The Chattahoochee Cougars saw their two-score lead evaporate to a field goal late in the fourth quarter against the Centennial Knights and held on for a 29-26 home win on Friday, but not before a chaotic play in the game’s final seconds put everything in doubt.
With three seconds remaining and the score at its final margin, Cougars quarterback Luke Priester lined up to punt, and when the ball was snapped he ran around in the backfield until the clock hit zero, at which point a game official blew an inadvertent whistle, both coaches later confirmed. Ultimately, the officials decided the whistle blew the play dead, negating everything that happened after.
What happened after could only happen on Friday the 13th.
Because Priester heard the whistle, he assumed the game was over and began celebrating with the ball. Knights senior linebacker and running back Caleb Barbas saw that Priester had not downed the ball and considered the play live, and delivered a crushing hit to the chest on Priester, knocking the ball loose and sending Priester to the ground, where he stayed for several minutes. The Knights recovered and returned the ball to Chattahoochee 1, and initially Barbas was called for targeting, the officials determining he led with his helmet, then issuing his ejection.
After the final of many long discussions amongst the officials throughout the game, the Cougars were given the ball at the spot of the inadvertent whistle, and everything after was ruled dead. Barbas remained on the field for the game’s final play. The Cougars then kneeled the ball with no time on the clock, finally securing the win.
The Cougars are 4-0 for the first time since 2010, when they finished 15-0 and won the Class 4A championship. They’ve played the Knights (4-1), located 14 minutes away, every year since 2012 and had lost three straight to them.
Last year, the Knights won 33-28.
“This game, I don’t want to say it was circled but it definitely was circled,” Knights second-year coach Adam Miller said. “Just being 4-0 going into Milton is super exciting for the kids, the coaches, the families and all of our fans.”
The Cougars had a 29-13 lead with 9:23 remaining, their offense powered by Preister. Executing a series of option runs and screen passes, he accounted for four touchdowns. He was 24 of 30 passing for 373 yards and three touchdowns to one interception.
Priester threw a 79-yard touchdown to EB Bailey, giving the Cougars the lead for good at 8-7 with 3:41 left in the first quarter, after the 2-point conversion. He also threw a 41-yard touchdown to DJ Avery midway through the second quarter. With 26.7 seconds left in the half, Preister handed the ball to Avery on what appeared to be an end-around, only for Priester to roll out and catch Avery’s 10-yard touchdown pass, giving the Cougars a 22-7 lead heading into halftime.
But the Knights stuck around. The Cougars chewed seven minutes of clock to open the second half, but their drive stalled at the Centennial 23 with a turnover-on-downs. The Knights stuffed Priester on fourth-and-1. Four plays into their drive, Hunter Campbell hit Mason Klein for a seven-yard touchdown to make it 22-13 with 3:11 left in the third. The play was set up by a 54-yard pass from Campbell to Jackson Harrell, with a 15-yard personal foul call on the Cougars adding 15 more yards.
The Cougars responded with their final points of the game, which came off a 12-yard pass from Priester to Bailey with 9:23 left.
The Knights went to the air, with Campbell hitting Tilden Reams for a 72 yard touchdown, followed by a 19-yard touchdown pass to Klein, bringing the score to its final margin with 4:30 left.
Preister led the team in rushing with 116 yards on 17 carries. Bailey, committed to Miami-Ohio, had 11 catches for 178 yards, and Bailey had four catches for 100 yards.
Up next for the Cougars is a trip to No. 1 Milton, which entered Friday ranked in the top five of five different national polls.
“They’re the best team in the nation,” Miller said. “What do we got to lose? A lot of our kids want to play college football, and if you want to play in DI, you’ve got to go against the best. We’re not going to shy away from anyone. They’ve got a huge O-line, DI weapons all over the plays, but we’re going to go in and compete and see what can happen.”
The Knights were led by Campbell, who was 15 of 20 passing for 174 yards and three touchdowns. Barbas had 12 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown. Harrell had five catches for 119 yards. Both of Klein’s receptions were touchdowns, as was Reams’ only catch.
The Knights are on bye next week, then travel to 6A’s Chapel Hill in their final non-region game before closing with their 6-4A schedule.
Centennial 7 0 6 13 - 26
Chattahoochee 8 14 0 7 - 29
CEN — Caleb Barbas 11 run (Samer Layous kick)
CHA — EB Bailey 79 pass from Luke Priester (John Connolly run)
CHA — DJ Avery 41 pass from Priester (Dylan Patterson kick)
CHA — Preister 10 pass from Avery (Patterson kick)
CEN — Mason Klein 7 pass from Hunter Campbell (kick failed)
CHA — Bailey 12 pass from Priester (Patterson kick)
CEN — Tilden Reams 72 pass from Campbell (pass failed)
CEN — Klein 19 pass from Hunter Campbell (Layous kick)
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