Sonoraville secures playoff berth with two-overtime win

Football
Football

CALHOUN, Ga. - Sherrod Agee considers himself to be a big-play linebacker, and the Sonoraville High School senior proved it Friday night.

Agee's fourth-quarter interception gave new life to the Phoenix - down 14 at the time to Ringgold in a Region 6-AAA playoff play-in game. Once resuscitated, Sonoraville rallied to tie the game with two late touchdowns and won it in the second overtime on Kevin Villatoro's 23-yard field goal, 38-35.

The Phoenix (7-3) will be the region's No. 3 seed and will travel to Morgan County for a first-round playoff game next week.

Ringgold (5-5) seemingly had taken control of the game with a pair of third-quarter Cole Kibler touchdown passes: 21 yards to Mac Brower following a Sonoraville fumble on the kickoff and 23 to tight end Drake Starks to cap a 58-yard drive.

It got worse for the home team after a long drive ended at the Ringgold 13 when quarterback Patrick Moore was sacked by Bucky Williams three minutes into the final quarter. Four plays later, though, Agee stepped in front of a Kibler pass at midfield and raced 48 yards to the 2, and three plays later Moore cut the lead to seven with 6:32 to play.

Sonoraville got the ball back after forcing a punt with 4:22 to play and Moore immediately hit Mason Waters for 36 yards to the Ringgold 44. Five plays later, following a first-down sack, the two hooked up again in one of the most memorable plays in the brief history of the Phoenix.

Waters, open at the 5, stumbled as the pass approached and managed to get a hand on it. As he fell down he grabbed the ball for a first down at the 4. Tristan Key scored on the next play to tie the game at 28 with 1:04 to play, eventually sending it into overtime.

Each team scored in the first extra session, Moore on a 15-yard run for Sonoraville and Starks on a 16-yard pass for Ringgold. The Tigers, though, had their next possession halted by a bad snap, with a fourth-down pass falling incomplete in the end zone.

The Phoenix ran three plays before Villatoro, the team's senior all-state kicker, hit the game-winner.

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22

Upcoming Events