Semifinalists hit their stride together

The Class AAAA final four is set and the semifinalist all seem to be hitting their stride. What makes this exciting is not only are these four teams each peaking at the right time, but all the teams have the momentum and potential to continue playing even better football. St. Pius has won eight straight since starting the season 0-5 and battled past an 11-1 Woodward Academy team 35-31 last night. The Golden Lions took advantage of Woodward Academy’s porous defense and did not attempt a single pass while pounding the football for 428 rushing yards. Jason Jones had a monster night with 182 yards and two touchdowns off just eight carries. Marist awaits St. Pius and is the only undefeated team remaining in the field. The War Eagles defeated Burke County 28-6 and in the process held a Bears team that averaged 41.3 points per game this season to their lowest point total since 2014.

Mary Persons will face Blessed Trinity and exploded for a 51-32 win over Jefferson in the quarterfinals. The Bulldogs were led by a four-touchdown performance by Quen Wilson and quarterback J.T. Hartage had a big night with a pair of touchdown passes to Deadrek Alford. This balance offensively is something that the Bulldogs have fine tuned all season long.

Blessed Trinity defeated Thomson 43-13 a week after dethroning Cartersville 21-17. The Titans scored touchdowns on all four of its first-half possessions and held Thomson scoreless after the host Bulldogs capped off their opening drive with a 3-yard Tyrek Braswell touchdown run. Titans running back Steele Chambers found the end zone on the first two Blessed Trinity possessions and then fooled the Thomson defense on their third series by rushing right and pitching back to quarterback Jake Smith for a 9-yard touchdown. Elijah Green capped the final scoring drive of the first half with a 13-yard touchdown run, and Blessed Trinity led 26-7 after a missed extra point and failed 2-point conversion. Smith connected with a diving Chambers for a 16-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left in the third quarter to increase the lead to 33-7, and Green added a 50-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter to make it 40-7. Thomson quarterback Mills Ridings scored on a 2-yard run with 6:16 left in the game, and Blessed Trinity kicker Ethan Chauvin capped the scoring with 2:22 left on the clock with a 36-yard field goal.