The Bulloch Academy Gators used a balanced attack and stifling defense to knock off Savannah Country Day 42-0 in the opening round of the state GIAA Class 4-A playoffs Thursday at Gator Alley.
The Gators had five different players score touchdowns and drove up and down the field at will Thursday night. Head coach Aaron Phillips felt his team was focused and believes the physical play of the Gators was the difference maker Thursday night.
“I thought we beat them up pretty good on the line of scrimmage tonight on both sides of the ball,” Phillips said. “They connected on a few short passes early on but we took that away and got after the quarterback on defense. On offense we had one turnover and one punt but besides that we pretty much scored on every possession.”
The Gators got three touchdown runs from B.J. Smart and one each from Nick Eason, Connor Perry and Maddox Lee. Phillips feels one of the biggest strengths of his team is the fact that defenses can’t guess who is going to hurt them on any given night.
“Some people may think they have a two headed monster in the backfield but we have a lot more heads than that who can hurt you,” Phillips said. “From Nick, to Connor, B.J. Smart and Sam Hunnard as well as Rocco Reiss and Maddox Lee. It’s pick your poison and we even had a few passes to Billy Crider tonight as well to keep the defense honest. Credit to our offensive line for doing their job as well.”
The Gators started the game getting a couple of 15-yard runs from Connor Perry and Sam Hubbard before Perry scored from four-yards out. A Case Woodrum extra point made it 7-0.
In the second quarter Eason took a quick pitch around the right side for a 12-yard score and a 14-0 lead. Connor Perry added a 65-yard run down to the three-yard line before being knocked out of bounds. Smart scored from there to give the Gators a 21-0 lead into the half.
In the second half the Gators turned the ball over, but got it right back holding the Hornets on a fourth and long. From there they’d march down field and Smart scored another short touchdown run to extend the lead to 28-0.
Perry helped set up the next score with a nice leaping interception at midfield. Smart scored from two-yards out to extend the lead to 35-0. In the fourth with a running clock the Gators added the finishing touch with a five-yard touchdown run from Maddox Lee.
Up next the Gators host the winner of Brookstone and Strong Rock next Friday at Gator Alley.
