As the clock expired on a contentious football game Friday night in Mt. Airy, the scoreboard showed a breakthrough for the home side and left the visitors waiting another week to find theirs.
Habersham Central High School’s football program snapped an 0-2 start with a 31-28 win over White County High School. Among the raucous cheers, a collective sigh of relief could be felt throughout the home side of the stadium, especially on the sideline.
“We needed that one,” HCHS Head Coach Benji Harrison said. “I think all of our guys felt pressure to get this one. We didn’t want to go 0-3. We hadn’t started 0-3 since 2015, so this one was big.”
The Raiders (1-2) fell behind on the first possession of the game for the Warriors (0-2) on a short run from the White County running back.
HCHS answered with a diving 8-yard touchdown run from Antonio Cantrell to tie the game at 7-all.
From there, the Raiders put up back-to-back scores on a touchdown run from quarterback Paris Wilbanks and then a short pass from Wilbanks to Zeke Whittington for a score through the air.
Warriors quarterback Tripp Nix tossed a short touchdown pass just over 90 seconds later to draw within three points with 7:50 left before halftime.
Inside of the final minute of the second quarter, White County was on a drive looking to score and take the lead before half.
Then HCHS took the momentum back when Braydon Strickland intercepted the ball with 36 seconds left.
With eight seconds left, the Raiders lined up for a 46-yard field goal. Kicker Camden Meads put his foot through the ball and squeaked the ball just over the crossbar and inside the left upright, giving his squad a 24-14 lead at the break.
The 46-yard field goal is one yard shy of the school record of 47.
The Raiders won the toss and deferred, so they received the kick out of halftime.
The momentum gained from the end of the first half was quickly halted as the Warriors intercepted a pass from Wilbanks and took it to the house, pulling back within three points.
Cantrell pushed the lead back to 10 points with another short run less than seven minutes of gametime later.
The Warriors closed out scoring on a gutsy run from their running back, who broke away from several would-be tacklers to power his way in for an 8-yard touchdown run.
The Raiders were able to see the game out with a couple of kneel downs to kill the clock.
The victory for HCHS was as big of a non-region win as Harrison has had in his ten years with the program.
“Stephens (County) in 2019 was pretty big, but White County is always a big one. It’s up there every year,” Harrison said. “With what was on the line, I can’t think of a much bigger (non-region win). And to have it at home… You really just couldn’t go 0-3 and drop it at home. Pretty big, no doubt.”
The win comes in the first start for Wilbanks as the signal caller. Wilbanks has seen plenty of game time this season in the first two games of the year, which likely kept him from getting overwhelmed in the moment.
“I thought he did some good stuff. He made some young mistakes, but he did a nice job,” Harrison said of his quarterback. “He made some nice throws that kept drives alive. He kept some drives alive with his feet
“He was ready. The moment wasn’t too big for him,” he continued. “He prepares hard. He cares. And the guys rallied around him tonight and he played good enough to get us a win.”
Wilbanks finished the night 14-of-25 for 131 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
The first of those interceptions was an unlucky one has the ball was caught and bobbled by several different players from both teams, ultimately ending up floating in the air for a Warrior defender to snag. The drive for White County after the interception was the one ended by Strickland’s interception for HCHS that led to the field goal before half.
The Raiders ended the night with 186 yards on the ground. The biggest batch of that came from Donnie Warren, who carried the rock 17 times for 103 yards. Wilbanks himself had 11 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown. Cantrell finished with 6 carries for 32 yards and his pair of scores.
Warren also had a pair of kickoff returns of 37 and 35 yards.
The Warren-Cantrell combo in the backfield has been a reliable part of the offense through the first three games. The two are each other’s cheerleaders, with Warren even hyping Cantrell after the latter makes a play on defense.
“They feed off each other. I think they get competitive with each other. I think they want to out-do the other one, but they get along really well,” Harrison said of his duo. “I think they encourage each other, they pull for each other.”
Getting the proverbial monkey off the program’s back and avoiding a three-game skid couldn’t have come against a better opponent than a local rival.
“I think our kids felt the pressure, but they used it to motivate them,” Harrison said. “They don’t like White County, White County doesn’t like us. It’s a good little rivalry and to get the win was huge. When you’ve got a young football team, you’ve got to get some confidence. The only way to ultimately get confidence is by getting a win and they did that tonight. I’m proud of them.”
The game, being between rivals, was not without its chippy moments. That led to a few pushing matches between players, numerous player-referee discussions on both sides, and a penalty or two. Those things happen, but it’s all about which team handles their emotions better.
“Whenever you play somebody like that, there’s going to be probably more talking than needs to happen. There’s going to be some things that happen on the bottom of piles or in the plays. You just have to hope your kids can hold their emotions as best they can,” Harrison said. “I thought we did OK. Obviously, if you get one (penalty), that’s more than you need to get. But they are kids. They’re going to make mistakes sometimes.”
Prior to the game, Harrison wouldn’t go down the road of the “what if” of losing the game. He kept his focus on the need to win the game, but tried not to put too much pressure on himself or the players.
After the result was final, he explained why he couldn’t let his mind wonder down that path.
“They’re never must-wins this early in the season, but there are some that are definitely bigger than others. This was that,” Harrison said. “You never want to have to rally the troops after an 0-3 start. That’s hard. It’s hard as a coach. It’s hard for the kids.
“The other day, I wouldn’t go down the ‘What if.’ I can’t,” he continued. “That was kind of the whole thought through the game tonight. We’ve got to find a way. When it looked like we were letting it slip, we came up and made a play when we had to and we held on.”
Getting a victory after an 0-2 start makes for a better weekend for all involved too. Harrison said “it’s a relief” because of the pressure from outside sources as well as the pressure he puts on himself.
“I feel a lot of pressure because I want it so bad,” he said. “Whenever you’re in a small town, I think it makes it that much bigger. I like going out to eat after wins a lot better than having to sneak in for carry out after a loss.”
Now the focus for the next win turns toward Cherokee Bluff High School, which will also be a home game for the Raiders.
Harrison said there’s familiarity with the Bears, though the two programs have never met on the field, due to attending the same camps.
The school, which started in 2018, is 31-26 not including this season’s 3-0 start. All seven seasons have been under head coach Tommy Jones.
Jones led the Bears to a pair of region 7-AAA titles in 2020 and 2021. Both of those seasons saw Cherokee Bluff make second-round appearances in the state playoffs.
“I think a lot of coach Tommy Jones. He’s done a good job starting that program,” Harrison said. “I think they’ve got a good football team. They’ve got two really good receivers that are pretty dynamic players. They’re used to winning. They were down a little bit last year. We’ve just got to get ready and we’ll see what they look like (on film).”
The Raiders and Bears will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Raider Stadium in Mt. Airy.
