It was a team effort for the M.L. King Thursday night, but Blake Tibbs’ four touchdowns was the big reason the Lions beat the Comets 33-23 at Hallford Stadium in DeKalb County.
Tibbs’ most spectacular play of the night was a 71-yard touchdown run with two minutes left in the second quarter. He took a pitch on a reverse, then dashed down the sideline to give the seventh-ranked Lions (1-0) a 26-7 lead and essentially put the game away.
It was the second straight loss to a state-ranked opponent for the Comets (0-2), who lost to top-ranked Lowndes two weeks ago.
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South Gwinnett backup quarterback Mason Hart, filling in for injured starter Jordan Ramey (broken arm), was extraordinary by accounting for all three of the Comets’ touchdowns — one on a pass, the other two on runs.
Many expected fireworks and touchdowns as South Gwinnett edged past M.L. King 44-41 last year. M.L. King’s senior quarterback Jonquel Dawson had an outstanding 41 touchdowns and 3,361 passing yards last season, both DeKalb County single-season records. Dawson threw three touchdown passes Thursday.
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Despite having early trouble gaining yards against MLK’s defense, South stayed in the game. After MLK went ahead 14-0 in the second quarter, the Comets took advantage of a Lions fumble to pull within 14-7, the score coming on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Hart to L.J. Gainey.
But MLK responded quickly, as Dawson gained big yards on runs of 9, 22 and 7 yards. He ended the drive with a 5-yard TD pass to Tibbs for a 20-7 lead with 5:13 left in the half.
Tibbs’s big run made it 26-7 at halftime.
The Comets would not go away. Hart scored from the 1 on a quarterback sneak with 3:47 left in the third quarter to make the score 26-14. A field goal by Amar Salihic then pulled South to within 26-17.
But Dawson and Tibbs connected for a 31-yard touchdown pass to seal the game 33-17 with 3:10 left. Hart scored again with a little over a minute left in the game complete the scoring.
“We came out here to get a win against a good team and a good program in South Gwinnett,” M.L. King coach Michael Carson said.
Blake Tibbs said of his multiple touchdown effort, “It feels great because we’ve been working hard for this for three weeks now and we finally got to show it on the field.”
South Gwinnett faces Shiloh next Friday.
