Key turnovers, tip touchdown help East Laurens end ACE’s unbeaten run

MACON – As the East Laurens went through its final play with one last chance to topple the ACE Gryphons, Falcons head coach Jesse Hicks saw the depressing part of the play — but he missed the best part. 

The East Laurens coach will have plenty of chances to watch how Tawan Horne caught a deflected pass in the end zone with a little more than two minutes left to lift East Laurens to an improbable 21-18 upset Friday night over ACE in GHSA Region 2-AA action. 

The Gryphons’ perfect season came to an end on a humid and mostly rainy homecoming night during which everything they’ve done well en route to a 5-0 record was mostly absent. 

“We just didn’t play well,” ACE head coach Keith Hatcher said. “There were several crucial moments in the game we needed to make a play and we didn’t make those plays.” 

ACE fell to 5-1 and 1-1 and East Laurens improved to 2-4 and 1-1. 

The Gryphons trailed until the final 69 seconds of the third quarter, when Marcus Wilson went inside and then weaved out to the right for a 19-yard touchdown and an 18-14 lead with 1:09 left. 

The Gryphons were penalized on a failed conversion attempt, and East Laurens declined the penalty. ACE got the ball on its 30-yard line after a punt, thanks to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Falcons deep in their territory. But the Gryphons were stopped on fourth and 1 at the 21. 

Emotions got a little warm, and East Laurens was flagged for a pair of unsportsmanlike calls on its next drive — the teams traded those flags early in the drive — and a first and 10 at ACE’s 36 turned into a punt situation with a fourth and 36 at the Falcons’ 40. 

The Gryphons lasted three plays and two yards and punted, with East Laurens getting nice field position at its 43. 

Bryson Hazley, one of several Falcons who threw passes, connected with Horne, who was wide open down the middle of the field amid busted coverage for a huge 37-yard gain. 

On fourth and 6 from the 9, Horne lined up wide to the left with Major Floyd in the slot and Hazley at quarterback. He looked from the pocket, then floated left amid a good rush and targeted Horne with a cross-body throw, but Jackson Justice played it well and got in front of the pass. 

Unfortunately for the Gryphons, a drive-ending interception instead became a miracle bounce into Horne’s hands, as Justice failed to reel in the turnover and Horne just managed to cross the goal line for the game-winning score. 

“I did not see it,” Hicks said. “I thought the ball was gone. I stopped looking.” 

Landon Dupree’s kick put the Falcons back on top, 21-18 with 2:16 left. 

ACE’s last — or so everybody thought — chance ended on a fourth-and-4 interception by Demarcio Holloman, but East Laurens’ struggles returned and it left the door open by going three and-out and punting. 

ACE wisely used its timeouts, and had 1:10 left, starting on its 26, to get into field goal range. And the Gryphons did, aided by a pass interference call and two nice Hatcher-to-Jaylon Davis passes. 

But Jack Perry didn’t get a good swipe at a 48-yard field goal try, and it bounced at the goal line. 

‘Definitely a springboard’… 

Having lost quarterback Skyler Snead to a concussion last week, East Laurens did some plug-and-play at the position and converted an interception by Floyd into a 4-yard TD run from powerback Jeremiah Rozier with 4:40 left in the first. 

“We had to adjust to some new formations and personnel groups,” Hatcher said. “But the bottom line is we had a chance to win and we didn’t finish it out.” 

ACE fumbled the kickoff, and the Falcons covered 24 yards on four plays, Rozier throwing to Hazley for a 6-yard score and 14-0 lead at the 3:46 mark. 

The Gryphons finally got something going on offense, sparked by a 27-yard gain on a punt fake, Ace Hatcher connecting with an open Ross Greer. 

ACE punched it in four plays later with Hatcher going in from 17 yards out, but the Gryphons missed the kick with 1:31 left in the first quarter. 

A nice drive to open the second quarter ended with Hazley picking off Hatcher at the 2. 

ACE wasted another nice possession, moving from its 40 to a first and 10 at the 15 only to give it back on downs in the final seconds of the half. 

A defensive stand on its side of the field got ACE going early in the third quarter, and the offense converted, with a 78-yard drive ending with Hatcher hitting an open Wilson for a 26-yard touchdown to, after another missed conversion, cut the deficit to 14-12 with 3:59 to go in the third quarter. 

Not for long. 

ACE recovered the onside kick, and made it count five plays later when Wilson put the Gryphons on top. 

On a night when neither team was very sharp, the Gryphons and Falcons slugged away until the huge break in the final two minutes, giving East Laurens the kind of win the program has desperately needed. 

“We got an overtime win against Metter we thought was good enough to get our kids to understand why they can’t go backward,” Hicks said. “We took a step back last week in the second half (against Swainsboro). But this right here is definitely a springboard for us.” 

And it gave ACE what it had hoped to avoid, one of those confusing games where little went right. 

“The offense late had a chance to close the game and couldn’t convert a fourth and one,” Hatcher said. “Then we have a chance to get the stop on fourth down at the end and don’t make the play. “When they needed to make a play, they did.”