Pleasant Grove quarterback Eric Handley had the Spartans driving toward a game-winning touchdown drive when Guntersville’s Treyvan Avery intervened.

Avery snagged a tipped pass and returned the interception 82 yards for a score and propel Guntersville to a 31-21 victory over Pleasant Grove in a Class 5A quarterfinals on Friday night at Chorba-Lee Stadium in Guntersville.

“I didn’t get a good drop on the play,” Avery said. “I sprinted to make the tackle. Then, I saw the ball bounce off of the wide receiver. I grabbed it, and I thought, ‘I have got to take this to the house.’”

Avery’s game-clinching play came on a fourth-and-10 play for the Spartans (10-2).

“You can’t give a good team like Guntersville a lot of opportunities,” Pleasant Grove coach Darrell LeBeaux said. “They had a great game plan and executed it. It is a tough way to lose for our kids.”

The victory sends Guntersville (12-1) to the semifinals for the first time since 2006, when the Wildcats won the 4A state title.

Key stat: Guntersville forced Pleasant Grove into four turnovers, three interceptions and a fumble.

“Our defense played well and kept us in the game in the first half,” Guntersville coach Lance Reese said. “Our offense came to life in the second half.”

Star of the game: Guntersville quarterback Eli Morrison finished 19-of-33 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns. He added a 5-yard TD run for touchdown in the second half. Morrison’s TD passes covered 35 and 3 yards.

While Avery’s interception return sealed the win, Morrison’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Date Peterson gave the Wildcats the lead at 24-21.

“We were going to put the game in Eli’s hands,” Reese said. “He made some big throws and our receivers made the catches.”

Coachspeak: “This was a total win for our football team and the community. Pleasant Grove has been the standard in 5A, and we were able to beat them.” – Reese

What’s next?: The Wildcats (12-1) advance to Class 5A semifinals for the first time in school history and will travel to Legion Field to take on defending champion Ramsay.

Did you know?: Pleasant Grove won 10 games for the fifth straight season, but fell short of the semifinals for the first time since 2019.