Late touchdown lifts Patriots to playoff win

From Jeff Edwards/Athens News Courier

ATHENS -- Brode Susce threw a touchdown pass with 29 seconds left to lead Homewood High School to a thrilling 34-31 victory over Athens in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs Friday night.

The final touchdown was the climax to a roller-coaster fourth quarter, in which the lead changed hands four times.

Athens entered the fourth quarter leading 17-10, but Homewood scored on every one of its fourth-quarter drives. The Patriots tied the game on Susce's 1-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Goode early in the fourth quarter, then immediately got the ball back when Athens fumbled the ensuing kickoff.

The Patriots needed just three plays to score, with Susce rumbling in from 2 yards out with 9:51 remaining.

Athens was undeterred, and came right back to tie the game on a 29-yard touchdown run by Jaylen Gilbert, but Susce led the Patriots down the field again. The drive stalled at the 15-yard line, but J.C. Daniel booted a 32-yard field goal to put Homewood up 27-24 with three minutes remaining.

Athens once again came right back down the field. On a first down play from its own 46-yard line, Athens quarterback Jordan Scott dropped back and lofted a perfect pass to Dylan Roper, who caught it in stride and sprinted untouched for a 54-yard touchdown with 1:56 to play.

However, that was plenty of time for Susce and the Patriots. Susce was 6-of-8 for 59 yards on the final drive, including the winning 5-yard touchdown pass to Harvey Ray.

Susce was 27-of-40 for 347 yards and three touchdown passes.

“Brode had an amazing game, and he did it last week too,” Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said. “I'm really happy for him. He's a senior and he's really come on the scene the last couple weeks.”

Athens' final drive ended when a fourth-down pass was batted down with six seconds left.

It is the second consecutive week the Patriots upset a No. 1 seed in the region. Homewood defeated Region 3 top seed Pelham 20-18 last week in the regular season finale, then defeated Region 8 top seed Athens on Friday.

Berguson said his team is playing its best football at the perfect time. The Patriots will host Clay-Chalkville next Friday in the second round.

“That's two one-seeds we've beat in back-to-back weeks now,” he said. “We've had some injury issues and we've had some people contact trace (for COVID-19). We should be back full strength next week.”

While the fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair, the first three quarters were more subdued. Athens jumped on top early in the first quarter on Gilbert's 2-yard touchdown run, but Homewood tied the score midway through the first on Susce's 28-yard touchdown pass to Len Irvine.

The only points in the second quarter came from a pair of field goals. Daniel hit a 26-yard field goal midway through the quarter to put Homewood up, but Athens tied the score with a 42-yard field goal by Heath Carden on the final play of the half.

Athens had the only touchdown of the third quarter, a 3-yard touchdown run by Gilbert late in the quarter, which set up the fourth-quarter fireworks.

Gilbert had 130 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries in his final game for the Golden Eagles. Scott completed 14-of-19 passes for 123 yards and a score in his final Athens performance.

The Golden Eagles ended their season with a 7-3 record, while Homewood improved to 7-3 and will host Clay-Chalkville in the second round of the playoffs next Friday.