On Friday, Jefferson, Marist, Benedictine and Bainbridge scored victories to advance to this year’s state semifinals. Here’s a breakdown of the action:
No. 2 ranked Jefferson outlasted the fourth-quarter heroics of Carver-Columbus quarterback Devin Riles to come away with a 28-22 victory in the battle between two unbeatens. Junior Malaki Starks finished with three touchdowns, the first of which was set up by Jefferson’s recovery of a fumble on Carver’s opening drive. Paxton Corkery extended the Dragons lead to 14-0 with a short run in the second before Jaiden Credle provided Carver’s first points of the night — and the first points allowed by the Jefferson defense since Nov. 5. Starks took a 7-yard trip to the end zone on 4th-and-2 late in the third for a 21-6 advantage, but Riles connected with William Bonilla for both a 19-yard touchdown completion and the successful two-point conversion early in the final frame. After Starks’ final touchdown of the night gave the Dragons some breathing room, Riles again closed the gap with a 10-yarder to Bonilla and two-point completion to Credle with 0:25 to play. The Dragons recovered the onside kick, however, to seal the win and set up a showdown with Benedictine in next week’s semifinals.
Ian Otten scored touchdowns in the first and third quarters for top seed Marist in its 36-7 road win over fellow No. 1 seed Perry. The War Eagles led 12-0 at the end of the first quarter after a Perry safety on a punt snap that went into the end zone, Otten’s rushing touchdown (set up by Charlie Fleming’s interception) and a Dawson Jones field goal. Jones made another field goal as time expired in the first half to give Marist a 15-7 halftime lead, and the War Eagles put the game away with third-quarter touchdown runs from Otten and Lincoln Parker and a fourth-quarter rushing score from quarterback Champ Davis with 9:11 remaining.
A pair of field goals from Nick Dillon (37, 23 yards) and Leshon Brooks’ 5-yard rushing score gave the Cadets a 13-0 lead late in the second, and Trent Broadnax returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown to give Benedictine a 20-0 advantage at the break. The Cadets extended their lead with second-half touchdown runs from Holden Geriner and Brooks before Riverdale finally found the end zone in the fourth, and Geriner’s 37-yard scoring strike to Broadnax and a 45-yard pick-six from Justin Thomas sealed the 48-13 win for Benedictine over Riverdale.
No. 7 ranked Cedartown opened up a 10-0 lead before Bainbridge poured on 21 unanswered points to close out the 21-10 road victory.
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