Blessed Trinity Face Another Rematch For State Championship

By Mike Blum

ROSWELL, GA -- For the second time in three seasons, the Blessed Trinity Titans will play for a state high school football championship against a very familiar opponent. The Titans take on region rival Marist for the state AAAA championship Saturday, Dec. 9 at 4:30 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

In the second round of this year’s playoffs, BT defeated No. 1-ranked Cartersville 21-17, reversing the result of a 2012 second round game won by the Purple Hurricanes 24-23. The Titans’ recent victory ended Cartersville’s 41-game winning streak, along with the team’s hopes of a third straight state title. Both games were played in Cartersville. Last week, BT rolled to a 28-7 victory over Mary Persons, defeating the team that knocked the Titans out of the 2016 playoffs with a 28-27 victory in the quarterfinals, a game that was also played in Forsyth.

On Saturday, the Titans will be looking to even the score for the 2017 season with Marist, which defeated BT 25-24 in October on the Titans’ field to capture the Region 7-AAAA title. As a result, the War Eagles played four home games in the playoffs while the Titans had to play on the road each of the last three weeks against state-ranked opponents. BT rolled past Thomson 43-13 in the quarterfinals.

Blessed Trinity and Marist, two of the three most prominent Catholic high schools in metro Atlanta along with St. Pius, had never played in football until last year, with Marist competing in a higher classification than BT until the 2016 season. The Titans won last year’s game 28-26 at Marist, and the two teams played another down-to-wire battle this season, with the War Eagles winning with a touchdown and two-point conversion attempt in the game’s final minute.

Blessed Trinity scored a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to take a 24-17 lead, but Marist drove 73 yards in 17 plays with the aid of a very favorable fourth down spot that gave the War Eagles a first down. It was one of three fourth-down conversions by Marist on the drive, including a 16-yard pass to the BT 2 on fourth-and- nine.

The Titans led 17-7 at the half, stopping Marist without a first down on five of the War Eagles’ first six possessions. Marist scored on both its third quarter series to tie the game at 17 before the Titans scored on a short drive set up by a 54-yard Ethan Chauvin punt to the Marist 2. Neither team put up huge offensive numbers in the game, with Marist finishing with 273 yards on 59 plays and BT amassing 261 yards on 49 plays. Three of BT’s four scoring drives began on Marist’s half of the field, while the War Eagles put together sustained scoring drives that covered 67, 72 and 73 yards.

Both defenses held the opposition’s strong running games in reasonable check, with Marist rushing for 141 yards (including three sacks for a loss of 34 yards) and BT ending up with 129 yards on the ground. A key factor in the game was four interceptions by the War Eagles, including one on a desperation pass on the final play of the game.

Both teams rely primarily on their running games, with Marist spreading the ball around among several backs. The Titans rely heavily on tailbacks Steele Chambers and Elijah Green, who have combined for almost 2,500 yards in 14 games. Chambers, a junior, has carried 182 times for 1,250 yards and 22 touchdowns while Green, a sophomore, almost surpassed him last week with a 29-carry, 154-yard game against Mary Persons.

On the season, Green has 1,231 yards on 203 attempts and 10 touchdowns, with his workload increasing in the playoffs (78-452-3). Chambers, a starter on defense, has gotten more rest on the offensive end in the post-season (48-346-7). In addition, Chambers also has two touchdown receptions in the playoffs, and threw his second touchdown pass of the season in the win over Thomson.

Junior quarterback Jake Smith has passed for 2,020 yards on the season with 17 touchdowns, and was on the receiving end of Chambers’ touchdown pass in the Thomson game. His primary receiver is junior Ryan Davis, who has 62 receptions for 1,213 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Both are also mainstays in the BT secondary, and are among a number of Titans who play extensively on both sides of the ball. Linebacker Jake Rudolph, one of the leaders of the BT defense, is also the starting fullback, with fellow linebacker J.D. Bertrand, who missed most of the season with an injury, likely to play a key role in the championship game as a tight end. Chambers also starts at linebacker on defense.

Those three are among the defensive leaders along with tackles J.R. Bivens and Raleigh Barden, and Davis, Smith, Alex Massey and Jacob Koelsch in the secondary. Rudolph, Barden and Koelsch are seniors, as is reserve Perry Johnson. Others seeing regular duty on defense are ends Jake Lyons and sophomore Grayson Gilder, freshman cornerback Jackson Hamilton and Alex Poma, like Lyons part of a deep and talented junior class.

The BT defense has been outstanding throughout the playoffs, holding Cartersville and Mary Persons to one offensive touchdown each and limiting Thomson to one touchdown before a meaningless fourth quarter touchdown with the Titans leading 40-7. Most of the senior starters on offense are part of an effective offensive line, which did not have a great deal of playing experience coming into this season. Tackles Alex Vojnovic and Collins Monette are seniors, as is guard Peter Renkoski. Guard Jack Jacobs is a junior, with sophomore Jack Filipowicz starting at center and also contributing as a reserve on the defensive line.

The Titans expect to have senior receiver Will Carlton, who has been out for the playoffs with an illness, back for the title game. Carlton caught 26 passes for 457 yards during the regular season. Chauvin, a junior, handles all BT’s kicking duties and has connected on eight field goals. The Titans come into the game 12-2, with their only other loss coming against AAAAAAA quarterfinalist Marietta.

Marist is 14-0, including a 35-14 victory over arch-rival St. Pius in last week’s semifinals. The War Eagles have won state titles in 1989 and 2003 under veteran head coach Alan Chadwick, whose teams are 364-67 with at least seven wins in all 33 of his seasons. Marist lost in the state title games in 2006 and ’08, and reached the semifinals in 2012 and ’13.

Blessed Trinity is 73-19- 1 in seven seasons under McFarlin, 17-6 in the playoffs. The Titans have reached at least the quarterfinals each of the last five years and the semifinals or finals three of the last four. The Titans are 48-7-1 since 2014. McFarlin also coached Roswell into the 2006 state championship game, with the Hornets tying Peachtree Ridge to share the title, the last time a championship game did not go into overtime when tied at the end of regulation.

Image via Shutterstock