Junior Kyle Scales made his mark early and often in 's 42-28 victory over Blessed Trinity Friday night at Reynolds Field. Scales had 100 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries to go along with a crucial interception that sealed the Spartans' fifth win of the season.
The Spartans implemented their three-headed quarterback theory early against the Titans with Jared Chapple, David McTier and Delano Spencer all getting under center on the first GAC scoring drive.
Scales put GAC into Titan territory, catching a punt off one bounce and returning it 62 yards. McTier scored a few plays later on a 2-yard quarterback keeper with the Connor Cox point-after making it 7-0.
Find out what's happening in Norcrosswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
GAC extended the lead with a 1-yard plunge by Chapple with 8:55 left in the first half. Blessed Trinity started to get its offense on track with halftime approaching. Blessed Trinity quarterback Spencer McManes found wide receiver John Davis on a well-excuted play-action pass to the ball to the GAC 30. After a Spartan offsides penalty, Titan running back Sam Roberts put Blessed Trinity on the scorebord with a 17-yard run.
The Spartans offense took a hit with senior wideout/defensive back Kalif Raymond suffering an ankle injury after making a leaping catch in front of the GAC bench. Roberts closed quickly to make the tackle and Raymond came down awkwardly and left the game.
Find out what's happening in Norcrosswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
GAC continued to look to its running game with Scales sharing carries with seniors Lavondre Nelson and DaSean Daniels. Scales scored his first touchdown of the night when he got around the left edge and turned on the speed for a 19-yard run to make to score 21-7.
Blessed Trinity was able to find paydirt again before halftime after McManes exposed a blown coverage and found Roberts on a wheel route for 55 yards. McManes repeatedly made the Spartans pay for biting on the play-action pass, this time finding a open Chris Dore for a 6-yard scoring strike with less than a minute in the half.
Blessed Trinity came out of the locker room looking to tie the game and missed a golden opportunity to do so. McManes tossed the ball right to Roberts who sold the run before looking upfield to pass. Roberts delivered a catchable ball to a wide-open Davis who just couldn't come up with the grab.
The Spartans took control from this point, getting the ball back and driving the ball with the run.
Scales scored his second touchdown on a 46-yard run, negating any possible tackling angles with pure speed. On the ensuing drive, the Titans gave the ball away on a botched lateral and GAC quickly cashed in with a 3-yard touchdown run by Daniels to put the Spartans up 35-14.
The Titans answered right back with another big play of their own to keep the game in doubt. On the first snap of the fourth quarter, McManes went to the play-action well again, this time to the tune of 80 yards to Davis making it a two-score game again.
Chapple scored his second touchdown of the night on a QB sneak from the 1 to make things a bit more comfortable for the "Big Red" faithful. Though the game seemed to be in hand, the Spartans showed a few problems that could be shored up. In particular the number of penalties (15 infractions for 110 yards) and the secondary's problems with play-action.
The win marks the first 5-0 start for the Spartans since their 2005 season when they finished 11-1. After a bye week, GAC will continue a three-game homestand when it hosts regional rivals Decatur on Oct. 7 at Reynolds Field
