ADDISON – Big plays by Zayne Guthrie and Gage Gilliland early in the third quarter enabled the No. 3 ranked Addison Bulldogs to come from behind and defeat the No. 6 ranked Spring Garden Panthers 42-26 Friday night at A.G. Hicks Stadium in the second round of the AHSAA football playoffs.
Guthrie ran around right end for a 44-yard touchdown on the third play of the second half and gave Addison the lead they never surrendered for the rest of the evening.
Gilliland scooped up a fumble by Spring Garden running back Dakota Lambert and went 30 yards down the left sidelines the next time the Panthers had possession.
That allowed the Bulldogs to go from an 18-14 deficit at halftime to a 28-18 lead.
After getting outgained by the Panthers 203 to 121 in total offense during the first half, the Bulldogs changed the advantage to their side.
Addison ran for 195 yards and gave up 147 to the visitors from Cherokee County.
A key was the Bulldogs shutting down Lambert who rumbled for 150 yards and a touchdown in the opening half. In the second half, Lambert gained only 42 yards, 13 in the fourth quarter with plenty of Bulldog defenders seeking out the talented senior ball carrier.
A game that went back and forth for the first half became Spring Garden's advantage when quarterback Ben Ivey plunged in from the 1 with 10 seconds left until halftime.
That sent the Panthers to an 18-14 lead.
Spring Garden led 6-0 on a 12-yard pass from Ivey to Gaines Petty on the first series of the ball game.
Addison matched it by a 60-yard drive with fullback Zeb Maze blasting in from the 5. The Bulldogs missed the conversion and the game was 6-6 with 3:35 left in the quarter.
The Panthers then drove 64 yards to the end zone, needing one play, a sweep around the right end by Lambert.
But the Panthers could not score on a 2-point play and took a 12-6 lead to the second stanza.
Addison got great field position when Chandler Cookenmaster took a punt down to the Spring Garden 36 with 7:21 to play in the quarter.
The Bulldogs used two passes by Noah Rice that allowed them to penetrate into the Spring Garden end zone. The first set up the score on a fourth down play of 12 yards to Gilliland.
The next one was a 10-yard connection in the end zone to Logan Wilkins. Maze ran in the conversion and it was Addison 14-12 with 4:16 still to play before halftime.
Spring Garden took the rest of the period to finish the first half with the lead. The Panthers' last drive was 64 yards as it took them four plays from around the 1 to punch it in. Ivey did just that, but the Panthers once again failed to get a 2-point play and held the lead of 18-14 when the two teams left the field for intermission.
Addison fielded a Spring Garden squib kick at its 47 to start the second half with Guthrie getting the call and responding on a 44-yard run on third down and the Bulldogs led 22-18 at the 10:33 mark. Maze got his second 2-point conversion of the contest.
Spring Garden gambled on fourth-and-short around its 30-yard line the next time the Panthers were in possession. It wound up being a major mistake as Lambert was tackled short of the first down, losing the football, which Gilliland got on the bounce and set sailing for a 30-yard fumble return TD.
The Bulldogs led 28-18, but were unable to add the 2-point conversion.
Spring Garden answered on an 80-yard drive and closed the margin to 28-26 before time ran out in the quarter when Ivey threw to Dylan Slayton on a 12-yard slant route and added a 2-point conversion by finding Lambert open in the end zone.
Rice gave Addison great field position with a kickoff return to the Panthers' 47 that got an additional 15 yards on a personal foul penalty. The drive started at the Panthers' 32 on the final snap of the third.
Addison took two minutes off the clock to begin the fourth period with the TD coming on a 15-yard run from Maze. Maze added an extra point and the Bulldogs went up 35-26 with 10:01 remaining.
Spring Garden managed to move the ball deep into Addison territory before linebacker Maze dropped back into coverage and intercepted an Ivey pass at the Bulldogs' 14.
That allowed the Bulldogs to put an insurance drive to work, taking the ball 86 yards to pay dirt. It ended on a 14-yard run off left tackle from Rice and the conversion from Maze made it 42-26 with 3:06 remaining.
The final drive by Spring Garden ended when Guthrie picked off an Ivey pass at the Addison 37. The Bulldogs then ran out the final 2:07 to remain undefeated at 12-0 and punch a ticket to the quarterfinal round with a game next Friday at Hubbertville in Fayette County.
Hubbertville scored a late touchdown to come from behind to down Hackleburg 27-22, setting up a battle with the Bulldogs in the next round of exciting, but grueling, playoff football.
Spring Garden concludes the season at 10-2, its best record in school history. The Panthers were eliminated in the second round for the second straight season. Last year, Spring Garden lost to Decatur Heritage 30-22 in overtime.
This was the first meeting between Addison and Spring Garden with these two possessing two of the best offenses coming in. Spring Garden had 500 points for 11 games, an average of 45.7, with Addison putting up 482 prior to this assignment, scoring 43.7 per game.
The Bulldogs dominated the fourth quarter with 136 yards rushing and eight first downs. For the night, coach David Smothers' Bulldogs had 316 yards of offense, 294 by the ground, and 20 first downs, 14 during the second half.
This was the first time in quite a while the Bulldogs had to overcome a halftime deficit. Addison outscored Spring Garden 30-8 in the final two quarters.
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