TIGERS, Ga. — With all the attention on the offenses, the Rabun County defense and special teams reminded everyone that they can play a little too.
The Wildcats got a blocked punt for a touchdown and forced two more special teams miscues. They forced three turnovers on downs and added a forced fumble and an interception as well.
All of that sparked a stunning 56-21 win over Dodge County on Friday night in the first round of the Class A D1 playoffs at Frank Snyder Stadium.
“We have played really well special teams-wise all year long, and certainly that was a huge factor in tonight’s game,” Rabun County coach Rance Gillespie said. “The block punt, the way we covered on kickoffs, it’s a lot of things that, you know, probably don’t get recognized. I’m just really pleased with the way we played on special teams.”
He didn’t forget about the defense.
“We gave up a couple of early scores there, but after that, I thought we settled in and created some turnovers,” Gillespie said. “They’re a talented football team. I mean, they’re huge. But just really proud of our kids and the level that they played at tonight.”
The win also came with another unexpected bonus as No. 2 seed Lamar County was upset 7-0 by No. 31 Berrien County. That sets up another home game for Rabun County (9-2) next week in the second round.
But Gillespie said they’re not trying to look too far ahead, even though it sets up their part of the draw nicely.
“We hope (it does) but we just want to keep our heads down, just keep working at it, and keep playing to a standard and see what happens,” he said.
As expected coming into the clash of the No. 15 and 18 seeds, both offenses controlled the game just seconds into the second quarter. The Wildcats took their opening drive 64-yards in 9-plays, with Lake Evans punching it in from 1-yard for a 7-0 lead. The Indians answered quickly behind junior quarterback Kain Mincey, who was 4-for-4 for 79 yards, capping their first drive with a 9-yard TD pass to Jauriel Bray.
After a Rabun punt and the Wildcats stopping Dodge on downs in the next two possessions, Ty Truelove and Reed Lafevers connected on a 20-yard pass and Lafevers then outran the Indians defense to turn it into a 70-yard score to reclaim the lead, 14-7, with 8 seconds left in the first quarter.
Dodge answered again after a short kickoff as Mincey and Bray struck again two plays later for a 52-yard TD pass on the first play of the second quarter to tie the game again at 14. From there, it was all Rabun County.
The Wildcats blocked a Dodge County punt and JK Fruster picked it up on a bounce and raced 35 yards for a touchdown for a 21-14 lead. Two plays after that, the Wildcats forced a fumble at the Indians 33.
Reid Giles capped the short drive with as thrilling a 1-yard touchdown run as you’ll see. Giles was hit five yards behind the line but he spun out of the grasp of three tacklers and then outsprinted the rest of the Dodge defense to the corner pylon to push their lead to 28-14 with 1:39 left in the half.
The Indians (7-4) never recovered. After exchanging punts to open the second half, Rabun County scored on four straight possessions — a 2-yard Giles TD run, a 4-yard Evans TD run, a 40-yard TD pass from Truelove to Lafevers, and Evans capped the night with a 28-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter for a 56-14 lead.
Mincey had a huge first half for the Indians, going 13-of-19 for 184 yards and 2 TDs. Bray had 4 catches for 79 yards and 2 TDs. But both were shut down in the second half by the Wildcats as Mincey was just 3-for-12 for 23 yards, none to Bray, with a Giles interception.
Ty Truelove was 8-0f-12 for 202 yards and 2 TDs, both to Lafevers, who finished with 3 catches for 120 yards and 2 TDs for Rabun County. Giles had a pair of TD runs and just under 100 yards from scrimmage as the Indians keyed on him most of the night. Evans had 55 yards rushing and 3 TDs for the Wildcats.
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