Cedar Grove’s Quinterio Lawson scores a game-tying touchdown in the second quarter on a 7-yard run in the Saints heartbreaking 21-17 loss in the Class 3A state title game against Sandy Creek. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Two goal line play calls went against the Cedar Grove Saints in the second half as they came up short in a 21-17 loss to the Sandy Creek Patriots in the Class 3A football state championship game at Center Parc Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Both plays happened in the same end zone with the Patriots getting the benefit of both calls.
The second big call came after Cedar Grove had taken a 17-14 lead on Ricky Lee’s 20-yard touchdown run with 5:22 to play and the Saints had Sandy Creek facing a fourth and 22 at the Saints 44.
Sandy Creek quarterback Geimere Latimer got loose on fourth and 22 for 22 yards and the first down with the clock moving toward the two-minute mark.
A facemask call gave Sandy Creek a first down and goal at the one when it looked like the Saints had forced a fourth down. The first play Travis Franklin followed his upbacks into the line and appeared to be stopped at the one with 50 seconds to play in the game and Sandy Creek without a timeout. An official came running in and singled a touchdown late to give the Patriots a score with 50 seconds to play.
Jacob Norris hit the PAT to make it 21-17 and the Saints needing a touchdown.
The Saints ran the kickoff back out to the 42-yard line, but a holding call backed them up to the 26 with 43 seconds to play.
Colson scrambled for 16 out to the 42 but was intercepted deep down field on the next play to seal the win for Sandy Creek.
The first big play call came with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter. Quinterio Lawson had busted a 45-yard run to the Patriots four-yard line to set up a first and goal with the Saints trailing 14-10.
Three plays later quarterback EJ Colson kept and followed a motion man to the left and put his head down going for the end zone. Colson’s helmet was knocked off in the process, but the ball appeared to be on the goal line for an apparent touchdown.
The play was ruled short, and Colson had to exit the game and Cedar Grove elected to go for a field goal that was blocked by the Patriots with 2:08 left in the period.
Cedar Grove’s Chase Kerns (51) and Javon Beckford (23) wrap up a Sandy Creek running back for a three-yard loss to help stop a scoring threat. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Sandy Creek marched back down the field and had a third goal at the one when they committed two penalties to push the ball back to the 11.
Everett Roussaw pressured Patriots quarterback Geimere Latimer on third down to force an incomplete pass to make it fourth down. Kayin Lee broke up a desperation pass on fourth down to give the Saints the football at their own 11 with 8:38 to play.
A big scramble by Colson when it looked like he was going to be sacked went for 13 yards for a first down at midfield and Ricky Lee did the rest going for 30 yards and 20 yards around the left end for the go-ahead score with 5:22 to play
Sandy Creek had taken the early lead marching 75 yards on the first possession of the game ending in a one-yard TD run by Franklin to go up 7-0.
The Patriots (13-2) were on the way to what looked to be a 14-0 lead when the Saints defense led by Lawson sacked Latimer and got an intentional grounding call that backed Sandy Creek up into a fourth and goal at the Saints 26. A fourth down pass was incomplete, and Cedar Grove took over.
The Saints marched 74 yards with runs of 14 by Lee and 17 by Colson along the way before Lawson would go the final seven for the touchdown with 10:04 left in the first half. Amari Forte’s PAT was good to knot the game at 7-7.
Joseph Slaughter recovered a fumble on the kickoff to give Cedar Grove the football at the Sandy Creek 29. Cedar Grove picked up a first down, but had to settle for a 35-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead with 8:27 left in the first half.
The Saints failed to take advantage of another Patriots fumble with 7:28 to play in the half and the teams went to the break with Cedar Grove up 10-7.
Cedar Grove finishes as the state runner-up with an 11-3 record.