Peach County rallies past Westside

Peach County was thrown a curveball Friday night.

The Trojans were caught off-guard by an offensive formation that Westside hadn't run before, one that had just been installed this week in response to an injury to a key player.

Westside jumped out quickly, putting Peach County in a significant hole. But the Trojans made some adjustments, keeping the Seminoles out of the end zone in the second half and rallying for a 22-17 victory at the Ed DeFore Sports Complex.

Peach County (8-2, 7-1 GHSA Region 2-AAA) clinched a first-round playoff home game.

"It took awhile (to adjust) to the funky formation, especially since we hadn't seen it," Peach County head coach Chad Campbell said. "But the kids responded well, and our coaches made some adjustments to put pressure on the quarterback. We mixed (the defense) up some, zone and man, and the kids showed resilience."

Westside essentially ran out of the swinging gate for most of the game. A formation some teams use on extra-point attempts, the alignment is essentially the shotgun formation with four of the interior linemen lined up on the opposite hash mark from the center. The formation is legal as long as there are receivers on the line of scrimmage to the outside of the center and to the outside of the far tackle.

Head coach Spoon Risper installed the offense this week when quarterback Savion Knowlton was ruled out because of a concussion he suffered in last week's loss to Spencer.

Westside (6-3, 4-3) had some early success with its new formation, scoring two touchdowns in the first seven minutes en route to building a 17-0 lead.

Gerimie Mitchell, who moved from receiver to quarterback, completed 17-of-24 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 48 yards and a score.

"They did a heck of a job," Risper said of the adjustments. "Gerimie, my hat's off to him and the whole offense. They fought all the way. Gerimie gave it his all. I'm proud of these guys."

Peach County's adjustments, however, set up the Trojans' comeback.

Tyrique McGhee's 1-yard run as time expired in the second quarter put the Trojans on the board. Then, to start the second half, quarterback Antonio Gilbert found Kearis Jackson, who broke free for a 70-yard touchdown reception to close the game to three points.

Jackson pulled up on the final yards of his touchdown run, and he collapsed in the end zone. Campbell said the injury will be evaluated this weekend.

Peach County closed things to within a point midway through the third quarter with a safety.

After missing a 52-yard field goal attempt with 4:29 to go, Peach County got the ball back at its own 25 with 2:41 to go. A 22-yard pass to Devontae Howard took the ball to near midfield, where McGhee beat his defender deep in single coverage to haul in a 51-yard touchdown pass from Gilbert with 1:27 remaining to put the Trojans ahead.

"They could have laid down at 17-0," Campbell said. "But there was a lot of pride on the line."

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 11:47 PM with the headline "Peach County rallies past Westside ."