When Westminster plays Blessed Trinity for the Class AAA championship on Friday afternoon, the Wildcats will essentially be playing their eighth straight playoff game.
Yep, coach Gerry Romberg’s team has been under the win-or-go-home pressure since Week 8 of the regular season. There has been no room for error and somehow Westminster has managed to win an unprecedented seven straight games -- all on the road -- to reach the state championship game for the first time since 1978.
This week, although it has no meaning because the championship game will be played at the Georgia Dome, Westminster will be the home team.
“We haven’t worn green jerseys since the last time we played Blessed Trinity,” Romberg said. “I told the kids to make sure they could locate their green jerseys.”
That was the last time the Wildcats (10-4) lost a game. Since then, they’ve beaten Douglass and Washington in the regular season and defeated North Clayton in the Region 4-AAA play-in game to qualify for the state playoffs.
Once the playoffs began, the Wildcats won at Southeast Bulloch, won at Callaway, won at Adairsville and won at Cedar Grove. That’s a lot of “ats.”
“We had to win those last three games just to get in the playoffs,” Romberg said. “Our guys just kept on believing. They came together through all the adversity After we lost the Therrell game, they could have folded their tents and played out the string, but they didn’t do that.”
The 25-23 loss to Therrell on Sept. 25 stunned everyone -- including Therrell, which lost its last five games. But Westminster recovered and was tied 10-10 in the fourth quarter against Blessed Trinity before eventually losing 24-10. Throughout the adversity, the Wildcats never lost hope.
“This is the loose-est group,” Romberg said. “But they’ve learned how to get focused and play. They know when to lock in and get focused and ready. And I know it’s a cliche, but they really love each other. They’ve been together since the 25th of July and they’re still having fun.”
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