High school football semifinals roundup

By Staff

For the AJC

Camden County reached its second-straight Class AAAAA championship game and the school’s third this decade with a 19-10 home win over surprise semifinalist Colquitt County.

Andre Johnson rushed for 247 yards for Camden (12-2), which also got 126 yards on 16 carries from Ean Days as part of a 391-yard team rushing effort.

Colquitt (11-3) reached the semifinals with road wins over previously undefeated Stephenson and Lassiter after a first-round win over Westlake. The Packers were playing their fourth road game in four weeks.

Camden led 12-10 in the fourth quarter when Johnson broke a 76-yard touchdown to seal the game after the defense forced a turnover on downs. Colquitt was held to 184 total yards, 71 on the ground.

Camden beat its finals opponent, Northside-Warner Robins, 28-20 in last year’s second round.

“If you’d asked me early in the season if we’d get back to the finals, I would have told you you were crazy,” Camden County coach Jeff Herron said. “We have to play an unbelievably talented bunch in Northside with their own history of state titles. We’re in for a battle.”

Saturday’s game will be the second Georgia Dome appearance for Camden County this season. The Wildcats lost to Grayson in the Corky Kell Classic, their season opener.

Glennis Curry

Buford 38, Fitzgerald 28: Buford converted five fourth-down plays, two of them for touchdowns, and scored twice in the final 5:30 to break a 28-28 tie and advance to the Class AA championship. The Wolves (13-1), the AA champions in 2007 and ‘08, will face 14-0 Calhoun for the state title.

The Wolves took the lead for good on a 27-yard field goal by David Petroni following a 55-yard pass from Alex Ross to Sherman Page. Ross completed 11 of 17 passes for 229 yards and was also the Wolves' leading rusher.

Buford locked up the win after Andrew Swope recovered a fumble at the Fitzgerald 32, with Jessel Curry scoring from the 1 with 28 seconds on the clock. Ross scrambled for a first down on fourth-and-3 from the 25, Buford's fifth successful fourth-down conversion.

The other big play from the Buford defense was an interception near the goal line by Ryan Dillard late in the first half with the score tied at 14. The Wolves drove 69 yards for the go-ahead score, with tight end Kurt Freitag catching a 2-yard pass from Ross on fourth-and-goal. The two teamed up for a 51-yard completion earlier in the drive.

Ross passed 16 yards to Curry to cap Buford's game-opening drive, keyed by a 38-yard pass from Ross to Eric Barr. After the Golden Hurricanes (13-1) put together back-to-back scoring drives, Curry's 2-yard run tied the game following the second of Buford's successful fourth-down plays.

Fitzgerald needed only 34 seconds of the third quarter to tie the game at 21 before Buford reclaimed the lead on a 25-pass from Ross to Freitag on fourth-and-8. The Golden Hurricanes marched 72 yards to tie the game at 28 with 7:42 to play.

Buford beat Fitzgerald 44-21 in last year's playoffs.

Mike Blum

Peach County 21, Eastside 14: Travis Richmond scored on a 12-yard run with nine minutes left in the game to give Peach County the final margin, but it was the Trojans' defense that held Eastside twice in the final four minutes to earn a trip to the AAA final.

Richmond's score capped a six-play, 65-yard drive, but the Eagles roared back downfield before the Trojan defense held on downs at their own 3-yard line with 4:14 left. Eastside (11-3) had one more chance, getting the ball back with 24 seconds left in the game, but a Califf Carnes desperation pass was batted down in the end zone as time expired.

The Trojans drew first blood when Patrick Taylor hit Lamar Zanders on a 65-yard touchdown pass in the opening period, but Eastside's Git Aiken tied the score when he caught a 9-yard scoring pass from Carnes early in the second quarter. Peach County retook the lead late in the half, however, when Octavious Hall blocked an Eagles punt at the Trojan 39 and LeBrandon Johnson scooped the loose ball up at the 50 and returned it for the score. Peach County led 14-7 at the break.

Aiken scored on a 25-yard run in the third quarter to make it 14-14 going into the final period.

Aiken finished with 141 yards on 23 carries. Richmond ran 13 times for 62 yards and a score. Taylor was 7-of-10 for 137 yards and one touchdown.

Steve Shelnutt

Savannah Christian 24, Darlington 10: T.J. Franklin broke a halftime tie with a 61-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter and added a 30-yard scoring run on the Raiders' next drive to propel visiting Savannah Christian into the Class A championship game for the first time in school history.

The Raiders (14-0) recovered two onside kicks and limited Darlington (9-5) to a combined five offensive plays in the second and third quarters to build a big advantage in time of possession. The victory gave Savannah Christian a new school record for wins in a season.

Darlington earned a temporary 10-7 lead after a 41-yard touchdown run by Cedric Spivey and a 22-yard field goal by Ben Davidson.

A.J. White and William Waters had interceptions for the Tigers.

Dave Paul

Wilcox County 20, Clinch County 14: A one-handed 80-yard touchdown reception by Lonnie Outlaw late in the fourth quarter propelled Wilcox County into the Class A finals.

The Patriots led Clinch County 12-7 at halftime, but the Panthers came back. Midway through the third quarter, linebacker Zack Thomas picked off a Wilcox screen pass to set up Trey Dorsey’s 3-yard go-ahead touchdown run. Thomas’ interception was one of seven turnovers in the quarter. During one stretch, turnovers occurred on four consecutive plays.

Outlaw’s touchdown reception from Nick Marshall regained the lead at 20-14, but Clinch County still had one last chance. On the game’s final play, Clinch quarterback Vintavious Cooper completed a short pass to Dorsey but the Wilcox defense sealed the victory by tackling him at the 5-yard line.

Adam Lazarus