It’s how you finish that matters. That’s the good news for several high school football teams that survived rough starts and bad losses this season in route to the state finals Friday and Saturday at the Georgia Dome.
Class AAAAA finalist Archer started the season 0-3. St. Pius began 0-2 in Class AAAA. Eagle’s Landing Christian actually was 0-6 in Class A. All will be playing for state championships this weekend.
“I was worried,’’ ELCA coach Jonathan Gess said. “Once we went 0-6, we had to win every game to make the playoffs. I know everyone says this, but we really had to trust our process. You go through the thoughts of thinking you’re an idiot and you’re awful, me professionally as a coach, and our team.’’
ELCA has won six in a row and will play Mount Paran Christian on Saturday for the title.
St. Pius’s 0-2 record marked the worst start in Paul Standard’s 14 seasons as coach at his alma mater. Those losses were to good teams, but were decisive — 42-20 to Blessed Trinity and 42-21 to Woodward Academy.
“When we left the field at Woodward in September at 0-2, our staff and I knew we had a special group of young men,’’ Standard said. “We were not very good at that time, but we knew that we had the leadership, work ethic and mettle to continue to work together to get better. Our coaches and our boys never wavered.’’
Standard made some personnel changes. He moved his quarterback, Joey Connors, to running back and began starting him on defense at safety. Reed Egan became the quarterback. In the avenging 28-21 victory against Woodward last week in the semifinals, Egan scored the first touchdown, and Connors scored the last, the game-winner.
“We knew we had all of the pieces of the puzzle,’’ Standard said. “We just needed to get them in the right place.’’
ELCA also made some lineup changes, including one at quarterback, where D.J. Hammond has started since the fifth game. Gess said the team also banked on its history of winning. ELCA won a state title in 2012.
“At one point in this program, we had gone 48-5 and won 24 games in a row,’’ Gess said. “We feel like we have a good process on how to win, and we had to stick to it. That being said, these three core values we have helped us all get through the pain and disappointment of losing — win the day, never quit and hard work. … It keeps you humble when you win and allows some grace for when you lose.’’
Archer, which is in the state finals for the first time, doesn’t have the same pedigree as St. Pius and ELCA. The Archer program is only five years old. The team began the season ranked No. 3 after an 11-1 finish in 2013.
Losses to Sandy Creek, Peachtree Ridge and Grayson were close. Two of the team’s all-state candidates, quarterback Gabe Tiller and receiver/safety Dylan Singleton, were injured during parts of those games. The team is healthy now.
Other state finalists have had bumps in the road.
Benedictine lost its opener to Greater Atlanta Christian. The two meet in a rematch for the AA title.
Mays lost its opener to Hughes but will face Northside-Warner Robins in AAAAA. Northside lost its No. 1 ranking in September when beaten by unranked Jones County.
Irwin County has won 10 consecutive games after a 1-1-1 start to reach its first state final since 1997. Irwin County’s opponent, Hawkinsville, had to avenge its only loss, to Marion County, last week to reach the finals.
Maybe there is a lesson in it.
“Anything is possible,’’ said Standard, “if you get enough people believing and working toward one common goal.’’
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