CHICKAMAUGA — Gordon Lee scored on three straight possessions in the first half and rode a solid defensive performance from start to finish to a 44-16 win over visiting Southeast Whitfield in the Trojans’ home opener on Friday night.
After running for 306 yards in a 34-23 win at Armuchee last week, Gordon Lee showed off its passing attack against the Raiders. Sophomore quarterback Dustin Day was 11 of 16 in the air for an efficient 191 yards and three touchdowns, though he was intercepted twice.
Day completed passes to five different receivers, but seven of them were pulled in by freshman standout Brayden Stoker, who turned in a memorable and somewhat rare offensive feat in his first game in front of the home crowd.
Stoker caught seven passes for 101 yards and also passed the century mark on the ground with six carries for 128 yards. That included an 80-yard TD scamper on what turned out to be the Trojans’ only offensive play of the fourth quarter.
Gordon Lee put up the first points of the night with 4:59 left in the first quarter. Two runs by Stoker covered 51 yards and help set up a 1-yard plunge by Dalton Russell. The first of six extra points by Bryson Johnson made it 7-0.
Less than a minute later, Landon Norton went up high to pick off a Jacob Layman pass and Gordon Lee found the endzone just three plays later. Day found Easton Yates in one-on-one coverage and the sophomore made a nice spin and stiff-arm before racing to complete the 30-yard score.
A high snap on a Raider punt in the closing seconds of the first quarter resulted in a safety and Gordon Lee would convert after the free kick with a quick 50-yard march, sided by a 15-yard Southeast face mask penalty. The final play was a 14-yard slant pass from Day to to Hurley McAllister as the Trojans upped their lead to 23-0 less than two minutes into the second quarter.
After a three-and-out by the Gordon Lee defense, Norton caught a screen pass and used up a great block by Stoker on the outside to race 42 yards and make it 30-0 with 6:37 left in the half.
The Raiders, who didn’t pick up their initial first down until five minutes to go in the first half, were finally able to put points on the board late. Pressure on Day resulted in a pick by Mason Williams and the Raiders went to work with 38 seconds left.
Layman hit Noah Singleton on a 44-yard pickup down the sideline before Ian Lively hauled in an 11-yard pass to move it inside the Gordon Lee 2. However, a false start penalty backed the offense up five yards and they would have to settle for a Denis Estrada 19-yard field goal with six seconds left on the clock.
Southeast got into the endzone on its second possession of the second half as a bad snap on a Gordon Lee punt attempt gave the Raiders excellent field position at the Trojans’ 20 yard line. Lively scored on a 9-yard run three plays into the drive to make it 30-10 with 3:30 left in the third quarter.
But any hopes that Southeast had about a comeback were dashed uthe Southeast 26 and Brisyn Oliver went 23 yards on first down to set up a 3-yard TD run by Stoker with 2:31 left in the period.
Southeast blocked a punt on the first play of the fourth quarter to take possession at the Gordon Lee 31, but a fumble on second down would force a 44-yard field goal attempt, which Estrada missed.
One play later, Stoker took a handoff on a sweep to the right and made a nice cutback on the sideline before out running the Raider defense for the Trojans’ final points of the night.
Southeast capped the night with a long touchdown drive against Gordon Lee’s second team defense. They went 86 yards in 16 plays and took the final 8:46 off the clock with Abraham Rodriguez scoring from the 1 on the game’s final play.
Gordon Lee finished with 196 yards on 24 rushes. Oliver had 28 yards on seven attempts. Russell ran four times for 17 yards and Brady Little had two carries for 21 yards in the second half.
Southeast ran the ball 47 times on the night for 162 yards, over half of which came on the final drive. Layman had 14 carries for 43 yards, while Alberto Rios ran nine times for 33 yards. Layman was 3 of 10 passing for 55 yards and Jake Hastey also recorded an interception on defense.
Gordon Lee (2-1) will take next week off before the Region 6-AAA opener at Bremen on Sept. 15. Southeast (1-2) also has an open date next Friday. The Raiders will return to action on Sept. 15 at Armuchee.