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Druid Hills stops Alcovy short of postseason
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Alcovy couldn't hold on to a 14-point lead against Druid Hills Friday night and now have to wait for a possible playoff berth.

Druid Hills beat the visiting Tigers 28-21, halting Alcovy from earning a spot in the Class AAAAAA tournament for now.

Alcovy (3-5, 2-2 Region 2-AAAAAA), which holds the tiebreaker over three-loss Luella, needs a win, or a loss by Luella and Druid Hills in the final two weeks of the season to get into the playoffs.

Alcovy led 21-7 at halftime before driving to the Red Devils' 6-yard line threatening to extend its lead. However, Alcovy then fumbled deep in Druid Hills' territory, spoiling what would have been a clinching touchdown.

Druid Hills (3-5, 1-3) cut the deficit to seven points, 28-21, before Alcovy was driving with about a minute remaining. The Tigers got on the Red Devils' 2-yard line before fumbling as Clayton Anderson rolled back for a pass play. The ball was stripped by a speeding Druid Hills' defender.

"I thought the quarterback, Clayton did a good job getting us down there to win," Alcovy coach Kirk Hoffman said. "They were just turnovers that didn't deal with taking care of the football (they were Druid Hills hustle plays)."

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Red Devils and was their highest scoring game since a season opening 33-2 win against Clarkston.

"We didn't play well and they played outstanding," Hoffman said. "We give credit to Druid Hills; they played an outstanding game. We had to close the deal and we didn't do it."

Both Anderson and Cornell White played quarterback with Anderson navigating the late drive, and White throwing a touchdown pass to Jaylin Penny and scoring on a 15-yard run. Antwan Glover scored Alcovy's other touchdown on a 98-yard kickoff return. While Alcovy was scoring in two facets of the game, its defense struggled tackling throughout.

"Defensively, we didn't tackle very well," Hoffman said. "It was probably the worst tackling we had all year."

Alcovy will begin practices Monday working on improving its tackling while it prepares for Rockdale Friday.

"Rockdale coach (Venson) Elder has done a good job bringing them along," Hoffman said. We have got to play better fotball, the name of the game is still blocking and tackling."