North Murray 23, Adairsville 20

Playing on the road against a Region 6-3A opponent, North Murray found the magic at the end and won in Adairsville on the final play of the game. On a hurried play where the Mountaineers needed to rush to the line just to get the snap off in time, Preston Poag Jr. found receiver Landon Burrell wide open for a touchdown to give North Murray the 23-20 victory. Mountaineers players and coaches rushed the field as North Murray moved to 3-2, 2-1 in Region 6-3A.

“I didn’t know if we were even going to get the play off,” North Murray coach Preston Poag said. “Preston (Poag Jr.) just made a really heads-up play there. It was a huge win for us.”

The game was tied 3-3 at halftime, but the scoring picked up in the second half. Poag Jr. found Burrell for an earlier touchdown, and D’Ante Tidwell scored on a 10-yard touchdown run. After a long kickoff return gave Adairsville field position on North Murray’s side of the field, the Tigers kicked a field goal to take a 20-17 lead with four minutes remaining.

North Murray used the entire four minutes to drive down to the Adairsville two-yard line, and with time running out, Poag Jr. and Burrell made the play to win the Mountaineers the game.

North Murray plays at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe next week.

LaFayette 28, Southeast 21

Four of Southeast Whitfield High School’s five games this year have come down to the final minutes of play. But on Friday night, things didn’t go the way the Raiders had hoped.

Southeast (2-3, 0-1 in Region 6-4A) had a chance to tie or win the game in the final minute, ultimately ending with an incomplete pass on fourth and goal from the 5-yard-line, falling on the road to LaFayette, 28-21.

“It was a great game. We just came out on the short end of the stick,” Southeast coach Sean Gray said. “We drove about 80 yards and then they took a knee for the win.”

LaFayette jumped to a 14-0 lead at halftime, but the Raiders came out hot in the second half. Juan Zepeda intercepted a pass on the first play of the third quarter, setting up the first score for Southeast.

Southeast tied the game 21-21 in the third quarter.

“It was back and forth,” Gray said. “The kids played really hard. There’s really not much difference between the losses and the wins. It just didn’t turn the right way for us.”

Southeast ended with 455 yards of total offense. Christian Gillespie scored on a 45-yard run, Zac Cole caught a 55-yard pass from Adam Sowder and Sowder scored on a 70-yard run for the Raiders, all in the third quarter.

The Raiders had defeated LaFayette six years in a row before Friday night.

“They were upset, especially the seniors,” Gray said. “We have to go back to work. We are still really inexperienced. But, we learned some things tonight that will make us better in the long run. We still have a lot of football to look forward to.”

Southeast hosts Pickens for another region game next Friday night.