With no time left and a season of question and concern driving them, the Rockmart Yellow Jackets made one final play.

And for one game, the chips finally fell their way.

Roshmel Young connected with a diving Terian Beavers in the back of the end zone as time expired to score the winning touchdown in a 7-6 win over Armuchee Friday night at The Reservation.

“The thing about this team is that no matter what’s going against us, no matter what the odds are, they never give up,” Rockmart head coach Dan Duff said. “And I knew they weren’t going to give up tonight.”

Rockmart was down 6-0 heading into the final quarter as Armuchee had gotten on the board with a pair of field goals from senior kicker Tommy Harris, the first one of which was a booming 52-yarder.

The Jackets (5-4, 4-1 in 7-AA South) began their final drive on their own 28-yard line with 1:51 left in the game and quickly found their passing rhythm, something that had been absent for most of the night.

Young, a junior, attempted a pass into the end zone from 10 yards out with 5.4 seconds. The throw was incomplete but Armuchee (7-2, 4-1) was called for pass interference, moving the ball up to the 1-yard line.

“I was just telling them that we’ve got to keep the faith,” Young said. “We’ve got to keep going until the end.”

With a second remaining on the clock, Young ran around to the left and shot the ball into the arms of Beavers, sending the Rockmart fans into a frenzy while the Armuchee faithful were left stunned.

“He threw it and I just went and grabbed it,” Beavers, a senior, said.

“When I got in the game I said, ‘Do y’all believe?’ and they said ‘Yeah.’ And Roshmel, when he came in the huddle, he said, ‘Go in the end zone and just turn around.’”

Joseph Lockley kicked the extra point to put the Jackets over the Indians and give Rockmart a win heading into their region play-in game at Chattooga next Friday.

“We haven’t been good all year long on two-minute offense but they came down the field and made the play when they had to make it,” Duff said. “I’m proud of the kids. The kids did it.”

Armuchee is still the Region 7-AA South champion and will travel to Phil Reeve Stadium next week to take on No. 1 Calhoun for the region title.

“I think we’ve had a great year but our guys right now are devastated,” Indians head coach John Mullinax said.

“They wanted to have a perfect record in the South. As the head man of this team, it’s my responsibility to get them back up. They are going to hurt but the bottom line is Sunday we’ve got to start getting ready for Calhoun.”

For Rockmart, their defense held the Indians to negative rushing yardage for most of the game and allowed only 70 yards of offense. The Jackets have only allowed an average of 8.4 points per game this year.

“Defense is what has kept us in this season and able to play close games and win them,” Duff said. “We’ve struggled offensively, we’re still struggling, but our defense has allowed us to do it.”

The Jackets did not flinch to move the ball well on their first possession but found it hard to do so for the rest of the first quarter.

With Armuchee taking control after recovering a fumble on the Rockmart 15, the Jackets’ defense pushed the Indians backward until they were on the 35-yard line on fourth-and-31.

That’s when Harris came out and kicked a low but true 52-yard field goal over the uprights and gave Armuchee a 3-0 lead with 1:56 left in the opening quarter.

“I’m proud of this football team,” Mullinax said. “This community, this school has got to be proud of this football team.”

While Rockmart put together a long drive starting at the end of the first, they were forced to punt after getting to midfield and the Jackets once again held the Indians to a four-and-out.

Rockmart 7, Armuchee 6

Rockmart 0 0 0 7 — 7

Armuchee 3 0 3 0 — 6

A—Tommy Harris 52 FG

A—Harris 31 FG

R—Terian Beavers 1 pass from Roshmel Young (Joseph Lockley kick)

Rockmart Armuchee

13 First downs 4

34-161 Rushing 26-29

81 Passing 41

11-24-0 Passes 7-11-0

4-31.25 Punting 4-45.25

6-40 Penalties 4-30

3-2 Fumbles 2-0