The primary question prior to undefeated Greater Atlanta Christian's homecoming game against Clarkston Friday night was whether or not the Spartans could avoid looking ahead to a would-be titanic Region 6-AA tilt against Buford.
The now 7-0 Spartans answered with a resounding yes, posting a 62-8 victory at Reynolds Field.
The win sets up a match-up of unbeatens with the Wolves at Tom Riden Stadium in Buford next week for the 6-AA, Division A lead.
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The Spartans had a great start Friday, recovering a Jordan Battle fumble of the opening kickoff at the Clarkston 40.
After a pass interference penalty on Clakston moved the ball to the 13, Delano Spencer hit Jeremy McGriff for the opening points of the evening.
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Two-way star Kyle Scales gave GAC the ball right back, picking off an Angora halfback pass and returning it to the Clarkston 15.
Spencer found McGriff with his second TD pass play later on a crisply-run slant route and the tone was set. Clarkston's offense was inept all evening long, failing to cross the 50-yard line.
GAC had no such issues, moving the ball at will. Spencer continued his passing excellence with two more touchdown tosses in the opening quarter. A 16-yarder to Clay Metzger followed by a 40-yard bomb to Peter Whiteneck put the game out of reach at 27-0. Spencer watched from the sideline for the remainer of the game.
The Spartans offense didn't miss a beat with David McTier taking over the game in the second quarter. McTier had TD passes to George Thomas and Metzger in consecutive drives to make the score 41-0. McTier also made a defensive impact, coming up with a 32-yard interception return for another score with 19 seconds left in the first half.
The junior varsity offense came out in the second half for the Spartans and produced a 12-minute scoring drive, ending with a Joey Schrader 1-yard plunge for GAC's final points. The game mercifully ran on a continuous clock for the fourth quarter to end the proceedings.
The win sets the stage for a highly anticipate game next Friday as the Spartans play perennial power Buford. The Wolves will be well-rested coming off of a bye.
Who has the best team in Gwinnett County? Could it be the winner of next week's Buford-GAC game? .
