NASHVILLE-The Georgia Force were not expected to feature the running game, and the Nashville Kats were thought to be a run more team. But the script was flipped, and Georgia gained 210 yards rushing on 39 carries to beat the Kats 47-24 in their AFL season opener.
Nashville punted on its first possession, and the Force would drive 43 yards on seven plays, before being stopped at the Nashville 5 yard line. K Wilbur Ahmad would connect on a 22-yard field goal to give the Force a 3-0 lead with 9:52 left in the first quarter. On the following possession, Nashville would drive 80 yards on 9 plays, mixing up run and pass well, culminating in an 11-yard touchdown run by HB Oliver Osler to put the Kats up 7-3 at the 4:34 mark of the first quarter. Georgia would respond in kind, with a 10-play, 69-yard drive that ended with QB Norm Damron connecting with WR Paden Bonewell for a 12-yard touchdown with 52 seconds left in the first to put Georgia up 10-7.
Nashville would open the second quarter with a 5-play, 57-yard drive which ended with QB Brewster Brickhouse scrambling 17 yards for a touchdown with 13:27 remaining in the second to put the Kats up 14-10. The Force went three-and-out on their next possession, but caught a break when Brickhouse appeared to get greedy and Sputnik Havner came down with the interception. Three plays later, Damron uncorked a 47-yard bomb to TE Aaron Sidney and Georgia retook the lead, 17-14 with 9:21 left in the half. Nashville would try to come back but missed a 52-yard field goal attempt by Daniel Stevenson. Georgia would subsequently drive down from their own 42 to the Nashville 1, where they faced a fourth-and-goal. The Force would go for it, and HB Clem Foulks would power it in off tackle right to put Georgia up 24-14 with 2:15 to go in the half. Nashville's two-minute would quickly move the Kats down the field and set up Stevenson to kick a 31-yard field goal on the last play of the half and the score was Georgia 24, Nashville 17.
At the start of the second half, Nashville caught a break when a roughing the kicker penalty on a punt extended their drive. The Kats marched 74 yards on 9 plays, with Brickhouse hitting WR Cobey Kingston on a 9-yard TD pass. The extra point made it 24-24 with 12:08 left in the third. But from that point on, The Force took over the game. A 10-play, 64-yard drive ended with Damron hitting WR Gevan Crafton on a 7-yard TD pass. The extra point was missed, and Georgia was only up 30-24 with 6:43 remaining in the third. Nashville would go three-and-out, and Georgia would again face a fourth-and-goal from the 1 late in the third quarter. This time, HB Walter Halley would sweep around the left side and put the exclamation point on an 11-play, 57 yard drive. Ahmad would make the extra point, and Georgia was up 37-24 with 23 seconds left in the third quarter.
Nashville would punt to start the fourth quarter, and Georgia would slowly work their way down the field, twice being aided by fourth down penalties that gave the Force first downs, setting up a 31-yard field goal by Ahmad to go up 40-24 with 7:10 left in the game. After the Kats failed on fourth down, the Force would run a 10-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Foulks running it in from 2 yards out to make it 47-24 with 1:11 remaining.
Georgia gained 471 yards of total offense. As mentioned in the beginning, they gained 210 yards rushing on 39 carries. Foulks led the team with 90 yards on 19 carries with 2 TD. Halley carried the ball 14 times for 78 yards for a TD. Bonewell caught 6 passes for 52 yards and a TD. Damron was efficient, going 21-for-31 for 261 yards and 3 TDs and was not sacked.
Nashville gained 396 yards of total offense. The Kats gained 83 yards on 13 carries, with Osler gained 60 yards on 9 carries for a TD. Isaiah Falk was the Kats' leading receiver, catching 8 passes for 116 yards. Kingston caught 3 passes for 31 yards and a TD. Brickhouse went 30-for-47 for 332 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT. He was sacked twice, losing 19 yards.
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