Greater Atlanta Christian defeated Landmark Christian in dominant fashion during the high school football playoffs in Georgia on Friday. The Spartans also used a little-known rule to add to its score with one of the longest field goals in state history on a free kick.
Yes, that sounds contradictory but a successful free kick is recorded as a field goal, statistically.
This is not the first time a high school football team has used this unusual rule to its advantage, nor will it be the last. The kick on Friday was the sixth-longest in state history!
Greater Atlanta Christian destroyed Landmark Christian.
Greater Atlanta Christian School is located in Norcross, Georgia, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. It enrolls approximately 1,700 students from PreK through 12th grade.
Landmark Christian School is located in Fairburn, Georgia, about 20 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta. It enrolls approximately 1,000 students from PreK through 12th grade.
These two schools are on opposite sides of the city. They both compete on the Georgia Class AAA-A level of Private High School Football in the Peach State. The former defeated the latter by a final score of 48-16 on Friday in the second round of the playoffs. Greater Atlanta Christian, the No. 6-seed, will face No. 3-seed Athens Academy during the quarterfinals after a win over Landmark Christian, the No. 11-seed.
High School Football rules allow for a free kick after a fair catch.
Although the Spartans were not struggling to score, they wanted to add more points to their total and extend their lead before halftime. The clock did not give them a true opportunity to do so.
Landmark Christian punted on fourth down with just a few seconds left in the second quarter. Greater Atlanta Christian called for a fair catch at the 50-yard-line.
There was only enough time to take a knee, throw a Hail Mary, or kick an absurdly long field goal.
Head coach Tom Hardy went with the third of three options. However, he used an interesting rule to make it a lot easier for junior kicker Graham Anand. It only applies to high school and the NFL.
If a team calls for a fair catch, that team has the option to attempt a free kick on the very next play.
A free kick more closely resembles a kickoff than a field goal. Both teams line up 10 yards apart and the kicker boots the ball off of a tee without a true snap. There is just one glaring difference.
If the kick goes through the uprights, it is worth three points.
Anand did exactly that. He kicked the free kick through the uprights to give the Spartans three additional points to go up 34-16 before halftime.
From Todd Holcomb of AJC Varsity/@GHSFdaily:
— Caitlyn Stroh-Page (@caitlyn_stroh) November 23, 2025
Using the little-known free-kick rule, a Georgia placekicker made a 60-yard field goal, the sixth-longest successful kick in GHSA history.
Video courtesy of @GACFootball pic.twitter.com/VrL3pgOdUJ
A free kick shows in the box score in the same way as a field goal. Thus, Anand’s kick was officially recorded as the sixth-longest successful kick is Georgia High School Association history.
“This is the first time I have even been part of a free kick, as it is such a unique situation where you need a fair catch in field goal range and basically only time for one more play in the half,” coach Hardy told the AJC. “It was the first time anyone on our staff or on the officials crew had been a part of a fair catch/free kick.”
Greater Atlanta Christian went on to win big but the most interesting story from the game was the free kick. An Ohio high school used the same rule back in September. A South Carolina high school used the rule to win in walk-off fashion last year. It’s not new but it’s still weird!