Late Rally Lifts Fellowship Christian Into State Quarterfinals

By Mike Blum

ROSWELL, GA — The Fellowship Christian Paladins pulled off a late, fourth-quarter comeback at home Friday, Nov. 16 to defeat Riverside Military Academy 35-28 in the second round of the Class A private school playoffs.

Riverside connected on a 54-yard touchdown with just under five minutes of play to take a 28-21 lead. But the Paladins responded with a pair of long touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Joey Archer to senior Cameron Gill to pull out the win. An 86-yard catch by Gill with 3:15 to play tied the game and, after a fumble recovery by senior Cam Cochran, Archer and Gill teamed up again for a game-winning, 53-yard score with just over one minute to play.

The late comeback concluded an outstanding game offensively for the Paladins, who played almost the entire contest without standout sophomore running back Murphy Reeves, who rushed for 1700 yards and 18 touchdowns during the regular season, averaging 9.8 yards per carry. Reeves carried only twice for 8 yards against Riverside, but several Fellowship players stepped up in his
absence. Sophomore Lawson Haigler took over as the Paladins’ primary running back, and carried 25 times for 117 yards and the first two FCS touchdowns. He put Fellowship ahead 7-0 with a 4-yard run in the first quarter and his 6-yard score tied the game at 14 in the second period.

Riverside led 21-14 at the half, with Gill scoring on a 12-yard run in the third quarter to again tie the game. Gill had a huge night for the Paladins, rushing for 111 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and catching five passes for 176 yards and two scores. Archer also came through with the best game of his young career at quarterback for FCS, completing 10 of 19 passes for 297 yards and the two late scoring passes to Gill. Archer took over as the team’s starter midway through the season following an injury to senior Brooks Bryant. Before being injured in the team’s sixth game, Bryant had passed for 726 yards and nine touchdowns.

Archer was 18 of 49 for 334 yards in his four starts plus a few brief appearances as a backup. After a
strong debut as a starter, he passed for just 167 yards in the team’s last three games with six
interceptions. But with Archer at the helm Friday, the Paladins piled up 532 yards of offense, with Haigler and Gill keying a running attack that produced 235 yards. Sophomore Jordan Brewer, the team’s leading receiver during the regular season, had four catches for 78 yards, including a 46-yarder, and sophomore Brady Niblock contributed a 43-yard reception, his first catch of the season.

In addition to his vital fumble recovery, Cochran also had an interception for the Paladins, who improved their record to 10-1. Fellowship will take on second-seeded Savannah Christian on Friday, Nov. 23 in the quarterfinals. Savannah Christian won a 14-7 defensive struggle last week against Hebron Christian. Like Fellowship, Savannah Christian is 10-1, losing its season opener 20-7 to unbeaten Athens Academy. The Raiders have won 10 straight since.

Fellowship won its first nine games before losing to Mt. Zion of Carrollton by the same 20-7 score for the Region 6-A Championship. The Paladins are the seventh seed in the Class A private school division.

Image via Shutterstock