A dominant first half saw the Bulloch Academy Gators rack up nearly 500 yards of offense and 5 touchdowns to put to rest any thought of Augusta Christian spoiling the Gators’ home opener as BA cruised to a 51-7 win.
That Gators (2-0) scored on their first five possessions while thwarting the aerial attack of the Lions who came in with the top wide receiver prospect of the Class of 2026 in Dallas Carter. However, Carter didn’t play Friday night and the Gator defense shut down the rest of the Augusta Christian (1-1) offense, holding them to 149 total yards on the night.
BA started the scoring on the opening possession. After five straight running plays, quarterback Ben Aaron found Isaiah Smart open across the middle. Smart raced past the Lions’ defense for a 49-yard score. Hunter Davis Pressley’s point after put the Gators up 7-0.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Gators marched 69 yards on seven plays, this time with Luke Willoughby caping off the drive with a 19-yard touchdown reception that saw him just reach the endzone as he dove past the defense. Reid Clifton scored on the two-point conversion attempt to give the Gators a 15-0 lead.
The Gators forced another punt on the Lions’ next possession and the Gators wasted no time extending their lead. Reid Clifton started the 77-yard drive with an explosive 60-yard run on a sweep and three plays later he scored on a one-yard run. Pressley’s PAT gave the Gators a 22-0 lead as the offense amassed 245 yards in the first quarter. Augusta Christian had seven yards of offense on their two possessions in the quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same as the Gator defense continued to cause the Lions’ offense fits while BA was able to move the ball at will.
The Lions were able to finally get their offense clicking for a drive, scoring to cut the BA lead to 22-7, but the Gators responded.
Shamar Jenkins caught an Arron pass on the right side, fought to stay in bounds and then had the strength to remain in play when a Lion defender tried to knock him out. His 44-yard reception capped a two-play drive covering 65 yards.
After yet another three-and-out for the Lions, the Gators embarked on a 54 yard drive. This time it was capped off with a Smart 15-yard run. Aaron’s scramble on the extra point was able to find the front left corner of the endzone for a 2-point conversion to put the Gators ahead 37-7.
Bulloch Academy’s offense rolled their way to 575 total yards, with nearly 400 of those coming from a ground attack that saw Clifton and Smart each run for more than 100 yards.
In the air, Aaron only had two incomplete passes, going 5-7 for 183 yards and four touchdowns on the night.
“No one knows this, but we played with only one starting offensive lineman tonight,” BA Head Coach Aaron Phillips said after the game. “We had some freaky things happen. One kid got his knee cut open on the pads at practice. We had another get an infection in his heel and we lost one during the game.”
Despite the injuries, Phillips was confident his team would be able to step up.
“We tell them every day you’re either preparing to play or you’re waiting to play and we want them to prepare to play and they’re buying into that,” he said.
Augusta Christian decided against having a running clock in the third quarter, as is their option, but the added time did little to give the Lions any hope as the Lions punted on both of their third quarter possessions without mustering a first down.
Phillips credited his coaching staff with implementing a game plan for Friday that would put the Gators in position to win.
“I don’t know who said this, but someone said ‘to be a good head coach, you have to surround yourself with great assistant coaches’ and we have that here at Bulloch Academy,” he said.
Clifton added two second half touchdowns, a 20-yard touchdown run and a 38-yard reception from Arron to finish off the scoring for the night. He finished with 163 yards and two touchdowns rushing on seven carries and the lone touchdown reception through the air.
As with all head coaches, Phillips said that even with the win, there are still areas the Gators can improve going forward.
“When we played Portal (in the preseason) we had 30 missed tackles and then the next week we had 10. Last week we had 11 so we’re hoping we had fewer than 10 tonight. That’s kind of our goal,” he said
Bulloch Academy will have an off week to rest and get healthy before hosting Trinity Christian out of Dublin on September 8.
