TRENTON, Ga. -- With his top offensive weapon out of the game injured, coach Chad Fisher elected to let one play decide his team's fate Friday night.
Gordon Central quarterback M.J. Reynolds ran in a two-point conversion in overtime to give the Warriors a 22-21 win at Region 7B-AA rival Dade County. With leading rusher Jayden Compton (19 rushes, 90 yards) out with a leg injury and his team running on fumes, Fisher decided to end the game one way or the other following Reynolds' 10-yard touchdown pass to Lakei Whatley.
The play was a roll-out pass, but Reynolds saw an opening off right tackle and dove, the ball landing just inside the end zone.
"We wanted to win it right there," the junior said. "I rolled out ot the right and saw it open and I went for it."
Fisher, whose team lost to Dade last year in three overtimes, was going to kick the tying point after until Dade coach Bradley Warren called time out. The Warriors rushed onto the field, lined up and got the play off quickly.
"Losing Jayden there and the fact that they were starting to wear us out, I didn't know if we could make it into the second overtime," Fisher said. "You've got to be a gambler, I guess. When he called time out, that was our best option. The kids deserve all the credit. They played their dadgum guts out.
"Give Dade County credit, too. Those guys never quit."
Gordon Central (4-1, 2-2) jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Reynolds hooked up with star wideout Tyshaun Clemmons for a 34-yard touchdown on the team's first drive, and Chandler Curtis returned a Dade punt 85 yards for a touchdown barely two minutes later.
The Wolverines (2-2, 0-1) rallied to tie on a pair of lengthy drives. The first covered 73 yards, keyed by Travis Nunley's 28-yard pass to Jarrett Page, with David Page scoring from 2 yards out. The second drive went 66 yards in 12 plays, 10 of them runs. David Page again scored, this time on a 5-yard run with just 27 seconds left in the half.
Neither team scored in a swift second half, with Dade eating up most of the third quarter on a long drive that stalled at the 38 and Gordon Central moving from its own 5 to the Dade 2 on the ensuing drive that ended with a missed 20-yard field goal.
The Wolverines nearly won the game late in the fourth quarter, but Nunley's 68-yard touchdown pass to David Page was nullified by penalty, effectively sending the game into overtime. Dade scored on its possession when Nunley kept for a 13-yard score. Gordon Central then answered on Reynolds' pass to Whatley, setting up Fisher's big decision.
Reynolds was an efficient 13-for-18 passing for 140 yards, 75 on seven catches to Clemmons. Fullback Rodney Cannon led Dade rushers with 106 yards on 22 carries.