Northside of Warner Robins led Allatoona 27-7 going into the fourth quarter and held off a late rally for a 30-21 victory Friday in the Class AAAAA semifinals to reach the state championship game for the first time since 2009 and the sixth time in school history. Northside won state titles in 2006 and 2007.
In the other semifinal, Mays got two fourth-quarter touchdown runs from Kesselly Tyler (1 and 5 yards) to seal a 30-15 victory over Stockbridge. Mays, which was the only team in the semifinals that did not win its region championship, will be playing in a state final for the first time in the program’s 34-year history.
Northside and Mays will meet for the title at 8 p.m. Friday in the Georgia Dome.
Here are some of the other story lines from the Class AAAAA semifinals:
- Representing the ATL: Mays already was the first team from the Atlanta Public Schools to reach a semifinal since Grady in 2005. Now the Raiders have a chance to become the first city of Atlanta school to win a state championship since Southwest did it in 1973. Mays opened in 1981, essentially as a replacement for Southwest. The Raiders had never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs before this season.
- Battle of the backs: The expected showdown between Northside running back Willie Jordan and Allatoona's Russell Halimon never materialized. Jordan rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns on 40 carries and set school single-season records for touchdowns (31) and rushing yards (2,170 unofficially). Halimon, the leading rusher in Class AAAAA with 2,215 yards coming into the game, left with an injury on the Buccaneers' second possession and did not return.
- Drought continues: Allatoona's loss, combined with McEachern's loss to Colquitt County in Class AAAAAA, means another year without a title for Cobb County's public schools. No team from the Cobb County School District has ever won a state championship. The only team from Cobb to win a state title was Marietta (part of the Marietta City Schools), which won Class AAA in 1967. The county still has a chance of winning a championship this year, however. Mount Paran Christian of Kennesaw will play Eagle's Landing Christian in the Class A private-school final.
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