Johns Creek Suffers Football Playoff Loss To Valdosta

Editor's note: Written by Mike Blum.

JOHNS CREEK, GA — One week after scoring the first playoff victory in the school’s football history, the Johns Creek Gladiators almost pulled off a second straight win against an iconic state power.

The Gladiators suffered a 28-24 defeat last Friday night on their home field against perennial state title contender Valdosta, ending what had been the most successful season in team history.

It was a memorable if too brief playoff run for the Gladiators, who routed Alexander 59-34 the previous week for their first post-season after four losses. It was the third time Johns Creek lost a playoff game by the narrowest of margins, beginning with a 41-38 setback against Flowery Branch in 2011 on a last second Hail Mary pass.

Last year, the Gladiators lost 23-20 to Harrison, drawing the best No. 4 seed in the state in 6A after a region championship season.

This time, Johns Creek had too much offensive firepower to go out in the first round, but had the misfortune of going up against one of the state’s best teams in the second round.

The two teams were ranked as the No. 1 and 2 offenses in 6A, and did not disappoint Friday. Valdosta amassed almost 450 yards of offense, scoring on plays of 52, 62 and 46 yards, the latter for the game-winner with less than one minute to play.

Johns Creek countered with over 400 yards, all but about 50 on the arm of quarterback Ben Whitlock, whose lone season with the Gladiators was a very productive one.

Whitlock transferred from Denmark prior to his senior season, and produced huge numbers, passing for more than 3250 yards and 35 touchdowns. Whitlock had a terrific group of receivers, getting a huge senior season from Dalton Pearson, who had more than 60 receptions for 1200 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Justin Campbell, Yong Min Lee and Garrett Gauthreaux also had big senior seasons, with Campbell catching two touchdown passes from Whitlock against Valdosta, giving him 11 TD receptions in seven games after missing the first half of the season. Lee was credited with 14 catches in the Valdosta game, with Pearson notching eight receptions.

A 33-yard TD catch by Campbell tied the game at 21 in the fourth quarter and the Gladiators drove to a 38-yard field goal by Caleb Adegboyega with under two minutes to take a 24-21 lead.

But the Wildcats turned a short pass into a 46-yard touchdown to score one minute later, and held off a furious last-second rally by the Gladiators, who reached the Valdosta 15 before the Wildcats intercepted a pass in the end zone on the last play of the game.

Johns Creek was even more impressive offensively in the win over Alexander. Whitlock passed for 380 yards and four touchdowns, with Campbell having eight receptions for 108 yards and three scores. Lee also had eight catches for 135 yards, with Pearson grabbing the other TD pass from Whitlock.

The Gladiators finished 10-2, with their only other loss coming against Florida power Jones of Orlando the second week of the season. They went 8-0 in the region, outscoring their region opponents by an average score of 42-14. It was the team’s third region title in the past four seasons.

Region 7 in class 6A will look considerably different next year, as five of the nine schools are leaving. Alpharetta and Dunwoody are going up to 7A, Northview is going down to 5A, and Pope and North Atlanta are moving to new 6A regions.

Joining the region are three Cherokee schools – Creekview, Sequoyah and River Ridge, none of whom qualified for the 6A playoffs this season. The other newcomer is 5A region champion Riverwood, leaving the region with five North Fulton schools along with the three from Cherokee.

The Gladiators will have some rebuilding to do, especially on offense, where the quarterback, four main receivers and leading rusher (Will Watson) were all seniors. Tank Pritchett, the second-leading rusher, is the only returnee among the skill position regulars.

Defensively, the Gladiators graduate two of their four leading tacklers – Jon Ross Maye and Josh Davis, but return John Stegenga and Tremonte Barnett. The Gladiators lose Patrick Taylor, who had two interceptions against Valdosta, and Nick Valentino from the secondary, but return Stegenga and Josh Yensel, who combined for seven interceptions.

Linemen Cole Nelson and Charlie Leon also return, giving the Gladiators experience all through next year’s defensive unit.

The Gladiators have not been the most consistent of teams since fielding a football program for the first time in 2009. They went 9-1 and 8-2 in their second and third seasons of playing a full varsity schedule under veteran head coach Mike Cloy, but there was a huge drop-off in talent the next two seasons when the team went a combined 1-19.

Matt Kemper took over the program in 2015, and after a 4-6 record in his first season, the Gladiators went 7-3 and won a region title in ’16 before Kemper left for Roswell. Matt Helmerich replaced Kemper and went 3-7 in his first season before guiding the Gladiators to back-to-back region titles in 2018 and 2019.

Johns Creek is 22-11 in three seasons under Helmerich, but will need to find some replacements for a talented senior group of skill position players, starting with the quarterback position.