Jefferson finished the season as one of just three undefeated teams in Class 5A. The No. 3-ranked Dragons closed the regular-season with a 35-0 win over Eastside to win the Region 8 title for the second straight year and the fourth time in five seasons.
“We’ve been playing really good football,” coach Travis Noland said. “I’m pleased we were able to go undefeated. That’s not easy whether you’re playing checkers or high school football. So we’re fortunate.”
No. 1 Coffee, an impressive 28-5 winner over No. 5 Ware County, also wrapped up an unbeaten season. No. 4 Cartersville finished its regular season 10-0 week ago and did not play this week.
Jefferson this season has been able to move past the tragic shooting death of Elijah DeWitt a year ago.
“That was a really, really hard thing to manage,” Noland said. “So this year we were just looking for our guys to work on just football and getting better each week.”
That plan has been successful. While the team has played at a high level all year, it has been even more outstanding since its second bye week that preceded the game against Flowery Branch. In the four games since that break the Dragons have outscored the opposition 174-23.
“We played well early in the year but I feel like since our second open date that we’ve had great focus and attention to detail,” he said. “We’ve practiced well and we’ve played well because of that. They’ve done a really good job for the last four weeks of preparing well and playing well.”
Coffee wins first region title since 2015: The Trojans also posted their first unbeaten regular season since Bonwell Royal’s 1982 team that went 12-1 and reached the state quarterfinals. They were led by Fred Brown, who rushed 25 times for 176 yards and one touchdown, and a defense the limited Ware County to 95 yards on the ground. Elgie Paulk had eight tackles and three of the team’s 13 tackles for loss.
Arabia Mountain beats Tucker to win Region 4: The Rams clipped Tucker for the second straight season, this time resulting in the school’s first region championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2016-17. Arabia Mountain beat the Tigers 24-23 by stopping a two-point conversion in overtime.
Arabia Mountain (9-1) scored first in overtime on Daniel Turpin’s 1-yard run, with Mohen Masih kicking the extra point. Tucker scored on a run by Jordan McCoy, but opted to try for the two-point conversion, which Rams Seth Keene, Brandon Scott and Malcolm Snipes helped stop.
Turpin scored a touchdown, Laron Jones returned a kickoff 95 yards and Masih kicked a 27-yard field goal for Arabia Mountain in regulation, which was tied 17-17. Tucker’s points came on a pair of touchdown passes from Jamar Graham to Christian Whitmore, 22 and 30 yards, and a 25-yard field goal from Eli French that tied the game with 4:15 remaining.
Other highlights from the final week of the regular season:
Region 1: Statesboro earned the third seed by beating Jenkins 35-0. Kam Mikell rushed for 156 yards and threw for 80 yards to lead the Blue Devils. The Statesboro defense limited Jenkins to 97 yards of total offense. Jenkins became the No. 4 seed when previously winless Greenbrier knocked off Bradwell Institute 32-29 on a 31-yard field goal by Nolan Panzella with less than a minute remaining. Playoff seeds: 1. Coffee, 2. Ware County, 3. Statesboro, 4. Jenkins.
Region 4: Chamblee earned the No. 4 playoff seed by beating Lithonia 49-14 thanks to quarterback Ashton Bolston, who ran for three touchdowns and threw for another. Bolston ran 12 times for 70 yards and completed 9 of 14 passes for 139 yards.
Region 5: Chapel Hill beat Villa Rica 23-6 to earn the No. 3 seed. The Panthers scored 23 unanswered points after spotting the Wildcats a 6-0 lead. Chapel Hill quarterback Delancey Alexander threw a pair of touchdown passes, one to Gregory Wardlaw and one to K.J. Green. Mike Padget ran for a 2-yard touchdown and Lucas Davis kicked a field goal. … Maynard Jackson picked up the final playoff spot with its 37-13 win over Tri-Cities. The Jaguars ran for 318 yards, with Kenyon Gilliam carrying 20 times for 199 yards and one touchdown. Rashad Harp threw for two touchdowns and ran for 69 yards. The win put Jackson in a tie for fourth place with Villa Rica, but the Jags won the tiebreaker because of its regular-season win.
Region 8: Flowery Branch earned the region’s final playoff spot by beating Heritage 48-35. Josh Oliver threw for four touchdowns and ran for another in the win, which put the Falcons back in the playoffs after watching from the sidelines a year ago.
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