The Adairsville Tigers (7-2, 6-0) beat the Bremen Blue Devils by a score of 28-21 Friday night to capture the region crown.
Bremen received the opening kickoff, and its first possession was rocky, to say the least. The Blue Devils fumbled the ball twice and recovered both fumbles before eventually punting the ball back to Adairsville. The Tigers did not have any trouble on the ensuing drive as they got into Bremen territory with ease before Jonathan Gough connected with Tre Winters for a 20-yard passing touchdown to put Adairsville ahead 7-0 early in the first quarter.
Facing an early deficit, Bremen’s offense made sure to get back to work, and the Blue Devils responded with a 9-yard rushing touchdown to tie the score 7-7 with around five minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Unfortunately, Adairsville could not regain its lead before the first quarter expired, and the Blue Devils began the second quarter by scoring a 15-yard rushing touchdown to go ahead 14-7 early in the quarter.
After this score, both teams’ offenses were extremely quiet for the rest of the first half. Neither team was able to put any points on the board, and Bremen took its 14-7 lead into halftime. Going into the second half, Adairsville desperately needed a big play and the Tigers made it happen as connected with Winters for an incredible 98-yard passing touchdown to tie the score 14-14 early in the third quarter. After the touchdown, Bremen had a long kick return, getting the ball inside the red zone with a great chance to take the lead. Adairsville’s defense came up with a huge play, though, intercepting a pass and regaining possession of the football. The Tigers did not score on the ensuing drive. Still, they would score eventually as Jonathan Gough connected with Tre Winters
for another long passing touchdown, which put Adairsville ahead 20-14 late in the third quarter.
Unfortunately, the Tigers missed the PAT, so the score remained 20-14. Adairsville held its six-point lead for most of the fourth quarter, but the Tigers would eventually concede it as Bremen scored a short rushing touchdown and made the PAT to take a 21-20 lead with under three minutes remaining in the game.
At this point, it felt like the game was slipping away from Adairsville. The Tigers had one final drive to take the lead and possibly win the game. Their final drive was rocky at first, but they
were able to get into Bremen territory Jamarian Pullum scored a 31-yard rushing touchdown to give Adairsville a 27-20 lead in the final minutes of the contest. Adairsville went for two after the touchdown, and Ethan Blome scored the two-point conversion to give Adairsville a 28-21 lead late in the fourth quarter.
Now Bremen faced an uphill battle as the Blue Devils needed to score a touchdown to win the game. Adairsville’s defense wasn’t going to let that happen, though, and they intercepted a pass, returned it inside Bremen’s 10-yard line, and gave its offense the ball with under a minute to go in the game. That was enough to seal the victory, and Adairsville escaped with a 28-21 victory as they won the AAA Region Six championship.
Next week, Adairsville will travel to Dalton to take on the Coahulla Creek Colts.