What players, coaches said after quarterfinals

By GHSF Daily Staff

For the AJC

Here are some things coaches and players were heard to say after Friday's quarterfinals:

"We pass a lot. That's what we do. I have a lot of good receivers, and my job is to hit them."

- Wilcox County junior quarterback Nick Marshall, to the Gwinnett Daily Post, after completing 24 of 41 passes for 275 yards in his team's 20-15 victory over reigning Class A champion Wesleyan

"He had pneumonia Monday and Tuesday and was sick the whole trip up here. He would've played more both ways if he hadn't been sick. Monday and Tuesday he couldn't lift his head. He got well in a hurry, didn't he?"

- Camden County coach Jeff Herron, to the Florida Times-Union, about Ean Days, the wingback who rushed for 135 yards and scored three touchdowns in his team's 35-0 victory over North Gwinnett in Class AAAAA

"Fitzgerald is an unbelievable team, and it's really going to be a four-quarter war. I know this is the best team coach [Robby] Pruitt has had since he's been coaching there."

- Buford coach Jess Simpson, to the Gwinnett Daily Post, about his team's semifinal opponent in Class AA

"His heart was up to the challenge, but his knee wasn't. He wanted to play and I hoped he'd be OK. But by halftime, it was obvious that he couldn't stay in there."

- Wesleyan coach Franklin Pridgen, to the Gwinnett Daily Post, about his quarterback Conor Welton, who tried to endure an injured knee in the first half but couldn't play in the second half in a 20-15 loss to Wilcox County in Class A

"It means the world to this program. There are a lot of folks that have gone through that thing and fought really hard to get this program established. We may not be the Thomas County Central with all the tradition, but we've built a pretty good tradition ourselves the last 11 years. For us to come down here and beat Thomas County Central is good for us."

- Sandy Creek coach Chip Walker, to the Times-Enterprise of Thomasville, on his team's 31-17 victory over Thomas County Central and first trip to the semifinals in Class AAAA

"We've got as good a back as there is in the state of Georgia. I don't care what anybody says. There ain't no doubt we were feeding him in the second half."

- Sandy Creek's Walker, to the Times-Enterprise of Thomasville, on Rajion Neal, the Mississippi State recruit who rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-17 victory over Thomas County Central in Class AAAA

"Had we done anything [on offense]? It was obvious we weren't gonna [be able to] run the ball. I didn't want to take a chance. Devon's a good one. I trust for him to win it for us any time."

- Northside coach Conrad Nix, to the Macon Telegraph, on his decision to send in kicker Devon Pike on first down in the third overtime to make a 32-yard field goal that defeated Peachtree Ridge 20-17 in Class AAAAA

"We just came out here and laid an egg. No other way to put it. We laid an egg. You can't do that in the third round of the playoffs."

- Westside coach Sheddrick Risper, to the Macon Telegraph, on his team's three late turnovers and failure to score from the 2-yard line in a 23-7 loss to Rockdale County in Class AAAA

"It was supposed to go to the running back, but I saw [St. Pius] kept blitzing, so I saw a hole on the back side that was just wide open."

- Peach County quarterback Patrick Taylor, to the Macon Telegraph, on his decision to keep the ball on his 3-yard touchdown that was the winning score in a 21-14 victory over St. Pius in Class AAA

"If that isn't the best defense in the state, I don't know what is. They were big and strong, and they put pressure on us all night."

- Lassiter quarterback Hutson Mason, to the Marietta Daily Journal, after he was "held" to 275 yards passing - about 150 below his average - in Colquitt County's 46-17 victory in Class AAAAA

"I'm speechless. I mean, what do you say? ... I've never seen a team respond and battle the way this team did."

- Flowery Branch coach Lee Shaw, to the Gainesville Times, after his team scored the game's final 14 points in its 35-33 victory over Carver of Columbus in Class AAA

"We were fourth-and-26 at West Forsyth from being 6-4 and never seeing this moment."

- Flowery Branch's Shaw, on his team's 54-51 win on Oct. 23

"We are just trying to bring the glory back to this team."

- Clarke Central wide receiver Dimitri Holmes, to the Athens Banner-Herald, on his team's 52-13 victory over North Clayton that put Clarke in the semifinals for the first time since 1996

"There's a lot of teams that win by out-athleting people, and there's a lot of teams that rise to the occasion, and we're one of those teams that just refuses to give up even though the other team may have a little more talent."

-Darlington coach Tommy Atha, to the Rome News-Tribune, after his team's 17-0 victory over Twiggs County sent Darlington to the Class A semifinals despite a 9-4 record.

"You get the ball on the 1-yard line and you don't score, you can blame that on the head coach."

- Lincoln County coach Larry Campbell, to the Augusta Chronicle, on his team's failure to score after blocking a punt and getting a first-and-goal at the Savannah Christian 1-yard line in the fourth quarter of a game Savannah Christian won 7-0 in Class A