GHSA crowned this year’s state high school football champions over the weekend, and Gainesville was not one of them. The Red Elephants lost their finals match Saturday against Hughes, 35-28.
On Thursday, Prince Avenue Christian defeated Swainsboro 52-34 to win the Class A-Division I state title game. The Wolverines were the only Northeast Georgia team to clinch a championship this year.
The finals were played over three days at Georgia State University’s Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta. Titles went to Mill Creek (7A), Hughes (6A), Ware County (5A), Benedictine (4A), Sandy Creek (3A), Thomson (2A), Bowdon (A Div. 1) & Prince Ave. (A Div. 2).
Class 7A
Mill Creek 70, Carrollton 35
Recap: Mill Creek scored a state-finals record 70 points and won the highest-scoring championship game in GHSA history. The teams scored five touchdowns during one 55-second stretch in the first quarter. They then scored within 14 seconds of each other early in the second quarter. Until this game, there had been only 60 scoring plays of 80 yards or longer in state finals history dating to 1947. These teams did it five times in 3 minutes, 30 seconds across the first and second quarters. By halftime, when Mill Creek led 49-28, the game was already the 10th-highest-scoring game in finals history. Mill Creek’s Cam Robinson rushed for 252 yards. Carrollton’s Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis passed for a state-finals record 531 yards. The pivotal points in the game were Jaiden Patterson’s blocked field goal, which Jamal Anderson returned 86 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and Mill Creek’s nine-play, 80-yard TD drive after Carrollton had gotten within 49-35 in the third quarter.
History: Mill Creek, playing its 19th season, won its first state title and became the eighth Gwinnett County school to win highest classification this century. Mill Creek won each of its final eight games by 24 points or more after its only loss, to Buford on Oct. 14. Mill Creek became the first team in finals history to score two touchdowns on special teams and the first to return a blocked field goal for a touchdown. Carrollton, playing its first season in the highest class, finished 14-1 and fell short of winning its first state title since 1998. Lewis finished with 4,116 yards passing, the most ever for a Georgia freshman and 12th-most for any player.
Class 6A
Hughes 35, Gainesville 28
Recap: Hughes scored two quick-strike touchdowns in the final minute of the first half to take a 23-6 lead, weathered Gainesville’s three second-half touchdowns, and sealed the victory by running off the final 3 minutes, 59 seconds on the clock. Leading 9-6 with 54 seconds left before intermission, Hughes went 79 yards on three pass plays, scoring on Prentiss “Air” Noland’s 15-yard throw to Jekail Middlebrook. On the kickoff, Hughes’ Terrance Brown forced a fumble that Hughes recovered, and Noland threw an 18-yard TD pass to Jaden Barnes on the next play. Gainesville scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half, but Hughes answered both, one on Middlebrook’s 77-yard kickoff return. When Gainesville got within 35-28, Hughes ran out the clock with an eight-play drive to the Gainesville 9. Barnes finished with 150 yards receiving, giving him 1,179 on the season and 642 in the playoffs. Gainesville’s Jeremiah Telander, who is committed to Tennessee, had a state finals-best four tackles for losses totaling minus 31 yards.
History: Hughes, playing its 14th varsity season, won its first state title and finished 15-0 after finishing as runner-up to Buford in 2021. Hughes set the state record for points in a season with 792 and became the first team in history to score 35 points or more in every game. (Trinity Christian had scored 34 or more in every 2021 game.) Gainesville, following a 5-5 season in Class 7A, finished 14-1 in the first season under coach Josh Niblett. The Red Elephants fell short of their first state title since 2012.
Class 5A
Ware County 38, Warner Robins 13
Recap: Ware County scored on four of its first five possessions, built a 24-6 halftime lead, and won its first state title in its 65th season. R.J. Boyd rushed for 132 yards, Niko Smith passed for 256 and three touchdowns, and Jarvis Hayes had a career-high 171 yards receiving. Trey Hargrove had a team-leading seven solo tackles, three tackles for losses, and two forced fumbles. K.J. Baker and Dewayne Birden intercepted passes. Ware County forced two Warner Robins three-and-outs to start the game and scored after each for a 14-0 lead. Warner Robins scored on a one-play drive after an interception to start the second half, but Smith’s two TD passes in the third quarter put the game away, one on a 99-yard drive.
History: Ware County completed its first undefeated season (14-0) and claimed its first title after making the playoffs each of the past 21 seasons and reaching three previous finals since the south Georgia school opened in 1958. Hayes finished the season with 1,134 yards receiving. Warner Robins finished 10-5 after a 1-4 start. Its 14-game winning streak in playoff games and bid for a third straight title were ended.
Class 4A
Benedictine 14, Cedartown 13
Recap: Benedictine kept Cedartown out of the end zone four times inside the 2-yard line in the final seconds of a rainy, eventful fourth quarter. With 7:42 left, Cedartown was barely hanging on, trailing 14-7 with Benedictine on its 37-yard line, but Carlos Jones forced a fumble on a sack, and Mikey Esquivel recovered. Cedartown drove 57 yards on seven plays and scored on QB Reece Tanner’s 1-yard run with 4:53 left. But Cedartown missed the extra point, leaving Benedictine ahead 14-13. Benedictine then faced a fourth-and-1 at its 24 and gambled with a fake punt, but the up man dropped the snap, and Cedartown’s Maleek Frederick tackled him for no gain. Cedartown used six running plays to earn a first-and-goal at the 1. Having missed an extra point and rain pouring, Cedartown tried four times to run it in with Reece and 230-pound Patrick Garner. On fourth down with three seconds left, Cedartown called time out, then ran Garner into the teeth of Benedictine’s defense again, but for no gain. Credited with the goal-line tackles were Cole Semien, Keiran Glover, Alijah Alexander, and Jeremiah Thomas.
History: Benedictine, the defending champion, won its fourth state title in nine seasons. Cedartown finished 14-1 and short of its first state title since 1963. Benedictine’s defensive stop was the second game-saving goal-line stand in the final minutes of a championship game, the first since Thomas County Central beat Thomasville 14-12 in 1993. Had Cedartown scored on the last attempt, it would’ve been the first final-play-winning touchdown in finals history. (North Gwinnett won on a final-play field goal in 2017.) Cedartown also would’ve become only the fourth team to win after trailing by 14 points or more in the second half behind 2015 Westminster, 1996 Washington County, and 1952 Calhoun.
Class 3A
Sandy Creek 21, Cedar Grove 17
Recap: Travis Franklin scored the winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 50 seconds left, and Kaleb Cost intercepted a long pass at the Sandy Creek 31 to clinch the victory. Video indicated that Franklin’s run came up short of the goal line. The play took place on third down, so Sandy Creek would’ve had another shot at the touchdown or a tying field goal, but video of the play and criticism of the call went viral after the game. The winning drive, which covered 70 yards in 12 plays, came after Cedar Grove took a 17-14 lead. The key play was quarterback Geimere Latimer’s riveting 23-yard run on a fourth-and-22 that moved the ball to the Cedar Grove 21. Cedar Grove ran a controversial play of its own at the goal line. Elliott Colson was ruled short of the end zone on a third-down run from the 2, although replays appeared to show the ball crossing the line. Sandy Creek’s Cameron Watts then blocked a 27-yard field goal attempt to preserve Sandy Creek’s 14-10 lead with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter. Sandy Creek also had a third-and-goal at the 1 in the third quarter but turned the ball over on downs.
History: Sandy Creek, avenging a regular-season defeat, dethroned the No. 1 team and defending Class 3A champion. It was the Fayette County school’s first championship since 2012. Latimer, a two-year starter and all-state performer, finished his career with 5,713 yards passing and 67 touchdowns and 1,088 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns. Cedar Grove failed in its bid for a fifth Class 3A title in seven seasons. It was Cedar Grove’s fifth loss to a 3A opponent in that span, second to Sandy Creek, which beat Cedar Grove in the 2021 regular season.
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