Floyd County defeats George Wythe 15-14

By JIM CUNNINGHAM/Staff

The Floyd County Buffaloes once again used a last minute touchdown and a two-point conversion to defeat George Wythe.
This time, however, it came in the first round of the Region C, Division 2 football playoffs to end the season for the Maroons. Floyd used a successful two-point conversion after a late touchdown to defeat GW 15-14 Friday night in Floyd County.
Back on Sept. 12, the Buffaloes scored a late touchdown to send the game into overtime. After the Maroons scored a touchdown and kicked the extra point on the first possession of the OT period, the Buffaloes also scored a touchdown and lined up for an apparent kick to tie it again.
Instead, Floyd County quarterback Luke Harris (who was the holder on the play) jumped up and threw a completed pass for two points and a 40-39 Floyd win.
The ending to the game on Friday night was hauntingly familiar. George Wythe had taken the lead early in the fourth quarter on a pass from Jacob Sharitz to Levi Lanter that covered 46 yards for a touchdown.
But the Buffaloes came back with a late drive for a potential game-tying touchdown with less than a minute left in the game.
But instead of going for the tying extra point kick, the Buffaloes decided to go for two points. This time Harris was nearly caught in the backfield but escaped and threw the game-winning two point conversion pass.
The loss ends GW’s season with an overall record of 6-5, which included a 5-0 district slate that won the Hogoheegee District championship.
Floyd County improves to 11-0 and will host Chilhowie this Friday night for the region title. Chilhowie defeated Giles 35-17 in another Division 2 game.
The Maroons began the game on a good note by picking up two first downs behind the running of Will Sawyers and a nice leaping catch by Brandon Atwell.
Sawyers was GW’s leading rusher with 87 yards on 16 carries. Atwell and Sawyers were also the leading receivers; Sawyers caught three passes for 18 yards and Atwell snagged three for 56 yards.
Levi Lanter caught two passes for 53 yards and Tyler Wood also caught a pass and rushed for 37 yards on two carries. Jonathan Turpin gained 31 yards on eight carries. Jacob Sharitz completed nine of his 20 passes for 129 yards.
But after those two first downs on the opening drive, the Maroons had to punt it away after Floyd came up with a sack.
GW’s defense also was strong on its first test of the night and forced a punt after the Buffaloes picked up a first down near midfield.
GW’s next series ended on an interception but forced another Floyd punt.
The punt was high and long and Tyler Wood caught it on his own seven-yard line and raced through the Floyd defenders for an electrifying 93-yard touchdown.
Atwell kicked the extra point as GW went up 7-0 with 10:55 left in the first half.
Although there was still plenty of time left, both defenses kept the other team’s offense in check for the rest of the half.
The George Wythe 7-0 lead didn’t last long as the Buffaloes took the second half kickoff and drove from their own 35 to the end zone on a 22-yard pass from Harris to Brett Holman. The PAT kick tied the game at 7-7 with 8:47 left in the third quarter.
That’s how the third quarter ended with both teams’ defenses continuing to dominate until Sharitz began stringing together several passes on GW’s third possession of the second half. He completed a pass to Sawyers for five yards and then connected with Atwell for a 20-yard plus completion to the Floyd 46.
Then Sharitz passed to Levi Lanter who caught it and broke free along the right sideline and raced 46 yards for a touchdown and another GW lead. Atwell’s kick made it 14-7 with 8:52 left in the fourth quarter.
The Buffaloes then attempted a tying drive and moved into Maroon territory before Drew Lester intercepted a pass for GW to give the Maroons good field position with a little more than six minutes left in the game.
George Wythe drove down inside the Floyd 20, but the Floyd defense and a major penalty pushed the Maroons back into their own territory where they had to punt.
The Buffaloes took over on their own 20 with exactly three minutes remaining. It was enough as Harris completed several passes to Chandler Jones and Ethan Griffith and then connecting with Brandon Harris for a touchdown with only 48 seconds left.
Floyd County appeared to be lining up to kick the tying extra point but then called a time-out.
The Buffaloes came out in their normal formation, and Harris sent the team into the region finals with his pass to Griffith.
The Maroons made one final desperation drive, but it ended with an interception with six seconds left and Floyd ran out the clock.

George Wythe 0 7 0 7 – 14
Floyd County 0 0 7 8 – 15

Scoring:
GW – Tyler Wood 93 punt return (Atwell kick)
FC – Holman 22 pass from Harris (Weiss kick)
GW – Levi Lanter 46 pass from Sharitz (Atwell kick)
FC – Harris 3 run (Griffith pass from Harris)

Team GW FC
First downs 14 16
Yards rushing 29-137 26-106
Yards passing 129 163
Com-Att-Int 9-20-3 16-26-1
Punts-Avg. 4-33.0 5-40.0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yds 4-33 6-60
(Stats courtesy of Kenny Sayers)
(T – 2:10)