TRION, Ga. – The Trion Bulldogs used a record passing performance to beat rival Gordon Lee 42-14 Friday night at home.
Trion quarterback Jarrett Gill, a junior, was a perfect 12-for-12 for 266 yards and three touchdowns as he broke a school record for passing yards that had stood since 1990. That performance in the Region 6-A game led Trion (5-4, 3-3) to its fifth straight victory over Gordon Lee (5-4, 2-4) in Georgia’s longest-running annual rivalry.
“You come in here against your rival and you want to do anything you can to get that win,” Gill said. “I’ve just got to give Evan Walker props to go up and get every ball I threw to him.”
Walker nearly set a new school record for receiving with six catches for 146 yards, which is second all-time for the Bulldogs. The Trojans used a lot of different defenders to try to stop Walker, but the Bulldogs were able to get the ball to him continually in big situations.
“It means everything,” Walker said. “I love my team. They played hard for me and backed me up the whole game.”
“Gill’s been pretty good at throwing the football this year,” Trion coach Justin Brown said. “You get on a roll like he was tonight, and you’ve got to keep riding that hot hand.”
Brown also credited the defensive game plan for the big victory. Gordon Lee running back Drew Cobb came into the game as one of the leading rushers in the state with almost 1,600 yards in eight games. The Bulldogs held him to 56 yards on 19 carries.
“We did a real good job of recognizing their formations and identifying where Cobb was,” Brown said. “We did a pretty good job tackling him. I thought we came in and did a really good job keeping him from having that big play.”
The tiny Trion fieldhouse nearly erupted after the game, as the locker-room celebration, which included dancing from the coaches and joyful shouting from the players, matched the attitude the Bulldogs had all night.
“You can’t buy this feeling,” Brown told his players in an emotional postgame speech. “You’ve got to earn it.”
The win keeps hope alive for the Bulldogs for a possible playoff berth. Trion would have to finish the season in the top 24 of Georgia’s power rankings in Class A to earn that chance.
The loss does not necessarily knock the Trojans out of the playoff hunt, but it does deal them a heavy blow. They will have one more chance to move up the power rankings in a region crossover game next week.
The rivalry between Trion and Gordon Lee has been played every year since 1933, with the exception of a two-year break during World War II.
Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com