Purple Hurricane to play role of road warriors vs. Pace
The Fitzgerald Purple Hurricane (Region 1, No. 2 seed) are a higher seed in the Class AA tournament over Pace Academy (Region 6, No. 4 seed). However, because championship games for all six classifications are played at the Georgia Dome, the Purple Hurricane will take a four-and-a-half hour, 200-mile bus ride to Atlanta.
To top it off, the game will be played on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Purple Hurricane will meet at Fitzgerald at 6 a.m. and head out.
The Knights, meanwhile, reside less than 10 miles from the Dome.
"The elements will be strange for us," Purple Hurricane coach Jason Strickland said. "The time is strange for us. We'll be playing indoors. We'll be playing for a state title."
Given those circumstances, combined with how well Strickland observes the Knights have been playing as of late, he's not concerned his players will be overconfident despite Fitzgerald eliminating Pace from last year's playoffs, 49-21, in the quarterfinal.
"All you have to do is turn on the film and see how Pace has played the six weeks," Strickland said. "That can take any overconfidence away. They're playing extremely well, and for us to win we have to play our best game of the season."
Fitzgerald has a state title to its name, but it came in 1948.
Pace Academy's football program, on the other hand, came into existence in 2008 and this is the furthest the Knights have gone in the playoffs. They're the only No. 4 seed remaining in the state playoffs regardless of classification, and are coming on an emotionally-charged semifinal win over Region 6 rival GAC.
"GAC was a big obstacle," Knights coach Chris Slade said. "Winning was huge. We've got one more game to try to win and we don't have time to get caught up with how great we are. (The win over the Spartans) was years ago in my mind. That's behind us. It was a great win, but we've got to finish."
While the Knights were surely extra-motivated to beat a region rival in GAC and avenge a loss to the Spartans earlier in the season, Slade said his team won't look at their loss to the Purple Hurricane last season as a point of motivation.
"We're two completely different teams now," Slade said. We could have played them 10 times last year and we never would've won. I thought they were the best team in the state, right there with GAC."
This year's game figures to be won in the trenches. Slade notes Fitzgerald's execution of the Wing-T offense, led by running back JD King. Strickland is concerned about a size disadvantage on the lines.
Slade's biggest message to his team is to not let up, because the season is not over.
"We've been working hard since July," Slade said. "But we've got to continue to work and have a good showing."
Strickland believes King's performance will play a significant factor in the game's outcome.
"Most teams view us as having to stop JD King and they're right," Strickland said. "If they're able to control him and slow him down, they're going to have a good shot."
For a capsule of the Class AA title game, go here.
