On Tuesday, the Georgia High School Association football state championship games continued with Classes 2A, 4A and 6A titles on the line and two metro area teams in action vying for a state title. In 4A, the Marist War Eagles were in action against the Jefferson Dragons in the only game that featured two undefeated teams facing off. The Eagles would jump out to a 14-0 nothing lead following touchdowns by George Parker on a three yard run with 8:45 to go in the first quarter and then a 10 yard run by Champ Davis with 4:10 to go in the first quarter. The Dragons would outperform Marist in the second quarter on both sides of the ball, holding the War Eagles scoreless while scoring on two Jordan Perry touchdowns and tying the game at 14 all. But the theme of the night would be special teams and defense and for Marist, both units would come up big in the third quarter when a punt by Marist would have the Dragons pinned inside their 10 yard line. The Dragons would get the ball out to the 10 yard marker but on an attempted pitch play by the Dragons, Kam Robinson would be forced to reverse and get taking down in the end zone by Charlie Fleming for a safety to give the War Eagles a 16-14 lead. Marist would tack on another touchdown on the ensuing possession to take a 23-14 lead just minutes into the fourth quarter and another with just under six minutes to go in the game to take a 30-14 lead as the War Eagles defense would shut down the Jefferson offense in the second half allowing Marist to win the 4A title. Their first state championship since 2003 and third in program history.
For Buford, it would be the defense that came up big for them, but they would need an overtime period to get the win over Lee County in the 6A championship game. The two teams came out trading blows as if they were in a boxing match. The Wolves would strike first to take a 7-0 lead at the start of the second quarter after a touchdown by junior quarterback and back up, Ashton Daniels. Lee County would counter with a 95 yard kickoff return on the ensuing kickoff and just like that, the game would be tied up 7-7 with just two minutes gone by in the second quarter. Daniels would put Buford back on top 14-7 after a 53 yard strike to Isaiah Bond, but Lee County would once again counter as Caleb McDowell, who ran the kickoff back for a score earlier, would rush for his second touchdown of the night. In the third quarter, the Trojans would take their first lead of the night after a 46 yard touchdown pass from Chauncey Magwood to Jevelle Furgerson as Lee County would go up 21-14. So it would be Buford’s turn to counter and that’s exactly what they would do as Victor Venn would rush for a 34 yard touchdown helping the Wolves tie the game 21-21. The two teams would later trade field goals in the fourth quarter to make it a 24-24 game with 10:30 to go in the fourth quarter. After neither could score over the next eight minutes, the Trojans would finally get it into the end zone as Magwood would rush for the score and Lee County would go up 31-24 with 1:58 to go in the game. That would be all the time Daniels and his teammates needed as they matched down the field to score after Daniels and Bond connected for a second time and with the extra point, the game would be tied 31-31 with :47 to go and eventually head into overtime where the Wolves would get the ball first and settle for a field goal to go back on top 34-31. On Lee County’s ensuing possession, the Trojans would pick up a needed first down to keep their drive alive and on the next play, it would be the Wolves’ defense stripping the ball from McDowell and recovering the fumble allowing them to pick up the 34-31 win, making them back to back state champions. The win gives Buford their 13th state championship in program history. It also makes them the only teams to win in six different classifications.
On Monday, the inaugural GHSA flag football championships were won by West Forsyth, who defeated Hillgrove 26-25 in overtime in the 6A-7A title game and Calvary Day, who defeated Portal 6-0 in the 1A-5A title game. The 1A Public football championship was won by Prince Avenue who defeated Trinity Christian 41-21 and the 1A Public state title was won by Irwin County, for their second consecutive championship, who defeated Brooks County 27-19.