GARNER, N.C. — For Garner and Southeast it was just your typical fall Friday night. For any other two teams, it would be an epic playoff tilt that will be remembered for years.

Garner edged its longtime nearby and Greater Neuse River 4A Conference rival, 14-13, in the opening round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A football playoffs at Trojan Stadium.

The Trojans (8-3) held the true-to-their-name Bulldogs on a game-winning two-point conversion attempt in the final minute, then broke up three consecutive passes after Southeast recovered an onside kick, to wrap up their first playoff win since 2019 and a second-round date with second-seeded Cardinal Gibbons next week.

Southeast led 7-0 at the half with Garner’s only two drives of the first half both ending inside of the Bulldog 10-yard-line with no points. But on their second drive of the second half, the Trojans finally broke through.

Senior tailback Devyn Grant missed most of the second quarter after leaving the game injured but returned to churn the Trojans into scoring position with five runs sandwiched between two Christian Ormandy passes to get the egg off of the Garner side of the scoreboard.

On fourth down at the Southeast 7-yard-line, Ormandy oversaw a full house backfield featuring Grant but it was just a diversion for Garner’s actual intent: a play action pass from Ormandy to a wide open Bennett Selvage for a touchdown with 3:31 to play in the third quarter.

Southeast, which used a formation featuring 6-foot-4, 285-pound freshman lineman Grayson Williams lined up as extra blocker in the backfield throughout the contest, worked its way back into Garner territory. But on fourth-and-4 from the 27-yard-line, Cameron Quillet intercepted a pass.

The ensuing game-winning drive saw the Trojans churn down the field on a 15-play drive that took nearly seven minutes off of the clock, mixing timely passing from Ormandy and gritty runs from Grant. Garner went ahead 13-7 on a 9-yard run by Grant out of the wildcat formation. Thomas Stucker’s extra point put the Trojans up seven with 5:16 to play.

Ormandy was efficient on the night, going 17-for-20 passing for 152 yards. He connected with six different receivers on the night. Grant finished with 136 yards on 18 carries.

Southeast, which was looking for its first win in Garner since 2015 and fell 19-14 to the Trojans during the regular season, wasn’t finished. The Bulldogs relied on James Adams’ pounding runs behind Williams and the rest of the Bulldog offensive line to work the ball inside of the Garner 10-yard-line with less than a minute to play. Adams accounted for 62 yards rushing on the drive (of his team-high 103 on the night), setting up a 6-yard TD run around the left side by Damonte Garner to get Southeast within 14-13 with 32.3 seconds to play.

Southeast (7-4) elected to go for the win and went back to Adams on a power run again, but the Trojans’ defensive front stacked up the pile, stopping the conversion attempt and persevering a one-point lead.

The Bulldogs covered the onside kick, but couldn’t advance the ball any further with four consecutive incomplete passes — the first three broken up by the Garner secondary and the fourth falling incomplete under pressure.

The first half nearly ended scoreless before Southeast ended the stalemate on a scramble and heave from junior quarterback Ty Powell with 13.3 seconds left in the first half. Powell avoided the Trojan pass rush, was flushed to his right and sent the ball toward the right front pylon of the end zone. It hit sophomore receiver Adam Saunders, running across the front of the end zone, in stride for the score.

Both teams missed short field goals (Garner from 25 yards and Southeast from 27 yards) in the first half. The Trojans had the ball just twice in the opening half and had a pair of long drives, from inside of their own 20-yard-line inside of the Southeast 10-yard-line. But both drives ended at the 8-yard line, the second on a fumble which led to the Bulldogs’ 13-play scoring drive.

Score by quarter

SER 0 0 7 0 6 – 13

GAR 0 0 7 7 – 14

Scoring Summary

SER—A.Saunders 8 pass from T.Powell (J.Silva kick); GAR—B.Selvage 7 pass from C.Ormandy (T.Stucker kick); GAR—D.Grant 9 run (T.Stucker kick); SER—D.Garner 6 run (run failed).

Team Statistics

Rushing: Southeast 33-174; Garner 26-148.

Passing: Southeast 11-23-121-1; Garner 17-20-152-0.

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SER—J.Adams 14-103, D.Garner 12-56, C.Freeman 5-20, T.Powell 2-(-5); GAR—D.Grant 18-136, K.Marshman 1-10, D.Nesbitt 2-8, C.Ormandy 5-(-6).

Passing: SER—T.Powell 11-23-121-1; GAR—C.Ormandy 17-20-152-0.

Receiving: SER—A.Saunders 2-51, G.Dove 3-40, C.Freeman 1-12, C.Jones 2-12, J.Adams 1-8, D.Garner 2-(-2); GAR—B.Selvage 3-37, D.Grant 3-34, D.Nesbitt 3-33, A.Gore 4-27, E.Chisley 2-13, C.Quilett 1-8.