Sprayberry’s Head football coach Brett Vara communicates with his team, during the game, between the River Ridge Knights and the Sprayberry Yellow Jackets, held at Jim Frazier Stadium in Marietta Georgia Friday night. Special/William Lofton

MARIETTA — There was an electrifying start, an exciting ending and a bunch of clock management in the middle of Sprayberry’s 17-14 victory over River Ridge on Friday night.

Justin Jones took the opening kickoff 94 yards to the end zone in 20 seconds for the opening points of the game, and Zach Heib made a leaping interception off a tipped pass to end River Ridge’s attempt at a comeback on the last meaningful play of the game.

“We tried to give it away in the end on a couple miscues on special teams,” Sprayberry coach Brett Vavra said. “I credit River Ridge for not quitting. They were playing hard and they played well, but our kids responded and made one more play when we needed to.”

Sprayberry (2-6, 1-4 Region 6AAAAAA) held a 17-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but River Ridge (3-5, 0-5) mounted a comeback with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

The Knights then recovered an onside kick with 1:23 left to play in the game. After moving the ball to the Sprayberry 31-yard line, River Ridge quarterback Chase Begin took a shot at the end zone, but one Sprayberry defender tipped the ball up and Heib dove to make the interception and seal the victory.

“I was holding my breath, for sure, but that was great play,” said Vavra, a Sprayberry alum who picked up his first coaching win at Jim Frazier Stadium.

Sprayberry gained 177 yards of offense in the first half, to River Ridge’s 49 yards. Will Hudson led the way with 35 rushing yards and 91 passing in the first half.

The script flipped in the second half, mostly in the fourth quarter, when River Ridge gained 116 yards of offense, to Sprayberry’s 60.

“I thought we were pretty dominant in the first half, but we were not able to finish,” Vavra said. “We were putting the ball in the red zone and had great field position all night. Our defense, I thought, played great, but we have to find a way to take advantage and finish on field position and opportunities.”

River Ridge took advantage of a Sprayberry turnover to score its first points of the game early in the fourth quarter, then benefited from a bad snap on a punt attempt to score its second touchdown late in the final quarter.

“That is what we preach. We want our guys to play four quarters,” River Ridge coach Tyler Wynn said. “Our guys fought hard, and hats off to Sprayberry. They got big plays when they needed them. We have been in some games late in the fourth, and we would have liked to have edged it out in the end, but we were not able to do that.”

Daniel Uwaomah did not have a rush attempt through the first three quarters of the game for the Knights, but he paced the offense with eight carries for 72 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter.