Garren McKinney’s diving block of Kell’s Logan Flesher’s point after try preserved the No. 1 ranked Tucker Tigers’ 28-27 overtime victory over the No. 6 ranked Longhorns at Georgia State Stadium in Saturday morning Corky Kell Classic high school football action.

McKinney’s heroics were set after the Tigers rallied from behind three times in the game to send the two teams into overtime tied 21-21.

Tucker got the football first and scored on the first play as quarterback Travon Ford connected for 15 yards to All-State receiver Joshua Vann who had crossed the field to haul in the go-ahead score. Park Russell connected on the PAT to give Tucker its first lead of the game at 28-21.

The Longhorns got their chance to answer in overtime but needed four plays to score. Evan Conley connected with Simpson coming across the middle to set up Kell to tie the game or go for the win.

The Longhorns looked to be going for the tie, but called timeout and then came up lining up for a two-point conversion try causing the Tigers to call a timeout. The cat and mouse game continued as the Longhorns trotted out Flesher to try to send the game into a second overtime period.

McKinney and his Tiger teammates rushed hard with McKinney coming off the right side and diving in front of the kick for the block to give Tucker the win.

Kell, which won last year’s matchup in the Georgia Dome, struck first as Conley found Michael Luckie down the left side for a 26-yard touchdown pass. Conley would run in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 Kell advantage with 10:04 left in the first half.

The Tigers answered quickly driving 69 yards in eight plays to pull within 8-7 on Ford’s first of three touchdown passes to Vann, this one for 18 yards with 6:14 left in the first half.

Kell would take the lead again late in the third quarter with a 30-yard field goal by Flesher with 3:37 remaining in the period to go up 11-7. A Tucker fumble on the kickoff put the Longhorns in business at the Tiger17, but the Tigers’ defense, which held Kell to just 45 yards over the final two quarters, stopped Kell cold. Michael Harris’ batted down a Conley pass on third and six at the Tiger 13 to force another 30-yard field goal by Flesher to stay within 14-7.

The Tigers drove back down the field to knot the game again as Ford hit Vann for 17 yards and Malachi Buckner for 14 yards in an 11 play, 69-yard drive. Gerry Vaughn finished the drive off on a fourth and one at the Kell four as he pushed the pile the final four yards to score the tying touchdown.

Tucker got the football back with 5:13 to play, but a bad pitch on a sweep was picked up by Kell’s Vincent Dinkins who rumbled 31 yards for a touchdown to put the Longhorns back on top at 21-14 with 5:01 to play in the game.

Facing a second and four on their own 22 with the clock ticking below four minutes Ford dropped back and lofted a pass about 50 yards to a streaking Vann who hauled in the pass behind the defense and waltzed into the end zone for the touchdown. Russell tied the game at 21-21 with the PAT and 3:58 to play.

Neither team could get close to scoring in the final 3:58 and the game went to the overtime.

Trevon Ford hit on 11 of 18 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns and Joshua Vann was on the receiving end with seven receptions for 163 yards and the three touchdowns.

Evan Conley threw for just 104 yards, but had two first half touchdown passes to lead the Longhorns.

Other Saturday Games

The Columbia Eagles opened the 2017 season winning a big defensive battle 7-0 against DeKalb rivals Martin Luther King Jr. Lions on Saturday at Hallford Stadium.

The Eagles are 1-0 after going 2-8 in 2016 following an opening 14-3 loss to the Lions last season.

The Towers Titans gave new head coach Robert Tigner his first victory with a 22-19 win over Forest Park on Saturday at Avondale Stadium.

The Titans lost a tough 6-2 decision to the Panthers to open the 2016 season, a loss that was later turned into a win due to a forfeit by Forest Park.

Saturday, Aug. 19

Tucker (1-0) 28, Kell (0-1) 27 OT

Towers (1-0) 22, Forest Park (0-1) 19

Columbia (1-0) 7, M.L. King (0-1) 0