All season long, Pace Academy coach Chris Slade preached to his players about finishing the drill. On Saturday at the Georgia Dome, the Knights did just that.
Pace took the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane’s best shot and prevailed, coming away with a 42-21 win in the Class AA state championship game.
It was the first-ever title for the Knights (13-2), which began their program in 2008. It didn’t come easy either, as they entered the tournament as a No. 4 seed out of Region 6.
“You know, all week we just said to believe,” said sophomore quarterback Gunnor Faulk, who was 13-of-15 passing for 148 yards and a touchdown, also adding 57 rushing yards on eight carries. “We trusted the process.
“This feels great, but I’m not done. I’m only a sophomore. I want two more.”
The Purple Hurricane, a No. 2 seed from Region 1, finished their season 13-2.
Pace scored on two rushing touchdowns and a late touchdown pass in the first half to take a 21-7 lead into halftime. Deon Jackson’s 35-yard run kicked off the game’s scoring with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter, and Realus George scored on a 1 yard run late in the second quarter.
Pace received the ball with 38 seconds remaining in the half and engineered a five-play, 62-yard scoring drive that ended on Faulk’s 16-yard pass to Spencer Hemmingway with 3 seconds left.
Despite the commanding first half, the Knights relinquished some of their momentum by fumbling on their first two possessions in the second half. Fitzgerald capitalized on one of them, scoring on a JD King 2-yard run to bring the score to 21-14 with 2:06 left in the third.
Slade said the team never panicked.
“We just stuck with our plan,” Slade said. “We didn’t deviate from it when things didn’t look good and when we started making mistakes and fumbling. We just had to suck it up on defense and make plays.”
The Knights regained their composure and scored on their final three possessions, including a Jackson 16-yard run on third and goal to give Pace a 28-14 lead with 10:34 remaining.
Fitzgerald had one last gasp, a 41-yard touchdown pass from James Graham to Montrell Harris, which closed the gap to 28-21 with 9:22 remaining. But that would be all for the Purple Hurricane.
The Knights outrushed Fitzgerald 323-255 and threw 148 passing yards to Fitzgerald’s 41. Pace racked up 30 first downs to the Purple Hurricane’s 13.
The Knights defense held Purple Hurricane standout King to just 58 rushing yards and a 3.1-yard per carry average. Kyle Orr and Philip Markwalter each collected nine tackles for Pace, while Jack Wash had eight and Anthony Trinh had seven.
Jackson led all rushers with 114 yards on 18 carries and had three rushing touchdowns. Realus George carried for 78 yards and two scores.
Fitzgerald was led by James Graham’s 106 rushing yards on 17 carries, followed by Montrell Harris’ 65 yards on seven carries. Wille Ross led all defenders with 13 tackles and Darrius Hampton had 10.
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Pace Academy 7 14 0 21 - 42
Fitzgerald 0 7 7 7 - 21
P – Deon Jackson 35 run (Samuel Sloman kick)
F – James Graham 8 run (Raul Martinez kick)
P – Realus George 2 run (Sloman kick)
P – Spencer Hemmingway 18 pass from Gunnor Faulk (Sloman kick)
F – JD King 2 run (Martinez kick)
P – Jackson 16 run (Sloman kick)
F – Montrell Harris 41 pass from James Graham (Martinez kick)
P – Jackson 4 run (Sloman kick)
P – Realus George 1 run (Sloman kick)
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