backs Haley and Landon Moreno for their efforts.
“And our offensive line,” he said. “I really think our offensive line is one of our strengths and they’ll be getting better every game, too.”
The Gators will not return to the familiarity of Sammons Field until Sept. 12, as they now face three consecutive road games, beginning this Friday at Trinity Christian in Dublin.