Chalk one up for the triple option over the spread. There will be no repeat champion in Class AAAA.
Quarterback Sam Phelts, fullback Griffin King and the Marist offensive line ran their double-wing traditional offense to near perfection, as the War Eagles jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead and withstood a gutsy comeback by defending-champion Griffin to take a 31-21 win at Memorial Stadium in Griffin.
Marist (11-1), the No. 2 seed from Region 6, will now face Buford in the quarterfinals next week. The loss snapped a 26-game winning streak for the Bears (11-1), who went undefeated last season en route to the AAAA state title.
After failing to do much with their first two possessions, the War Eagle offense got untracked late in the first quarter, marching 87 yards on 12 plays. Quarterback Sam Phelts did most of the damage on mid-line option runs, but fullback Griffin King put it in the end zone with a 27-yard run on the first play of the second quarter to give Marist a 7-0 lead after Joey Gogol’s extra point kick.
The teams exchanged punts before Marist struck again. War Eagle safety Will Toner took advantage of the inexperience of Griffin quarterback Tylan Mortan – starting for injured senior Anforne Stroud – when he baited the sophomore into throwing into heavy coverage over the middle. Toner stepped in front of Mortan’s intended receiver and returned the interception 40 yards to the Griffin 21 yard line. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Cameron Pearson sprinted 19 yards untouched on an inside trap to extend the War Eagle lead to 14-0.
Marist took advantage of another mistake by the Bears when a high snap to the Griffin punter resulted in a poor kick that gave Marist possession at the Griffin 32 yard line. The Bears defense held the War Eagles out of the end zone and Gogol drilled a 38-yard field goal to make the score 17-0 midway through the second quarter.
Another Bear mistake gave Marist a short field again and this time the War Eagles cashed in. Griffin senior linebacker Ryan Cochran didn’t see King call for a fair catch on a punt and tackled him at midfield. The resulting penalty moved the ball to the Griffin 35-yard line and four plays later King rumbled 25 yards up the middle, untouched, on another fullback dive to extend the lead to 24-0 at the half.
Griffin showed the heart of a champion and pulled to within 24-14 midway through the third quarter after 63-yard touchdown pass from Morton to senior Keyston Fuller, who caught a deep slant and outran the Marist secondary to the end zone, and a 24-yard touchdown pass to senior Chris Owens on a fade patter in the back of the end zone.
Griffin’s defense stood firm deep inside its own territory on Marist’s next possession and turned the War Eagles over on downs at the Bear eight yard line early in the fourth quarter. But on the first play from scrimmage Morton’s deep pass was intercepted by Toner, who returned it to the Griffin 12 yard line. Two plays later Phelts kept the ball on a mid-line option run and bounced into the end zone from 10-yards out to make the score 31-14 and essentially put the game away.
