Thanks to their defense and special teams units, it was more than enough.
LaFayette returned two fumbles for touchdowns, had an interception return for a touchdown, and returned a kickoff for another score as they stunned Chattanooga Valley, 27-14, in a North Georgia Athletic Conference matchup.
It was the second win in a row for the Ramblers (2-3), while the Eagles (2-3) suffered their second setback in a row.
"Special teams and defense," said a happy LaFayette head coach Wes Green. "That's how you dream it up. It doesn't happen like that very often, but we'll take it."
Despite not running a single offensive play until just 26 seconds remained in the first quarter, the Ramblers enjoyed a 6-0 lead. Chase Elliot stripped the ball away from CVMS quarterback Blaine Phillips at the LaFayette 36-yard line, and KaDarrin Ramsey raced 64 yards the other direction with 4:21 left in the opening quarter. The conversion attempt was no good.
After turning the ball over on downs at the CVMS 20 midway through the second quarter, the Rambler defense turned in another big play. This time it was Bryson Giddy, who stepped in front of a Phillips pass and brought it back 25 yards for the score. Ramsey's conversion boosted the lead to 14-0 with 2:33 left in the half.
Logan Teasley would come up big on defense just over two minutes later as he picked off a pass from Ivy Boehm at LaFayette 5 to thwart a late Eagle drive.
LaFayette would add their final two touchdowns in the first 22 seconds of the second half.
Ramsey scampered 75 yards on the third quarter kickoff to make it 20-0, and on the first play of the Eagles' ensuing drive, Giddy took the ball away from Markeith Montgomery and raced 40 yards to paydirt. Giddy also booted the point after to increase the lead to 27-0.
Chattanooga Valley would finally get on the board on the their next possession as Phillips hit Markeion Jones on a 20-yard TD pass, and the Eagles would find the end zone one more time with six ticks left in the game as Marquie Davis zig-zagged his way on a 75-yard TD run with Phillips converting on the two-point try.
The Eagles had 159 yards rushing on 32 carries, 75 coming on the final play, and 38 yards in the air of 3-of-5 passing. Donte Jackson added a sack to aid the defensive effort.
"Two weeks ago, we put some faster people in at linebacker to help us on defense, and that's really showed up the last two games," Green explained. "Our defense is really getting after people now and we're proud of them."
LaFayette had just 21 yards rushing on 16 carries and added just 34 yards in the air of 2-of-3 passing.
The Ramblers still have an outside shot at the playoffs with two home games remaining against Gordon Lee (Oct. 18) and Lakeview (Oct. 25).
"We've got an opportunity," Green said. "We've still got work to do, and it's all on us, but it's out there for us and that's what we're shooting for."
Chattanooga Valley has a road date at Rossville on Oct. 18 before finishing the regular season at home against Heritage on Oct. 25.
In the junior varsity game, the Eagles kept rolling with a 40-0 shutout win. The game was shortened to six-minute quarters due a lack of lights at Eagle Field.
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