GARNER -- Football is a team game, as Garner showed emphatically Friday night when an unlikely cast of heroes earned the Trojans a berth in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4AA football championships with a wild 34-27 victory over an equally game Fayetteville Britt club.
Britt, with a quick, aggressive defense, essentially shut down a Garner running game that had overwhelmed opponent after opponent in the first 14 games of the season, piling up more than 350 yards per game.
Garner managed less than 100 rushing yards, not even a third of its average, against the Buccaneers, but quarterback Vince Jefferies turned to Damian Ellis and Tim Thorb in key passing situations and the Garner defense came up big to give the Trojans their third championship chance in the past 25 years.
"I did it for my teammates," said Jefferies, stumbling with emotions as tears snaked down his face. "Nobody thought we could do it except us."
Jefferies hit Ellis with a 42-yard pass to set up a 16-yard strike to Tim Thorb for the game-winner after Garner got possession with 2:37 left and the score tied 27-27.
Thorb had caught only six passes all season, but grabbed the second of his two touchdown strikes, barreling down the middle.
"You've got to be happy for a kid like that," said Garner coach Nelson Smith, who found himself at a loss for words other than repeating how proud he was of his team and how it kept battling against a defense that was superb.
Britt stopped Garner's Juwan Moye, who has dashed and slashed for more than 2,000 yards this season, and 1,000-yard rusher Demetrius Fairley. The two weekly heroes accounted for only 67 rushing yards and Garner netted just 74.
Moye, who was also pressed into defensive back duties, was all smiles though.
"Damian and Tim really stepped up," Moye said. "And Vince was unbelievable. It was the toughest game I've ever played, but we found a way to win."
Part of the way was Jarvis Shelton, another of the heroes, intercepting a pass and returning it 60 yards for a touchdown that expanded the lead to 21-12 early in the third period.
Smith said he knew it would be tough to run on the speedy Britt defense after watching tape, but he did not envision how difficult it would be.
"Britt is just tremendous," Smith said. "Our guys just kept coming back and coming back. So much heart."
Jefferies most often has been the designated hander-offer, but he was thrust into the spotlight and responded with his best game of the season, heck the best game of his life, and he was at his best on the final drive, hitting the two key passes in the 73-yard drive and completing 13 of 20 passes for 238 yards.
"We rose to the challenge," he said.
"My receiver made great catches. It is the best ever."
It was just about a perfect evening. The stands on both sides of Trojan Stadium were packed despite the game being telecast, flags were flying and the emotion palatable. Fans started arriving about three hours before kickoff. The weather was ideal and the two best teams in the 4AA bracket played, just like they were supposed to.
As good as it was, Garner knows it will have to play better in the state finals next week in Winston-Salem against Greensboro Page, which banished Charlotte Mallard Creek in its semifinal, 41-27.
But for the night, it was a time for the team to relish in its accomplishments. It was a team victory with enough glory to go all around ... even to some guys that usually don't get a lot.
