PUTNAM COUNTY
Chalk it up to championship game jitters or just plain bad luck, but a series of fumbles, interceptions, and turnovers cost Gatewood the 2023 Class 2A championship Friday night at Mercer University in Macon.
Edmund Burke Academy (EBA), which had plenty of troubles of its own, survived a 16-10 win over the Gators.
“We’re not going to make excuses. We had chances, we had opportunities, we were in the red zone a lot and you’ve got to find a way. You’ve got to put it in,” Gatewood head coach Jeff Ratliff said shortly after the game’s end. “And that’s on me, that’s on us, we just didn’t do it. “So, we’re going to tip our hat to Burke and we’re going to congratulate them on a state championship. And I’m going to tell you I love my guys and I think my guys are every bit as good, but tonight we came up a little short.”
The Waynesboro-based Spartans struck first, scoring a rushing touchdown and the extra point with 7:39 to go in the opening quarter.
Not long after it appeared that Gatewood senior tight end Lawson Wooten had answered with a stellar catch in the Spartans’ end zone for a touchdown, but he was ruled out of bounds when his left foot came down on the sideline. Gatewood eventually responded with a field goal by Jayden Daniel to end the first quarter.
Despite clear, dry conditions, both teams struggled to hold on to the ball, although the Spartans tacked on a field goal of their own in the second quarter to take a 10-3 advantage into halftime.
Ratliff rallied his team and the Gators came out firing for the second half. However, early in the third quarter, a pass again intended for Wooten was picked off by a Spartans defender. Later in the quarter, the same fate awaited Blake Callaway, who earlier in the game had two highlight-reel catches to his credit and added another in the final quarter.
Finally, with 2:09 left in the third quarter, Ames Johnson held on for a one-yard quarterback sneak to score, followed by Daniel putting the extra point through the uprights to end the quarter tied at 10.
The tie was short-lived, however, as EBA responded with another rushing touchdown less than two minutes into the final stanza. They missed the extra point, though, when the ball hit the left upright.
From that point on, the game remained a defensive struggle played near the center of the field as both teams traded punts until the Gators finally were able to get back to within the five-yard line with less than two minutes left on the clock.
While threatening to score, an unfortunate interception turned the ball over and the Spartans were able to simply run out the clock to end the game and the Gators’ championship hopes.
“If we had handled some of our mental mistakes better and taken care of the ball, we would be celebrating. Instead, it’s Edmund Burke holding the trophy. They did the things necessary to win.
For that, I congratulate them,” Ratliff wrote in his traditional post-game email to Gators’ parents and supporters.
“As for the game, offensively we moved the ball, but we had trouble finding the endzone,” he continued. “We had some untimely mistakes (both mental and unforced) that put us in some difficult situations, but we also had plenty of opportunities to write our ending.”
Again, immediately after the game, Ratliff praised his defense in particular, then took time to address each of the seniors on his ball team.
“Evan Bennett, he’s a fantastic player, going to have a great college career. Lawson Wooten caught some big balls tonight and blocked his tail off," Ratliff said. "Blake Calloway, oh my goodness, he made a couple of spectacular catches – and he played a good defensive end as well.
“Luke McNeil, he’s been with me every year and he’s a warrior, a fighter and I love him to death. And Sean Harvey, we’re going to miss him. And then Jayden (Daniel), our kicker, wide receiver, he’s just so good, so reliable. I’m proud of all of them, proud of every one of our seniors. And I’m just going to leave it at that. I mean, I love ‘em.”
Ratliff also recognized the experience gained by the rest of his team and knows he’s got a lot of talent returning for next year’s campaign.
Still, that’s not why he and the team traveled to Macon, he stressed.
“Obviously the state championship is great for experience, but we weren’t here for experience; we were here to win,” Ratliff stated. “This hurts. It stings. But we’ll start over again next year and hopefully, we’ll be back.”