By KEVIN MOBLEY – Web Writer
The West team defeated the East team 31-6 in the Northeast Georgia Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ inaugural Football All-Star Game, hosted by Clarke Central High School.
The holidays came a little early for seven Clarke Central High School varsity football seniors.
The Northeast Georgia chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes presented them with the opportunity to play one last high school football game in their home stadium under two of the winningest head coaches in Georgia high school football history.
“I just couldn’t turn it down,” CCHS senior and West team quarterback Cameron Johnson said. “I thought I wanted to focus on basketball and not risk an injury, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. It was a great decision.”
CCHS hosted the first annual Northeast Georgia FCA All-Star Football Game on Friday, Dec. 20 at Billy Henderson Stadium.
“The sky is the limit for this,” Northeast Georgia FCA director Jack Murray said. “We’re just going to hopefully build on it and get better with it every year.”
The West team, coached by Prince Avenue Christian School head coach Jeff Herron, defeated the East team, coached by Athens Academy head coach Michael Gunn, 31-6.
“I’m sure they would’ve liked to have seen a little more of a competitive game from a scoring standpoint,” Herron said. “There were some good players that chose not to play this year, maybe because it was new. In the future, they’ll realize what a good event it is.”
Former CCHS coach Billy Henderson was named honorary coach for the West team, while former Commerce coach Ray Lamb was bestowed with the same honor for the East team.
“It’ll bring back old memories,” Lamb said before the game. “At least I don’t feel any pressure. Coach Gunn’s going to make all the calls.”
22 of the 24 member schools of the Northeast Georgia FCA – CCHS, Cedar Shoals, Athens Academy, Athens Christian School, Bethlehem Christian Academy, Commerce, East Jackson, Greene County, Jackson County, Jefferson, Loganville, Loganville Christian Academy, Madison County, Monroe Area, Prince Avenue Christian School, Walnut Grove and Winder-Barrow – were represented in the game.
A coaches committee met earlier this month at Athens Academy to select the teams. The whole process took three hours, but Gunn felt the meeting produced the desired result.
“(The meeting) went well,” Gunn said. “We kind of split the big schools and the small schools as evenly as we could, then those coaches got together and nominated their kids. It was actually a pretty clean process and went really smooth.”
The West team, which included seven Gladiators, scored first only 46 seconds into the contest. CCHS senior and West team quarterback Cameron Johnson connected with fellow Gladiator Austin Johnson for a 74-yard strike to make it 7-0.
“I didn’t think they were going to let me go deep,” Austin Johnson said. “When I saw the ball I was like ‘I’ve got to go make a play.'”
Herron felt that particular play gave his team a wave of confidence that they would ride the rest of the way.
“I thought we played pretty well,” Herron said. “With an All-Star game, you never really know what to expect, but we came out and Cameron threw the big play there right off the bat, and kind of got us a little momentum. I thought our kids played pretty well today.”
The West defense would stop the East team on their first offensive possession as Cedar Shoals High School senior and East team running back Adrian Washington was stopped for a loss on fourth down, resulting in a turnover on downs.
The teams traded punts before Washington fumbled, as North Oconee High School senior and West team linebacker Bradley Glenn recovered the ball at the East team’s 24-yard line.
Shortly thereafter, Cameron Johnson would punch it in from one yard out to give the West a 14-0 lead. Winder-Barrow High School senior and West team quarterback Hunter Cooper came in to relieve Johnson for the rest of the half.
Each team would punt once again before Cooper led the West team on a 14-play, 76-yard drive that he capped off with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Austin Johnson to widen the margin to 21-0 with 38 seconds remaining in the half.
“(Cooper and I) clicked pretty fast,” Austin Johnson said. “He liked me, and I liked him and how he threw. I got used to his playing style.”
On the ensuing possession, the East team drove down the field to set up a 48-yard field goal attempt by Athens Academy senior and East team kicker Michael Santamaria, which he would drive through the uprights as time expired.
After Morgan County High School senior and East team quarterback Trent Hawk’s pass was intercepted by Loganville High School senior and West team defensive back Tyler Browning on the first possession of the second half, the East defense forced the West team to punt.
On the next East team drive, Gunn utilized five different rushers to drive down the field and register three points by way of another Santamaria field goal, this one from 39 yards out to make it 21-6 with 5:10 left in the third quarter.
However, Cameron Johnson would return to lead his West team offense down the field 70 yards to squander an East team comeback, as he went 3/4 for 33 yards and rushed for 29 yards on three caries on the drive, scoring on an 11-yard touchdown run.
PACS senior and West team kicker Tyler Foster solidified the final score – 31-6 – with a 21-yard field goal with 3:21 remaining in the game.
After the game, each coach and player were presented with a personalized plaque, and the West team was granted the first FCA Cup, which will reside with Henderson until next year’s game.
Murray feels that cooperation between all of the schools involved was imperative to the the success of the event, and that it has fostered a greater sense of community within the high schools in Athens and its surrounding areas.
“One thing that’s noticeable to me is the relationships that are being established between coaches from cross-town rival schools,” Murray said. “I’ve already seen a benefit there, which is enjoyable to me.”
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