Source: Gwinnett Prep Sports
PHOTOS: Peachtree Ridge at Seckinger Football
BUFORD — Peachtree Ridge used a second-quarter special teams blitz to score a resounding 60-0 win over Seckinger in the Jaguars' first varsity game in school history Friday night.
“It’s always good to start the season with a win,” first-year Peachtree Ridge coach Matt Helmerich said. “It’s like I told the team, we’re going to go home watch the film and even in a game like this we will see a bunch of mistakes to get better from. It’s good to see the kids have some success.”
The Lions opened the scoring midway through the first quarter when Ahmed Mohamed connected on a 32-yard field goal. Peachtree Ridge had driven from its own 13 to the Seckinger 15, where the drive stalled after eight plays.
Seckinger responded after the kickoff with a first down but could drive no further and had to punt back to the Lions, who started at their own 48. The drive ended with a John Dutton 1-yard plunge with 1:08 left in the quarter. Mohamed’s extra point extended the lead to 10-0.
“I can’t say enough about Dutton,” Helmerich said. “He and Jordan Ghant are the captains of this team. John is a three-sport athlete, plays offense and defense, is a 4.0 student, you don’t see that much anymore.”
In the deciding second quarter, the youth and inexperience of the Jaguars came to the forefront in a tsunami where the Lions scored 29 straight points. Just as the second quarter began, Seckinger was forced to punt from its own 40. Punter Nick Bernal received a high snap and tried to spin and get the punt off. However, Peachtree Ridge’s Caleb Yu took the ball right off Bernal’s foot and raced 25 yards for a Lions touchdown. Jaylen Melendez connected with Tyeion Cofield on the two-point conversion to increase the lead to 18-0.
When the Jaguars next drive failed to get a first down, Seckinger’s next punt was blocked by Dutton, with the ball ricocheting to Yu, who caught it and ran 16 yards for another score as the lead increased to 25-0.
The special teams nightmare continued on the next drive when Jaquars coach Aaron Hill decided to have quarterback Jordan Oldknow quick kick on fourth down. The ball was not struck cleanly and fluttered to the left where Isaiah Rooks caught the punt and raced 35 yards for another Lions special teams touchdown.
With a comfortable lead, reserve quarterback Josh Evans connected on a 15-yard slant to Myles Abernathy with under two minutes left in the half to extend the lead to 39-0.
Seckinger received the second half kick off and after a first down, the Jaguars Issac Arocho had the ball stripped and recovered by the Lions’ Tayo Lana. Two plays later, Ladavious Dye raced 24 yards for the score to make it 46-0.
A Josh Evans 14 yard completion to Tristen Hill and a Sedric Addison five-yard run closed out the scoring.
Peachtree Ridge 10 29 14 7 - 60
Seckinger 0 0 0 0 - 0
First Quarter
Peachtree Ridge: Ahmed Mohamed 32 field goal, 7:03
Peachtree Ridge: John Dutton 1 run (Mohamed kick), 1:08
Second Quarter
Peachtree Ridge: Caleb Yu 25 yard blocked punt return (Jaylen Melendez pass to Tyeion Cofield), 10:59
Peachtree Ridge: Caleb Yu 16 yard blocked punt return (Mohamed kick), 8:52
Peachtree Ridge: Isaiah Rooks 35 punt return (Mohamed kick), 5:53
Peachtree Ridge: Josh Evans 15 pass to Myles Abernathy (Mohamed kick), 1:24
Third Quarter
Peachtree Ridge: Ladavious Dye 24 run (Alejandro Rivera kick), 7:28
Peachtree Ridge: Josh Evans 14 pass to Tristen Hill (Rivera kick), :45
Fourth Quarter
Peachtree Ridge: Sedric Addison 5 run (Rivera kick), 3:38