What’s really riding on the Class 3A high school football semifinal matchups Friday? Let’s look.
- Appling County, in some form or fashion, has been playing football since the 1930s. Since being known as “Appling County High School” in 1952 under head coach West Thomas, the Pirates have played a lot of football. But Appling’s semifinal road trip to Cedar Grove provides the Pirates a chance for their first-ever berth in a championship game. Appling came close in 1999 under head coach Bob Griffith before losing 30-7 in the 2A semifinals to Cartersville. In 2011, under head coach J.T. Pollock, the Pirates lost to Calhoun 51-14 in the semifinals. Last season, in Rick Tomberlin’s final year as head coach, the Pirates lost 31-13 in the quarterfinals to Greater Atlanta Christian. The Pirates are 12-1 this season and coming off playoff victories against Johnson-Savannah (42-8), Cherokee Bluff (34-20) and Thomson (21-7). It will be a first-time matchup with a Cedar Grove program under first-year coach John Adams.
- What’s riding on the semifinal game for Cedar Grove? The Saints are striving for their fourth title in six seasons. The Saints want to erase the memory of 2020′s 3-5 finish after being ravaged by COVID-19 issues. The Saints want to be back on top. Before Cedar Grove’s first state title in 2016 under head coach Jimmy Smith, the Saints had not had much postseason success. It made the semifinals in 1976 under head coach Clint Flanagan, then lost in the championship game in 1991 under Harry Newberry during his last season at Cedar Grove. Under Ray Bonner in 2010, Cedar Grove lost in the quarterfinals. Enter coach Smith. In 2015, Smith coached Cedar Grove to its first region title since 1991 and led the Saints to the semifinals. In 2016, the Saints won their first state championship in program history. In 2017, Cedar Grove lost in the semifinals. In 2018, Smith – in his final season before joining the Georgia State staff – coached Cedar Grove to another title-game victory. Miguel Patrick took over in 2019 and led the Saints to a title defense before suffering through the 2020 season and then taking the head coaching job at Crisp County. John Adams took over after Patrick’s departure and is eyeing a title berth in his first season. Cedar Grove is coming off playoff victories against White County (79-0), Southeast Bulloch (48-10) and Crisp County (28-6).
- Defending-champion Pierce County wants to be back in the title game, and much like Cedar Grove, its rise to the top of the class has been swift. From 1981 to 2010, Pierce County advanced to the quarterfinals twice and had a handful of other playoff appearances and first-round losses. Beginning in 2011 under Sean Pender, Pierce has made the playoffs each season, with quarterfinal losses in 2014 and 2016 and a semifinal loss in 2018 under Jason Strickland. Ryan Herring took over in 2019 and coached Pierce to the second round in his first season before last year’s title run. This year, Pierce has defeated Windsor Forest (42-0), Dawson County (49-0) and Peach County (35-30) in the playoffs. Carver-Atlanta stands in its way.
- And what does Carver-Atlanta want from their semifinal contest? The program’s first finals berth since 1967 under head coach Clarence Fisher. Darren Myles took over the head coaching job at Carver in 2005 and is the longest-tenured coach left in the semifinals. He has never been to a championship game, and if there’s a coach that might deserve the experience, it’s Myles. Since 2005, he has coached the Panthers to the quarterfinals (2007 and 2020 in 3A) and the 5A semifinals in 2017. Carver is coming off a 46-14 victory against Burke County and defeated North Hall (56-17) and Liberty County (53-6) in the first two rounds.
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