Creekview nabs third seed from 7-AAA, halts Chestatee

Creekview has its second straight state playoff berth –- not bad for a program in just its third year of existence.

The Grizzlies moved through to the first round of the Class AAA tournament courtesy a 42-20 win over Chestatee on Friday night in Canton.

The win, combined with Flowery Branch’s loss to Gainesville, gives Creekview (9-1, 7-1 Region 7A-AAA) Region 7-AAA’s third seed for the postseason. The Grizzlies will travel to take on 6-AAA runner-up Carrollton (9-1), which suffered a championship game loss to Ridgeland on Friday.

Chestatee’s season is complete.

The War Eagles (4-6, 3-3) actually took a 7-0 lead on a 63-yard touchdown run from Ben Souther. In an effort to keep the ball out away from Creekview’s potent offense, Chestatee attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kick-off. Grizzlies senior Frankie Nicholson recovered on his team’s 46-yard line. Creekview then drove the short 54 yards to tie the game on a five-yard touchdown run by Hunter Livingston.

The two teams’ next possessions ended with interceptions before Creekview’s Livingston scored his second touchdown on a 3-yard run with 3:07 remaining in the half to take a 14-7 lead into the locker room.

Creekview again tried an onside kick coming out of halftime. This time, the War Eagles recovered the ball on Creekview’s 39-yard line and rode the momentum to a 5-yard scoring run from Keaton Summerlin, knotting the game at 14-14 early in the third quarter.

But then the Grizzlies offense began to find their rhythm, scoring 28 unanswered points on rushing touchdowns from Livingston (1 yard), Temples (5 yards), and Donavan Deal (10 yards). Morgan Wright also added an 86-yard fumble return.

Chestatee did manage to put six more points on the scoreboard with less than a minute left in the game on a 6-yard run by Robby Poole.