High School Football: Centennial Claims Victory Over Alpharetta

By Mike Blum

ALPHARETTA, GA — For years, the Centennial High School football team has relied on its high-scoring offense to win games. The Knights have consistently put up plenty of points on scoreboards, but it often hasn’t been enough, especially against the team’s stronger opponents.

However, in a Friday night match against the Alpharetta High School Raiders, Centennial did something it hasn’t done in many years on the football field. Largely thanks to the team’s defense, the Knights defeated frequent region champion Alpharetta 14-6 to take early control of the three-team battle for the Region 7-AAAAAA championship.

The Knights did not allow a touchdown to the state-ranked Raiders, who were averaging 33 points a
game prior to Friday’s contest. The Raiders moved the football effectively for most of the game, compiling 353 yards total offense. But they managed just two field goals against a surprisingly stout Centennial defense, which had not held any of its four prior opponents to fewer than 28 points. And one of those two field goals was a gift from the officiating crew, which gave the Raiders a do-over attempt with no time on the clock at the end of the first half after an inconsequential inadvertent whistle following a blocked field goal by the Knights.

Had the officiating mistake impacted the final outcome, Centennial head coach Michael Perry would have had cause to file a protest with the GHSA, but the Knights rendered the gift three points for the Raiders insignificant with the quality of their play on both sides of the ball. While this is not one of the better offenses the Raiders have featured during a decade-long run of putting future college quarterbacks on the field, Alpharetta remains the strongest defensive team in the region with a more-than-adequate offensive unit.

Perry credited the work of defensive coordinator Sebastian Rice, along with the outstanding effort of the
entire defense.

“The biggest thing was that the kids played with confidence,” Perry said. “They want to prove that Centennial can be a football school.”

Alpharetta scored 17 points in the final 6:30 last year to erase a late 14-point lead by the Knights, and Perry pointed to that painful memory as a motivator for his players. The loss came in the 2017 region opener for both teams, and Centennial did not lose again until the second round of the playoffs, which followed the Knights’ first win at state in well over a decade.

The Knights are now 3-0 in region play (3-2 overall), and are tied with Johns Creek for first play in the playoffs. Centennial has gone 7-1 in the region each of the last two seasons, placing second behind Alpharetta last year and tying Johns Creek for first in 2016, losing the tiebreaker due to a regular season loss to the Gladiators.

Centennial plays at Johns Creek Oct. 19, with the Gladiators playing the next week at Alpharetta. Those two games will likely determine the top three spots in the final region standings. Typically, the Knights win games by scoring in the 30s or 40s, or 60s as they did two weeks ago against Cambridge. Friday night, the Centennial offense “did just enough,” Perry said, scoring two touchdowns on passes from senior quarterback Max Brosmer.

Brosmer hit wide receiver Richard Shaw in stride on an outside slant for an 80-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, with Shaw using his speed to outrun the Alpharetta secondary. The score came less than a minute after the Centennial defense forced a 24-yard field goal by Bryce Troutt after the Raiders’ had a first-and-goal following a sustained drive. The Raiders cut the lead to 7-6 at the half on Troutt’s 39-yard kick after his first try was blocked with two seconds on the clock. A 33-yard pass from Will Gerdes to Robbie Ruppel put the Raiders in scoring position.

The Raiders changed quarterbacks after their first series of the second half, and quickly threatened to take the lead when Kevin Watkins broke loose for 49 yards to the Centennial 34 on the first play after Bradley Rowlinson replaced Gerdes. But the Raiders wound up missing a 45-yard field goal after a pass from Rowlinson to a receiver in the end zone was incomplete.

Rowlinson was just 1-of-3 for 8 yards passing in his three series at quarterback, with Gerdes returning with 2:19 to play and the Raiders down 14-6. Centennial increased its lead when Brosmer found Freddy Fairley behind the Alpharetta defense in the end zone for a 25-yard score midway through the fourth quarter. Two plays earlier, Brosmer went deep to sophomore Drake Mason for 35 yards to the Raiders’ 16, with those two passes among the rare occasions Brosmer had enough time to throw the ball downfield.

Perry praised Brosmer’s play against what he described as “a tough Alpharetta defense.” Throwing mostly short passes to negate a strong Raiders’ rush, Brosmer completed 17 of 25 passes with no interceptions for 259 yards, well below his 2018 average of around 330 yards per contest. Mason caught seven passes for 90 yards, with Shaw gaining 111 yards on four receptions. The Knights managed just 46 yards rushing against the Raiders after running back Cal Dickie ran for over 300 yards with six touchdowns in Centennial’s first two region wins.

Behind the passing of Gerdes, the Raiders had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds. He completed passes of 20, 20, 16 and 13 yards as Alpharetta reached the Centennial 19 with time for one play. Gerdes lofted a pass into the end zone, but it was intercepted by the Knights’ Kevon Angry to seal the win.

Gerdes was 17 of 30 for 211 yards, with Watkins catching six passes out of the backfield for 61 yards to go along with his 143 yards on 24 carries. Ruppel had four catches for 69 yards and Joshua Grant had five receptions for 55 yards for the Raiders.

Alpharetta is 2-1 in the region and 3-2 overall and does not face another region contender until a home game against Johns Creek Oct. 26.

Mike Blum can be reached at michaelmblum@hotmail.com.

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