QUITMAN, Ga. — One yard short.

On fourth-and-goal from the 5-yard line, Brooks County senior quarterback Jacolby Brown took off to his left. Met with a wall of Washington County defenders, Brown reversed his field and sprinted toward the left pylon.

Brown leapt, sprawled out with his right arm to try to break the plane. One official signaled touchdown, another ruled Brown out of bounds.

After a conference, the officials ruled Brown out at the goal line — giving the Golden Hawks possession with 14 seconds left. Washington County (10-2) ran out the clock, securing a 34-30 victory to advance in the Class 2A state playoffs on Friday night.

Brooks County coach Maurice Freeman couldn’t tell if Brown indeed got in or not.

“I really couldn’t see it, I thought he got in,” Freeman said. “I’ve got to look at the film to make a call on that. It was close, he did an outstanding job for us. He gave us everything he had. As long as you do that, I’m happy.”

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Trojans (9-3).

Freeman told his team after the game that it “just made too many mistakes.” The Trojans found the momentum that eluded them much of the game in the fourth quarter, but defensive blunders hurt them in key spots.

After blocking a punt to force a Washington County safety, Brown found a hole and scampered 52 yards for a touchdown to put the Trojans ahead 30-27 with 4:37 to go.

On the ensuing Washington County possession, the Golden Hawks’ Dyquan Bloodsaw was stuffed for no gain. Senior running back Preston Daniels, who had been the team’s placekicker much of the night, came in and picked up gains of six and 10 yards on the ground. On first-and-10 from the 41-yard line, Bloodsaw looked to be stuffed again before re-emerging from the pile to cruise in for a 41-yard touchdown run to make it a 34-30 game with 2:43 to go.

“We missed some tackles in bad spots,” Freeman said. “We arm-tackled in spots. We did not try to tackle. We tried to knock them down in spots and didn’t wrap up. That basically cost us in the long run.”

Brown’s 21-yard touchdown run put the Trojans up 21-14 with 10:27 left in the game.

Trojans placekicker Tony Velasquez went for a squib kick that found Bloodsaw with a head of steam. Bloodsaw beat the first man, then the second and motored his way 83 yards on the return for a touchdown to tie the game at 21 with 10:15 left.

“Wow, man, that let all the air out the tires — all four tires at one time,” Freeman said of the play. “That one was terrible. We tried to squib it like we normally do and we just didn’t keep our lanes. Next thing we know, (Bloodsaw) hit it and did his job.”

A 76-yard hookup from Ni’tavion Burrus to Brown was the high spot for the Trojans as they led 14-7 at the half.

The Trojans tried numerous deep throws downfield but had a tough time with the Golden Hawks’ secondary.

Burrus was picked off by by the Golden Hawks’ Jay Sanders with 1:12 left in the half. Although the Golden Hawks took over, they were unable to find the end zone as time expired.

Burrus was pulled from the game after a late interception by T.J. Dixon with 6:50 to go in the game on a pass play on fourth-and-19.

Washington County quarterback Zeri Taylor was intercepted by the Trojans’ Dartavione Aikens on a second-and-13 pass from the 48-yard line. The Trojans were able to take advantage behind a 5-yard touchdown from Burrus to Devin Edwards put the Trojans in front 7-0 with 4:22 to go in the first quarter — capping a 13-play, 77-yard scoring drive.

The Golden Hawks pounded the ball down the field on the shoulders of Bloodsaw. Running back Malik Hall gave the Golden Hawks first score of the night, a 1-yard punch from the goal line to tie the game at 7 to end the first quarter.

The Trojans now have an offseason to ponder what could’ve been.

“Football is just like life,” Freeman said. “You have your ups and downs. You’ve got to minimize your mistakes and you’ve got to do your job. If you don’t sometimes it’ll cost you. It cost us.”

UP NEXT

Washington County: Advances to take on Callaway in the next round.

Brooks County: Finishes its season 9-3 after winning the Region 1-2A championship.