ACE rallies in second half for 35-21 win over Southwest

After the first 12 minutes were done, Southwest’s sideline was in good spirits.

Across the field, ACE’s sideline was spirited.

They were not the same.

“The first quarter, we were sleepwalking and they were executing at a high level,” ACE head coach Keith Hatcher said. “We were like we weren’t even prepared.

“We, uh, we had a little team meeting on the sideline, and we’re just real fortunate that everybody responded and locked in.”

Ever so slowly, the game began to even out, and the Gryphons took over after halftime for a 35-21 win over the Patriots at Ed DeFore.

ACE broke a three-game losing streak and improved to 5-3 overall and 4-3 in GHSA Region 2-A Division I, while Southwest lost its third straight — it was also the Patriots’ second loss in a row by 14 points — to fall to 2-6 and 1-6.

Southwest had perhaps its best first half of the season, and against a playoff-caliber team.

The Patriots crossed midfield on their first possession only to lose 10 on fourth down. ACE neared the end zone in two plays, but quarterback Ace Hatcher was stripped by Rinaldo Callaway.

The ball was picked up and returned for a score by Chauncey Brown, but the 70-yard run was nullified by a block in the back.

Still, the Patriots responded, turning in a solid 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Chase Dupree’s strike to Lavaris Harris for a 30-yard touchdown. The conversion failed, and Southwest led 6-0 with 3:04 left in the first.

ACE had the ball for three plays that lost a yard and consumed less than two minutes. The Patriots ran four more first-quarter plays in the final 1:09 for a 22-5 advantage in snaps.

Dupree, in his fourth game this season, kept on an option play and weaved his way through holes in the defense for a 45-yard touchdown on the first snap of the second quarter.

The Gryphons gave it back three plays later on an interception, with Callaway tipping and plucking a screen pass into his arms.

Then Tkorian Davis turned in yet another powerful run for Southwest, this time with exemplary balance, for a 9-yard run in which officials ruled he wasn’t down as Davis landed on a Gryphon before getting up to finish off the score.

Just like that, fairly shockingly, the Patriots were up 21-0 only 14 minutes into the game.

The Patriots had scored 110 points in seven games, so 21 points accounted for 19% off the season total.

“Offensively, we did some things that we haven’t been able to do all year,” Southwest head coach Joseph Dupree said. “Defensively, we made some stops.”

Noah Syme outbattled a teammate on  the bobbled kickoff and got ACE to the 45 for the Gryphons’ ninth play from scrimmage with 9:55 left in the half.

And they started looking a little normal. Bryson Vincent, bottled up most of the night when going inside, got 21 on two rushes with another 15 yards added to the second carry after a late hit.

Quarterback Ace Hatcher, still not 100% after a preseason ankle injury, finished off the drive with a 7-yard keeper, breaking a tackle just before the goalline.

Southwest graciously accepted a 15-yard penalty shortly after and was in ACE territory in a heartbeat with a good chance for more points. They got to the 23-yard line, then lost five on a penalty and nine on a dropped snap for a fourth and 22.

ACE got the ball with 2:32 left in the half, and gave it back 29 seconds later after three incompletions, a 21-7 halftime score awaiting.

“I told them at halftime it was one of the best halves we‘ve played,” Dupree said. “But the game consists of four quarters. I told them it’s zero-zero going back out.”

The Patriots left the door open, and ACE finally had its footing back to start walking through.

Ace Hatcher connected with Jack Perry for a 40-yarder on the third play of the third quarter, five plays before Perry was on the receiving end of a 19-yard TD pass from Brady Balkcom after a lateral from Hatcher.

The drive ate up nearly five minutes, and Southwest went about trying to match it. A sweet 40-yard scramble by Dupree to the ACE 20-yard line was nullified by a hold, and the Patriots punted after a four-minute possession.

Hatcher and Perry hooked up again down the hashmarks for a 41-yard gain early in a 12-play, 85-yard drive that ticked 5:42 off the clock.

The Gryphons went to a familiar page in the playbook, Hatcher handing off to Vincent, who pitched it to Syme, who passed to Will Conn for a 7-yard touchdown, tying it at 21 with 9:22 left in the game.

Southwest’s first three-and-out followed, and Vincent went off tackle and then outside, pulling away for a backbreaking 65-yard touchdown on the first play.

Huck Thompson got the ball back five plays later with an interception at the 5:10 mark, and ACE milked the clock until Hatcher went in from the 4 with 1:54 left.

Davis finished with 115 yards, losing one in the second half, while Vincent ended up with 160, all but 27 in the second half.

Dupree said it was a familiar feeling and disappointment.

“They just played hard,” Dupree said of the difference in the second half. “They brought a little more pressure, but they’d been bringing pressure all day.

“I think the adjustment was they decided they wanted to play, and we just laid down. I’m going to be honest. They just played harder than we did.”