Atlanta Takes Advantage of Turnovers + Ousts Mount Vernon

LONGVIEW — Atlanta turned four second-half takeaways into four unanswered scores, and the Rabbits handed Mount Vernon a 38-14 loss in the Class 3A, Division I regional semifinal round Thursday at Pirate Stadium.

Atlanta (8-5) advanced to the state quarterfinals to play either Malakoff or Gladewater next week. Those teams meet Friday night.

The Rabbs rolled up 279 yards on the ground — led by Jawan King's 100 yards and three scores and 105 yards from Caleb Hamilton — and had 406 yards of total offense.

Mount Vernon (8-4) finished with 279 yards of offense but just 113 and three first downs in the second half.

Keyshawn Easter had two fumble recoveries for Atlanta after intermission, Kade Wood added one, and J.J. Fields intercepted a pass. Nose guard Kentrell Andrews had a first-half fumble recovery for the Rabbs.

King had scoring runs of 1, 35 and 5 yards, and Andrew Samples added a pair of fourth-quarter TDs to seal the win.

Each team had a turnover, and a blocked PAT separated the Tigers and Rabbs at halftime.

Atlanta threw an interception on the third play of the game, and six plays later Tigers QB Kason Pletcher rushed in from the 1 to give Mount Vernon the early lead.

After the teams traded a pair of punts, Atlanta's offense got on track, marching 83 yards in eight plays. King punched in the TD from a yard out for the Rabbits.

The Tigers responded with a six-play, 69-yard scoring drive with Pletcher tossing a 42-yard strike to Dalton Decker for the score on Pletcher's only pass attempt of the first half.

Samples hit Joshua Edwards for a 42-yard TD for the Rabbs with 6:22 left, but the extra point was blocked, preserving a 14-13 lead for Mount Vernon.