High School Football Playoffs: Teams Prepare To Tackle Opponents

By Mike Blum

Roswell, Blessed Trinity and Fellowship Christian all host state high school football playoff games on Friday Nov. 18, making for an even busier than usual night of traffic on Highway 92 near the three schools.

The Hornets and Titans easily won their playoff openers last Friday night, while the Paladins enjoyed a first round bye.

Here's what you can expect when the three teams face their opponents.

Peachtree Ridge at Roswell

The teams will meet in the playoffs for the third time, with the first two ending in ties after 48 minutes. The 2006 state championship game ended in a 14-14 tie, with the two teams sharing the title.

They met again the next year and it was 17-17 after 48 minutes, but this time the game went to overtime, with the Hornets scoring a 23-20 victory thanks to a hotly disputed call by the officials on Roswell’s winning touchdown.

Although the Hornets were the statistically superior team in both previous playoff meetings, the two teams were evenly matched, with the Lions one of the state’s dominant teams between 2006 and 2009, twice reaching the state finals in that span and winning 11 playoff games.

The Lions have won only three playoff games since, one of them a 28-23 victory last week over Archer, a team Peachtree Ridge lost to during the regular season, when the Lions went 5-5. Roswell also played Archer and won 47-0 en route to a 10-0 record and a No. 1 state ranking in AAAAAAA for most of the season.

While the Lions (6-5) pulled out a narrow win last week in their playoff opener, the Hornets (11-0) rolled over Pebblebrook 45-7 after getting off to a slow start. The game was scoreless after one quarter before the Hornets scored 17 points in the second and 28 in the third to lead 45-0.

Roswell played without standout senior tailback Sheldon Evans, who was resting an ankle sprain but is expected to be back this week. Sophomore Jajuan White rushed for 46 yards and a touchdown in Evans’ absence, with quarterback Malik Willis adding 61 yards and a TD on seven attempts.

It took the Hornets a while to adjust to the Falcons’ aggressive style of defense, but once they did, Willis had a big night throwing the football. He completed 15 of 22 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers, accounting for Roswell’s first four TDs.

Willis connected with Kentrel Barber for 33 yards and Jayden Comma for 18 yards in the second period, and with Xavier McKinney for 48 yards and Gabe Reeves for 8 yards in the third quarter to make it 31-0. The Hornets closed out their scoring later in the period on a 20-yard run by Willis and an 8-yard run by White.

Comma led the Hornets with 89 receiving yards, as the Hornets finished with almost 400 yards of offense to less than 140 for the Falcons, almost all of that total in the second half. The Lions are likely to put up more of a fight than the Falcons, with four of their five losses coming by a total of nine points, two by one point and one by two.

Peachtree Ridge got a huge game last week from quarterback Fred Payton, who passed for 319 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 113 yards and a score. The Lions do not have much of a running game, and teams that attempt to throw against the talented Roswell secondary and hard rushing defensive front have not been very successful this season.

The winner of Friday’s game plays either North Cobb or Lambert, with the Hornets getting a home game if they win and North Cobb wins as expected against Lambert.

Carver-Columbus at Blessed Trinity

Both teams won easily last week, with the Titans defeating Chapel Hill 33-0 and Carver coasting to a 35-6 win over a weak Cross Creek team in AAAA.

Sophomore Steele Chambers led the way for the Titans (9-2), rushing for 178 yards and four touchdowns, with BT finishing with 286 yards on the ground. The other Blessed Trinity score came on a 14-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jake Smith to sophomore tight end J.D. Bertrand. Smith was 8 of 12 passing for 87 yards, with sophomore wide receiver Ryan Davis catching four passes for 49 yards and returning four punts for 74.

The BT defense stopped Chapel Hill running back Tyre Shelton, who rushed for 415 yards and five touchdowns the previous week. Chambers contributed defensively with an interception. Carver (7-4) went 113-19 from 2006 to 2015 with eight straight years of advancing at least to the quarterfinals. This is the first Carver team to lose at least four games since 2005. The Tigers feature an explosive running game, with their two quarterbacks combining for 1220 yards rushing during the regular season and featured back Cameron Jessie adding 1080 yards.

Carver does not throw as effectively, averaging about 150 yards a game with 10 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Carver does not have a win of note this season, but played region champion Cairo tough, losing 35-28 despite amassing 500 yards of offense.

The winner of Friday’s game will likely play state-ranked Mary Persons in the quarterfinals.

George Walton Academy at Fellowship Christian

After getting a bye in the first round of the Class A private school playoffs, the Paladins (10-0) host George Walton Academy (8-3) from Monroe.

Fellowship Christian is the No. 3 seed in the division, with the top eight receiving byes last week. George Walton, seeded 14 th in the 24-team field, defeated No. 19 Mt. Vernon Presbyterian 38-14 in the first round.

The Paladins are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2004, when they went 9-1 in the regular season and reached the quarterfinals. That is the only other time FCS has had a winning season since beginning its football program in 2004.

Fellowship scored a big early season win Mt. Paran, the fourth highest-ranked team in the private school division, and closed out the regular season by defeating Mt. Zion, No. 3 among the public schools, in the Region 6-A championship game. Those were the only losses this season for both Mt. Paran and Mt. Zion.

Other than the Mt. Paran game, the Paladins have scored at least 28 points in their other nine victories, averaging 275 yards rushing per contest. Andrew Johnson and Andrew Minkert have combined for 1690 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns, with quarterback Jack Hardin adding almost 400 yards and 10 TDs.

Hardin has passed for 1120 yards and 14 TDs, with Ryan Reid having a big season with 37 catches for 806 yards and 10 touchdowns. The FCS defense has allowed more than 15 points just once this season, with the Paladins scoring four wins over teams still alive in the Class A playoffs. George Walton tied for fourth in Region 8-A and went 1-3 against the other top 4 teams in the region.

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