RINGGOLD, Ga. - The circus came to town Friday night on Don Patterson Field, complete with enough shenanigans to make the most avid carny a little giddy.
For football coaches Robert Akins and Eric Bishop, though, the Region 6-AAA crossover game - at least the first half of it - was a Pennywise-like nightmare. Akins' Ringgold Tigers spotted Bishop's Adairsville Tigers a 21-0 first-quarter lead before scoring the next 27 points on the way to a wild 47-42 win.
Ringgold's first-half meltdown included a lost fumble on its first play that resulted in a 52-yard touchdown return, back-to-back pass plays that netted 86 Adairsville yards and a score, an 18-yard loss on fourth down when punter Garrett Davis' knee touched aa he fielded a low snap, a tipped pass that led to an Adairsville touchdown and a 98-yard kickoff return by the visitors.
Still, Ringgold (2-2) put up its most explosive half of the year in response and Adairsville (2-2) did plenty to help along the way. The rally started with an 80-yard scoring drive that featured a 50-yard pass from Cole Kibler to Pete Brower and ended with Andre Tarver's 2-yard run.
A tipped punt - the first of three Adairsville misadventures in the kick game - set up Ringgold at the 46, where Ty Jones broke three tackles near the line and raced 54 yards for a score, with Tarver's two-point-conversion reception making it a seven-point game.
Adairsville fumbled on its next play, and on the first play of the second quarter Kibler hit tight end Drake Starks for a 28-yard touchdown and a shocking tie game. The Ringgold momentum continued after Adairsville's Josh Honea line-drived a punt into the line, where Ringgold linebacker Noah Keaton somehow caught it and rambled to the 31.
Nine plays later, which included Kibler's 8-yard pass to Dylan Wright on third-and-5, Tarver scored from a yard out and a 27-21 lead (the PAT was missed). That lead lasted 14 seconds when Adairsville's Travon Branch returned the kickoff 98 yards, the second consecutive year he's returned a kickoff for a score against Ringgold.
The crazy half continued when Ringgold answered with Tarver's 20-yard touchdown catch and Adairsville shanked a punt that led to a two-play, 31-yard "drive." Tarver took a screen pass 30 yards and Kibler kept for the score and a 40-28 halftime lead.
Adairsville, behind quarterback Mason Boswell's hard running, scored on its first possession of the second half, but Ringgold again responded, with Jones (147 yards on 15 carries) scoring on a 25-yard run. The visitors scored on Boswell's 12-yard run late in the third quarter, but the Ringgold defense did not allow a first down in the final period in hanging on for the win.
Kibler was 19-of-32 passing for 220 yards and three TD passes, while Tarver added 83 yards on six grabs and four total touchdowns. Boswell had 83 yards rushing and 172 passing and four total scores.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.