TFA football falls to Georgia power Rabun Gap in thriller, 49-42

In a showdown between two Southeast high school football powerhouses, The First Academy Royals fell to visiting Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, 49-42, after the Eagles quarterback Gavin Owens found Josh Buckhalter on a check down, which he took 45 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 36.8 seconds left to play. 

"Tonight showed that we're a good football team," TFA coach Jeff Conaway said following the loss. "We are fast, we're physical and we've proven that we can play with anybody. This was a one-score game that came down to a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, which could have gone in either direction. But I think what we proved is that we are a very good football team."

In this clash of high school football titans, both offenses were on full display as the two programs combined for 91 total points. The Royals (6-1) offense was led by a balanced attack, with 40 runs and 34 passes. Senior QB Salomon Georges Jr. led the aerial approach with 345 passing yards on 24-of-34 passing with three passing touchdowns. 

Junior receiver Demetrice McCray caught eight passes for 157 yards, while senior wideout and Furman commit Evan James snagged seven catches for 122 yards and one TD. Senior running back Dane Thompkins caught five passes for 40 yards and one receiving touchdown to go along with his two rushing TDs and 49 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Georges Jr. also added 48 yards on the ground and a rushing TD, while sophomore back Jaelyn Powell ran for 74 yards on 11 carries.

Despite the 533 total yards gained by the Royals' offense, it wasn't enough to top the Eagles (5-2).

"Depending on who you talk to, 42 points might be a lot, but it wasn't enough tonight, and we're going to take that personally because we had opportunities to score more than 42," Conaway said. 

"We believe we're an offense that should not get stopped, and so we're going to grow from this and figure out why we didn't execute at the level that we wanted tonight and get better. But I definitely think when we go back and look at this game, it's going to expose some things that we can grow from and if we do grow from it, we'll be so much better when it matters."

On defense, TFA struggled to stop the Rabun Gap offense led by Owens, the Eagles' junior three-star QB, Marshall Pritchett, a four-star tight end and North Carolina commit, and Bo Walker, a four-star running back and Georgia commit. 

"I thought we let the quarterback make plays on third and long in the second half that hurt us," Conaway said. "He's a good quarterback and good quarterbacks do that, but if we could have just made one of those plays to get them off the field and maybe interrupt one of those drives, who knows how this game ends. But when you play an offensive line like that with a Georgia commit at running back and a quarterback that can make plays like him, it's going to happen. Ultimately, I'm very proud of our guys for battling but we just have to clean up some things and get some stops."

Next up for the Royals is their last Class 1A, District 6 opponent of the season, as TFA will travel to Melbourne to face the Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy Tigers Oct. 11. The Royals already won the district championship after its Week Six win over Orlando Christian Prep.