Westlake Holds Off Late Allatoona Rally For 27-24 Win And GHSA 6A Semifinals Birth

On Friday, the Westlake Lions hosted the Allatoona Buccaneers in the elite eight round of the Georgia High School Association football Class 6A state playoffs. The Lions' offense get hot early as they would find themselves up 20-3 in the second quarter as Westlake sophomore quarterback RJ Johnson accounted for two of the Lions' first half touchdowns, one a rushing score and the other a touchdown pas to wide receiver Leo Blackburn. However, the Buccaneers would look to gain some momentum just before half time as quarterback Elan Hall would connect with Troy Glenn in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown to cut the Westlake to 20-10 at the half. In the second, Allatoona would actually play much better defensively as they held the Lions to seven points while scoring 14 of their own, a touchdown pass from Hall to Bennett Christian and a pitch to Dequori Garrett, who rushed it in for another touch down, and they trailed 27-24 with just over six minutes remaining in the game. But on the ensuing possession, Westlake would put together a solid ground game which allowed them to run the clock out and go on to pick up the 27-24 win to advance to the GHSA 6A semifinals for only the second time in the programs history. Watch highlights from the game below now!