NORCROSS — Amid the pouring rain signaling the arrival of a hurricane on the Gulf Coast, Norcross upset previously unbeaten Peachtree Ridge 20-6 in a Region 7-AAAAAAA football matchup on Friday.

The Blue Devils improve to 4-3 and 2-1 in the region, while the Lions fall to 6-1 and 2-1. With Brookwood's upset of unbeaten North Gwinnett, Norcross and Peachtree Ridge join North, Brookwood and Parkview as teams with one loss at the top of the 7-AAAAAAA standings.

“I’m lost for words," Norcross head coach Corey Richardson said of the upset win. “We did a great job preparing this week. I felt like it’s the 1-0 head coach’s mentality where it’s just, every game matters this time of year. And at the end of the day, my thing is finishing a four-quarter game, and we finally did that tonight.”

Norcross got the game underway with a drive that ended with a missed field goal with 8:19 left to go in the first quarter.

It quickly got the ball back when linebacker Eric Pitts III picked off Peachtree Ridge quarterback Zain Belfield with 6:18 left in the first quarter. Even then, the hosts were unable to capitalize.

With 26 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Blue Devils quarterback Luqman Baig — back after missing games with an injury — connected with wide receiver Drew Noelsaint for a touchdown. After the kick, Norcross went up 7-0, a lead that held to the end of the quarter.

To ensure the Blue Devils kept that advantage, defensive back Riley Jenkins intercepted Belfield’s pass at midfield. Neither team could capitalize in the second quarter, and the 7-0 score carried into halftime.

With 8:51 left in the third quarter, Baig fumbled the ball at Norcross’ own 20-yard line, and it was recovered by Lions defensive back Britt Finley. Belfield took the ball into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown with 6:54 in the third quarter.

The Lions were poised to tie it on a PAT, but they took a delay of game penalty to set them back five yards. Then, the Norcross special teams blocked the kick and swarmed the opponent so they couldn’t salvage the play, keeping the score at 7-6.

With 10:40 left in the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils ran the ball on 4th and 1 to keep a drive alive. The Lions got the stop to force a turnover on downs at the Norcross 43-yard line.

From there, Belfield took the ball on the run, but linebacker Anthony Allen laid a hit hard enough to force a fumble. Noelsaint recovered, and Norcross got the ball right back.
.
The Blue Devils quickly moved the ball down the field, and running back Tyler Ruffin scored on a 31-yard touchdown run. After the kick, they had a 14-6 lead.

In an effort to try and tie the game, Belfield took a shot down field from Peachtree Ridge’s own 40, and it was picked off by defensive back Jayson Jones at the Norcross 20. He returned it all the way to the Peachtree Ridge 15-yard line, setting up the dagger.

“Our defense was lights out,” Richardson said. “And I took some risks early. I put us in some binds, and the defense had my back, and a big key is getting turnovers, and they played really outstanding when the offense was struggling early, and then, the offense did enough at the end to execute and get us some points and get us some breathing room at the end.”

Baig found Trent Kennemore for a 4-yard touchdown reception. The extra point was no good, giving the Blue Devils a lead of 20-6.

Even as a member of the offense for a snap, a defensive player got the job done.

“The offensive coaches looked at me and, look, can we throw it right here to one of our big guys?” Richardson said of the Kennemore touchdown. “And I just said, let’s do it, because I have lot of faith in those offensive guys. But again, can’t speak enough about our defense tonight.”

Norcross heads to a bye week before taking on Parkview on the road. Peachtree Ridge will have a bye week to regroup as well before it heads to North Gwinnett on Oct. 23.