In a game that featured a plethora of penalties, turnovers and back-and-forth scoring, it was the Cambridge Bears who emerged with a 43-38 win over the Alpharetta Raiders at home on Friday in a non-region showdown.
With 42 seconds left, the Bears fell on the ball after an onside kick following the Raiders’ final score and that put an end to a wild night. The Bears and Raiders combined for seven turnovers and 17 penalties — including 10 personal fouls — totaling 225 yards.
The Bears (2-1), who compete in Class 5A, got big nights on the ground from running back Christian Isibor and quarterback Connor Harris. Isibor finished with a game-high 207 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries, and Harris broke a 97-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, which tied the game at 28 after the Bears trailed by 14 at halftime.
“We’ve had these games before where we were down,” Bears coach Craig Bennett said. “We feel like we’re never out of it, especially with our run game. As well as we had our running game going tonight, it helped slow the game down a little bit and keep their explosive offense off the field.”
The Raiders (1-1), of 6A, built a two touchdown lead with a 21-0 second quarter, scoring on a Jake Gil 8-yard run and Ben Guthrie touchdown passes of 4 and 40 yards. After Gil’s score tied the game at 14, the Bears turned the ball over when miscommunication on a handoff led to a sack and fumble, which the Raiders recovered on the Cambridge 4. On the second play of Alpharetta’s ensuing drive, they had a bad snap of their own, but Guthrie recovered the ball, scrambled about 15 yards backwards to elude Bears defenders, and delivered a strike to Amauri Anderson off his back foot to give the Raiders the lead.
Cambridge threw another pick its next possession with 4:43 left in the half, and the Raiders used a 9-play, 95-yard drive, with Guthrie’s 40-yard pass to Garrett Young the final score of the half, which came with 21 seconds left.
The Raiders managed just 10 points in the second half, and the Bears took control with Isibor touchdown runs of 40 and 42 yards, the second of which gave Cambridge a 35-31 lead with 11 minutes left.
With 2:29 remaining, the Raiders picked off Cambridge for the Bears’ fourth turnover of the game, giving them one last chance to win. They got the ball to the 36-yard line with 1:20 left when Guthrie fumbled after being blitzed, and Will Petit recovered the ball off a bounce, in stride, and ran 64 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 43-31 lead to seal the game.
Alpharetta 7 21 3 7 — 38
Cambridge 14 0 14 15 — 43
A — Kenyon Pipes 34 pass from Ben Guthrie (Cooper West kick)
C — Christian Isibor 22 run (Connor Noone kick)
C — Preston Clemmer 10 run (Noone kick)
A — Jake Gil 8 run (West kick)
A — Amauri Anderson 4 pass fro Guthrie (West kick)
A — Garrett Young 40 pass from Guthrie (West kick)
C — Isibor 40 run (Noone kick)
C — Connor Harris 97 run (Noone kick)
A — West 37 FG
C — Isibore 42 run (Petit kick)
C — Petit 65 yard fumble return (Jack Marlow pass from Connor Harris)
A — Ethan Barbour (West kick)
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