Rebels Advance- Host State Quarterfinals on 12/11
FCHS Football, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports December 5, 2020
Blue Ridge, Ga- The Fannin County Rebels played in a Sweet 16, second round state playoff game Friday night for the first time since 1995.
They played host to the Region 5 number 2 seed Heard County Braves. The Braves came into the contest boasting an 8-4 record. Two of their losses came against bigger schools in Cedartown and Central. One came in overtime against Temple, and the other in their last regular season game against number 8 AJC ranked Callaway.
The Braves also have one of the best defensive players in the state of Georgia at the Linebacker position. Chief Borders is a 6-foot-4, 240 pound, University of Florida commit that some thought would help the Braves shut down the Rebels offense.
That was not the case.
The Rebels were able to best the Braves, 21-14 and advance to the quarterfinals next week. The Rebels will host the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes in a battle of unbeatens next Friday night in Blue Ridge.
Game Notes- Junior do-it-all athlete Seth Reece had a huge night once again for the Rebels scoring 2 touchdowns, including a 48 yard game winner.
Seth Reece scampers into the endzone for the game winning TD
-Senior Quarterback Luke Holloway was able to find Andre Bivens in the third quarter to tie the game up at 14 all.
Luke Holloway fires off a pass
-The Rebels were plagued with a few injuries Friday night, which is why we didn’t get to see a lot of number 4 Cohutta Hyde on the field. Cohutta not being on the field meant that Carson Collis and Andrew Bivens were going to see a lot of action, and boy did they come through big for the Rebels when their team needed them to. A couple of big pass breakups and deflections by both of those guys forced Heard County into some long third down situations and ultimately won the football game for Fannin.
Carson Collis catches a pass in pregame warm-ups
-Cason Owensby and the entire Rebel D stopped the Braves at the 20 yard line on their last drive of the game and sealed the deal, allowing Fannin to come away with the victory in regulation.
Rebel D looks to make a stand
-Jalen Ingram had a pretty good night receiving, but he made arguably his biggest impact punting the football. Luke Holloway has been the Rebels punter all year, but because of some nagging injuries Ingram took over and did an amazing job. He flipped the field more than a few times for the Rebs.
Ingram punts the ball away
#TeamFYNsports invites all Rebel fans and surrounding area football fans to show up and show out next Friday night in Fannin County! It will be a huge game for the Rebels as the undefeated, Number 1 ranked Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes come to town!
Feels like ’95 – Rebels advance to Sweet 16
Team FYN Sports November 30, 2020
Blue Ridge, GA– After the festivities were over for this Thanksgiving holiday and after the black Friday shopping was done, Fannin County had one more thing left on their to do list. Beat Pace.
The Georgia High School Association moved the Rebels first round playoff game from Friday to Saturday due to not having enough officials. This just gave the fans of both teams another day to build their excitement (and allowed the players an extra day to digest their turkey.)
Pace Academy background– Pace Academy came into the game with only 2 losses on their record. They are led by Head Coach Chris Slade, a former second round pick in the 1993 NFL draft and All-Pro NFL linebacker. SEC receiving record holder Terrence Edwards is also on their staff as a receivers coach, so the Knights came in with great instruction.
Pace Academy is also a team full of highly touted recruits. They have multiple guys on their roster with several D-1 offers, including their quarterback MJ Morris, who many have said is the nation’s number 1 2022 dual threat quarterback. They have stars on both sides of the football, and also carry quite the intimidation factor.
The game– The game began with Pace Academy winning the toss and differing to the second half. The Rebels got the ball first to start the game and were forced into a quick three and out by the Pace Academy defense.
Pace Academy was first to get on the board, and they did so through the air as MJ Morris tossed a Touchdown pass that put the Knights up 7-0 in the first quarter.
Fannin struck back and tied the game up at 7 all, heading into the locker room at halftime.
Pace Academy received the second half kickoff and struggled at the start of the opening drive as the Rebel defense put them in a third and long situation. MJ Morris dropped back on third and forever and found his man on a crossing route, as the Knights put up 6 on their opening second half possession, going up 14-7.
The Knights defense quickly got the ball back from the Rebels and struck again, taking a 21-7 lead over Fannin, their largest of the night and quite possibly the largest deficit that Fannin had seen all year.
Luke Holloway crafted a masterful drive the next time the Rebs touched the ball however, showing that they were not going to go away quietly. After making it a 21-14 ballgame, the Rebel Defense, who has been masterful all year, came up big once again and put the ball in their offenses hands. Once the ball was in the hand of this offense, Seth Reece and Luke Holloway were going to make sure they found the endzone and they did, making it 21-20 after the PAT was blocked.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but once Pace Academy got the ball after the Touchdown, the Rebel D stopped them AGAIN and their offense was able to come back on the field. This Fannin County offense in the second half of this ball game was a forced to be reckoned with, as they scored their 28th unanswered point after punching it into the endzone and securing the two point conversion.
After another stellar series out of the Fannin County defense, the Rebels were able to get into victory formation and run the clock out, securing their first playoff victory since 1995!
This week– This week, the Rebels will face Heard County at home on Friday night in the second round of the playoffs. This is the Rebs first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 1995. #TeamFYNsports would like to invite all of our readers in our coverage area to come out and support this Fannin County Football team, as they’ve worked so hard all season and deserve a packed house this Friday night! #TeamFYNsports would also like to congratulate Head Coach Chad Cheatham and all of the Rebel coaching staff on a great job this season!
Survive and advance! Go Rebs!