The GHSA State Championships presented by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety reminding you, heads up Georgia, park your phone while you're driving.

It saves lives as we welcome you back to Mercedes Benz stadium.

For the two way state championship game is 13 and one Burke County Bears take on the 13 and one Carver Columbus Tigers.

And with that we welcome you upstairs.

Matt Stewart joined by Rusty Mansell of On3Sports and Dogs HQ.

And what a game we have here in the double A final.

Carver Columbus playing in their fourth state championship game ever, going for their second state title.

It's their second state championship game in the last four years and they are boatloaded with college football prospect talent.

Now Burke county going for their third state final here and their second state championship one and all in 2011.

They got the Wiley veteran coach back on the sidelines.

Franklin Stevens back at his alma mater.

For him personally, Rusty, this is his four state championship game as a head coach and his sixth overall.

Matt, I'll tell you this, if you give me any high school in the state of Georgia with a county attached, give me the wing T and give me Franklin Stevens, we're going to win football games, no doubt about it.

Let's start with Carver Columbus.

They've won 11 straight.

They have obliterated their opponents over the last three months including Pierce county, defending state champions and Appling county by a total of 80 points in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, ton of weapons on offense.

Let's start with their quarterback.

65 Matthew Mungeons passed for over 2300 yards, accounted for 32 touchdowns.

Hard to believe he's under the radar.

I think everybody's going to tune in today and see a 6 foot 5 junior quarterback, 28 touchdown passes, throwing the ball all over the field.

Everybody in the state of Georgia is going to be like where has this guy been after today?

I'm sure of it.

And he's completed 80% of unbelievable stats.

Defensive side of the ball.

Ton of ways to stop it.

Starts with Tristan Gibbons, four star junior, rated as high as the number five edge in the country.

Yeah, number six overall player in the state of Georgia according to own3.com and I'll say this about him, we're going to have to see a little bit different today.

It's not going to be rushing to pass.

You got to set the edge, you got to tackle.

We're going to see how physical he wants to get today because Burke county runs the ball.

All right, let's talk about Burke County.

They too have won 11 straight.

They had to deal with Hurricane Helene.

And Autumn Johnson is going to have more on that story in just a couple of moments.

But since that hurricane, they've only gotten better on offense.

Amir Williams has rushed for close to 1700 yards and he's accounted for 34 touchdowns.

Speaking of wing T, wherever you have a successful wing team, you got to have that home run guy.

He is that home run guy for Burke County.

Top end speed and catch the ball.

The backfield, they use him in a kick return game.

Watching him on tape, he has that night night speed.

Once it gets the edge, he's gone.

He is deceptively fast because he's a long strider.

Defensive side of the ball.

Kaden Brace Lee, the mike linebacker spot is their guy.

Leaves them with 80 tackles.

Yeah, you look at him and he's talking about the old school downhill thumper.

The first highlight I watched on his huddle, he knocked the kid's helmet off.

Didn't even highlight himself.

I was like, which one is it?

Oh, that's the one.

You're going to see him all over.

They're going to blitz him.

He's got to run sideline to sideline.

He's going to have his hands full today.

And speaking of helmets, you'll notice they're wearing those guardian caps.

We'll have more on that story as we go throughout the day as well.

Autumn Johnson is the third member of our team.

She's down on the sideline, you guys.

Well, in late September, many teams across the state of Georgia were impacted by Hurricane Helene, but none more than Burke county, who went a month without playing football.

There were trees down, there was no power, no service.

The entire city was destroyed.

And head coach Franklin Stevens told me in his 51 years of living, he seen nothing like it when he was riding around the city.

But that damage and destruction inspired him to share one message with his team.

Why can't it be us?

He said.

We can't heal the community, but we can give them something to be proud of.

And we can't make everybody feel better, nor can we fix things, but we can create a product where the town can have a lot of pride in.

So through determination, through resilience and commitment for this community, Burke county made adversity into motivation to make it here at the Chait State championship stage.

Autumn, a lot of the folks from Waynesboro and Burke county are right down below us tonight.

They brought a ton of people from East Georgia to Mercedes Benz Stadium today.

I tell you what's a great crowd between Northeast Macon had an Unbelievable crowd didn't win, but they had a huge section.

And then you have Burke county filing in behind them.

You couldn't move anywhere on this side of Mercedes Benz.

Franklin Stevens won two state championships at Tucker, got Lamar county to the state championship game, and now his alma mater, Burke County.

He was also an assistant when Burke county went to the state finals for the first time ever in 1997.

He also won a state championship on Jeff Heron's staff at Camden County.

So he's been in big game.

Listen, I said it today.

Just give me a county, give me anything with county and give me Franklin Stevens.

We're going to win games.

Excited to be him.

He had a lot of new energy.

I felt like we met with him the other day, Matt, about being home, being at Burr County.

He said, listen, I know these kids, I know their parents and I know their grandparents.

That's home to him.

And how about Carver Columbus?

This team could go toe to toe with anybody.

Head coach Pierre Coffee's got a talented team.

They've got two four stars, one three star, 13 total players with college offers.

I told everybody, if you don't know enough about Carver Columbus, after today you will because this is a very talented football team.

They can hurt you in so many ways.

They're very good on both sides of the ball.

I'm excited to watch kind of the two different ways we're going to see the attack today.

Fast paced spread team from Carver Columbus, traditional wing tee out of Burke County.

Since their loss at Harris County Week 3 of the season, they have not won by less than three touchdowns.

And that was their second round game against Ringgold.

They steamrolled everybody the rest of the season.

You and I both agree, when you beat Pierce county like that and you come back with Applin county, you got to be bringing something special to the table.

This is a very talented football team here.

Coming out of Columbus.

Beat Pierce 447 in the quarters, then walloped Appling County 49 in the semifinals.

So ready to go.

Burke county won the opening toss.

They have deferred.

That means Burke county kicking off.

And our opening kickoff is brought to you by.

Heads up Georgia.

Park your phone while you're driving.

It saves lives.

Will love it.

Kicking off.

Little pooch kick coming down at the 19 yard line.

Scott on the return across the 50, across the 40.

The kicker to beat and the kicker gets him down on the ground, the 26 yard line.

That was Braylon Jakes.

Braylon Jakes was a huge kickoff return to get Carver Columbus started in that Fitting the story behind this young man match.

You're going to get into it, but I want everybody in the state of Georgia and everybody in the country to pay attention to this young man and the story we're going to deliver today on him.

He makes an impact on the immediate first play of the game.

Senior wide receiver.

Man, he's special.

Braylon Jakes has one offer.

Miles College.

College coaches watching today.

Take a look at this young man.

Extraordinary talent and an even better story behind his talent.

It'll put a lump in your throat.

First and 10 ball at the 20.

Make that the 18 yard line for Garber.

Columbus immediately in scoring position against Burke County.

And the handoff goes to Kobe Kaslin and he gets dropped immediately.

And there is Matthew Mungeon, 6, 517 Junior.

You're the recruiting guy.

Why aren't more people on this guy?

I don't know.

I apologize.

Right now I'm excited about seeing him again.

It's today's world you're trying to cover high school recruiting in the portal.

Some of these guys get left behind a little bit.

He's still a junior, plenty of time.

He does not have a better opportunity than today playing on gpb.

Nationwide audience right here for this young man.

Six foot five junior quarterback at Carver Columbus.

Coach Coffee says his maturity and growth this season as the full time starter has been phenomenal.

Slings it out there.

It's complete on the edge to Cash and Kobe.

Caslin, one of their top running back, picks up the first down.

There is a flag down on the field.

Now let's check out the flag.

Caslin, one of their two rushers with over 1200 yards on the ground this season.

Greg Hoggle is our referee today.

And there's the rest of the crew working this two a final defensive face mask.

So a face mask penalty on Burke county is going to set Carver Columbus up at the four yard line.

So first and goal to go from the fourth Handoff goes to Tarver.

Slams his body in there.

Going to be stopped at the one yard line.

Rusty, let's take a look at your Brady pass management impact players when Carver has the ball.

Yeah, we're going to talk about Braylon Jace with Kobe Kaslin, another guy running back, very talented football player.

You look on the other side.

Burke county defense Darius Jordan and T.J. spence.

We're going to get into some of these guys.

A lot of these guys from Burke county are going to play both ways today.

Touchdown Carver Columbus does not take them long at all.

1 yard touchdown run by Jamil Williams, the H back and Carver on the board here in the opening 1 minute and 34 seconds.

Just a simple fullback dive right Adam Burke county is there behind the line of scrimmage.

Keeps his legs driving, gets right into the end zone.

Carver Columbus only touchdown quickly to take a six nothing lead.

Yeah, it was the big kickoff return by Braylon Jakes that set it all up.

The PAT is up and good off the foot of Kendrick Pierce Spencer and a great start for Garber Columbus in the 2A state championship game.

Talked about how quick and how explosive they are.

Big kick return.

Burke county with a face mask penalty didn't help help themselves any.

Not a great start for Burke county obviously, but a lot of football left and interested to see this offensively.

How does Carver Columbus, who's only seen the wing T one time this year, how did they adjust to this?

And that's the big thing with Burke county.

They want to see this first drive.

They want to see how Carver Columbus is going to line up and how they're going to play this non traditional kind of wing T that you don't see a lot of in high school football anymore.

Yeah, Carver Columbus played only one team, one team that runs this offense.

That was their season opener against Whitewater back on August 16, so it's been a long time, but they played Whitewater specifically with that in mind in case we face a wing tee.

We're going to have a little flavor of that later on in the season and the kickoff is going to be blown dead.

Makes sure they're going to come back and tee this up again.

I don't know if you noticed it last night, the great game you had between North Oconee and Marist.

North Oconee went live tackling to the ground in pregame to in preparation to face Maris last night.

The first time I've seen the team go live, tackle to the ground, kind of anticipating what they were going to face last night.

So they'll back it up and kick off again from the 35 yard line this time.

And that is didn't hear the penalty.

We're still working on getting the mic straight with the official down on the field.

Didn't hear the precise call, it was offsides.

So they'll spot it at the 35 yard line.

And so Burke county should come out of this with some pretty good field position.

And straight on kick goes all the way to the goal line.

Old school, man.

65 yards in the air.

Straight on toe, first kick right there.

Beautiful kick.

Let's check in With Autumn Johnson.

Hey, guys.

Explosive start for Carver, for Braylon jakes having a 63 yard return.

But two years ago, Braylon Jake's life changed forever when a drunk driver struck his family's car after a game in Thomasville.

His dad, mom and little sister did not survive the fatal accident.

Despite that unimaginable loss, Braylon has never missed a practice or a day of school.

And Coach Coffey calls him a class act, saying Braylon has everything it takes to be extremely successful.

With a 3.4 GPA, strong leadership as Carver's team captain and relentless work ethic, Braylon is the kind of player you build a program around.

His story is one of resilience and his strength continues to inspire everyone around him.

Thank you, Autumn.

It is an amazing story, no doubt about it.

Amir Williams, with the first carry of the game for Burke county, picks up a couple of yards.

But just what that young man has been through is unimaginable.

He's lived with his grandmother ever since that tragedy and the fact that he's never missed a practice.

And he's a team leader.

Team captain Coach Coffee says they'll be connected forever.

Trying to run option there and Bendever gets dropped for a big loss back at the 18 yard line.

This is what you don't want to play behind the chains in an offense like this.

Watch how quick Carver Columbus gets downhill filling lanes.

Assignment football.

Who's got the quarterback, who's got the pitch back?

You see them attacking the edge, getting up field.

Everybody has a responsibility in this.

When you face the wing team.

That was Antavious Watts, the first guy to hit him on the play.

And then his partners came in there and filled it up, finished it off.

Third down and 11.

See this much Burke county empty set.

Carver Columbus is going to call timeout to make sure they're lined up right against that.

What a story on Braylon Jake's Matt, I mean, just, just Coach Coffee called me about two weeks ago.

He said, rusty, this kid has done everything right.

This kid, what he's been through, he deserves some attention.

I put a tweet out on him and you know, I'm sure this young man is going to end up with a lot of college opportunities.

And you see the very first play, what he does.

He's already impacted the game with his incredible opening kickoff down to the 18 yard line.

That set them up for their short touchdown drive in the early seven nothing lead.

He's sub 11 in the 100.

He runs the four by 100 with the track team so he's got an incredible skill set.

Multi sport guy, every checks, every box, man.

This is a great opportunity for him to play on TV today.

And I guarantee you there's colleges right now watching his huddle going this, this is a young man we need to take a look at.

Third down and 11 after the timeout.

Vandiver in the pocket, throws and dropped wide open.

You can't miss opportunities like that.

Kelvin Scott could have scored a touchdown had he hold on to it.

Busted coverage, he goes right up the seam and you see him wide open there.

Split two safeties, man.

Missed opportunity there from Burke County.

Little switch release there and you see the safeties just hard to miss that play early.

Kelvin Scott has been their top wide receiver as a running back this year.

He has 30 catches, close to 700 yards and 23 yards per catch.

But a big miss right there.

Punt is out of there.

Carver bobbles it, Burks got it.

Burke gets a break.

And the Bears had the ball on the plus side of the 50.

Joshua Arroyo, the tight end on the punt coverage was able to get on top of the loose ball.

Took his eyes off of.

You see it with right there before he caught the ball.

You see him looking at the Burke county defender.

Watch his eyes look up and take it off the ball just for a second.

It's too late at that point.

Burke county covering on the punt, gets it.

Huge play after the missed opportunity on third down.

So Burke county, let's see if they can take advantage of this.

First and 10 from the 48 short gain up the middle.

Never do get the fullback Flournoy on the ground.

Let's take a look at the brain to pest management impact players when the Bears have the ball.

Yeah, you look at Kelvin Scott right there.

Came in, had to run the ball.

Last week against Rock Mart.

You look at AJ Wilson, Zayn, Zay, Billingsley.

A lot of these guys are going to play both ways.

Was I love about double A football.

Sean Vandiver, quarterback, your quarterback in the wing T. You got to be able to do multiple things.

Throw the ball and run.

And he does it for Burke County.

Vandover rolling to his right, throwing on the run.

And it's caught out there by Perkins.

Denarian Perkins with his first catch of the game.

And it's going to be third down and very manageable distance here from the 43.

This is right in their wheelhouse.

Probably two down territory for me if I'm Franklin Stevens.

He knows he's got to steal possessions today.

Already got one on a Punt return on a punt.

Turnover.

Third and five, you don't have a negative play here.

He's going to think.

I bet you he thinks hard about going for it.

No, you're right.

I mean, third down right here, five, you got some momentum.

You don't get it, you're going for it.

On fourth down right here, I think.

Inside handoff and stopped after a one yard gain.

It's going to be about fourth and a long three.

Three and a half maybe here.

So decision time for Franklin Stevens.

See a little.

Actually a little inside reverse, little counter reverse.

They're very staple of the wing T offense.

Gets about one, maybe one and a half.

They keep the offense on the field.

It's fourth and four.

It's a short four, it's a long three.

Well, let's see.

Vandover's over on the sideline.

It comes out punt here.

Gonna call timeout.

Yeah, he knows he's got to steal some possessions, I think.

And right now it's very important to try to capitalize on an early turnover.

Down one touchdown right now.

So they've got some momentum.

Can they keep it by picking up the first down on fourth?

We'll find out after this time.

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Heads up, Georgia.

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Oh, hey, what's up, man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

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Come over here.

Seven nothing.

Carver Columbus leading Burke county.

Fourth down.

Coming up here for the Bears, Matt Stewart, Rusty Mansell, Autumn Johnson.

Here's a look at the Burke county season recap.

13 and 1, champions of region four.

They went five and oh scoring 42 points per game.

10 plus games with 40 points scoring defense given up 19 a game.

Five games allowing 10 points or less.

And now fourth down and three.

They keep the offense on the field.

Rusty.

Yeah.

See if they get Vandover out in space, give him a run pass option.

Most time you like your quarterback to roll to the right.

More comfortable in High school.

So see what they do here.

Vanderbilt throwing to his right, is caught for a first down.

Nice catch.

A diving, extending catch by Denarian Perkins.

It's his second catch and it moves the sticks.

Good job there by delivering that ball in a tight window, knowing it was going to be a quick route.

That's a timing route.

They've run that route a thousand times.

Because he comes out of his break, the ball's on him.

I know these Guardian caps throw you off a little bit.

They look like the character from Megamind.

Got the big old heads.

Yeah, I'm.

To be honest with you Matt, I'm surprised more teams don't do this.

And as it gets more affordable, I believe you're going to see ball goes to Williams.

Amir Williams bounces off one tackle and two and all the way to the nine yard pickup.

Nine yard pickup.

As he reaches the 28 yard line.

He's the home run threat.

Watch him, watch him run through tackles.

1, 2, 3.

Takes four guys to get him down.

And if Burke county can do that, we got a four quarter football game on our hands for a state championship.

And he's a 500 pound squatter.

And coach Franklin Stevens says that's a big reason why he's been able to break so many tackles this season.

Yep, you see it second down and one, all kinds of options here.

On a second down and one.

Maybe a pop, a big one for the end zone.

Man.

Knowing Franklin Stevens, we're going to get straight full back belly right here.

Instead you're going to give the ball to Scott and Kilburn Scott close to the first down at the 27 yard line.

Let's take a look at the starting lineups for Burke.

Darius Jordan plays all kind of positions for me.

Also line up at tight end and play defensive in on defense and then the backs and the receivers.

Amir Williams, their leading rusher.

Kelvin Scott, 765 yards rushing, another 685 yards receiving.

Is it time to use the word Pig yet?

And Pig, the offensive lineman, our center handoff goes to Flournoy.

And there's your fullback, sir.

First down, nine yard pickup.

Close to a first down, one yard short of that as Chris Flournoy gets the carry, his second of the game.

Just, just fullback belly, for lack of a better term, out of the wing T. This is bread and butter staple play right at you downhill.

And Matt, I've been waiting a long time to say they ran right behind Pig.

They did.

Number 51, Arian Brown.

They call him Pig and he likes to Be called pig.

He wants it second down and one.

Vandover going to the end zone.

Broken up right there at the goal line.

Super play on the back line by Antavious.

Watch to deny a touchdown.

Talked enough about the Carver defensive backs to not get a ton of action.

But the Carver defensive backs have been one of the best in the state.

The amount of interceptions, past deflections, I mean, they have been outstanding this year.

20 interceptions.

Intercept Carver's defense this year.

And Davious Watts for offers including Georgia State and UMass for the junior.

No where to go.

Right there.

Good job.

Just getting back up field.

Try to come back inside with that counter to Williams this time.

The penetration stops it before he ever gets going big.

Chris Jones, 511, 255.

Senior stopped Williams.

It's fourth down and Vandiver standing over there by Coach Stevens.

They keep the offense on the field.

It's hard not to look at that Carver uniform and think about Dale McGee, Isaiah Cruel, Gabe Rock, how good that team was and those uniforms and been a lot.

Jarvis Jones.

You've caught a lot of really good football players in that uniform, Matt.

So a timeout.

Speaking of that, the one and only state championship Carver won in 2007.

I got the chance to call they wanted at Cairo.

That's back when they were still playing at home sites.

And we played that game in a hurricane, literally.

We were on a tent on top of the press box holding on for dear life.

And that was Del McGee's championship there at Carver Columbus.

And that was really the start of it.

In fact, you talk to Pierre Coffey and you talk about the great history that Carver's had over the last 20 years.

He says it starts with the principal hiring Del McGee and it took off from there.

Yes, they have been.

I mean, it seems like every three years they have.

They've always had a really good football team, but about every three years they end up in game 14 or game 15.

Yeah, this has been a slow build.

They last played in the state championship game, losing to Benedictine in 2021, 35, 28.

Great game.

Had a lot of talent on the field.

Luke Cromin, Hawk and that team in 2022.

They were in the quarterfinals last year.

They're in the semifinals here in 2024.

To your point, they're right back in it.

On fourth down, first down run and more for Scott.

Cuts to the end zone.

Touchdown, Burke County.

I want you to watch the block of number one.

Not only is he not down, he's going to knock the next Guy down in the end zone, you want to talk about winning your winning your locker room over.

Watch number one out in the wing, followed number one the whole time.

One guy down, he doesn't quit.

He's going to get somebody else right here at the end with a scissor kick almost.

Wow, Great call on 4th and 5, blocking out in the perimeter.

Touchdown Burke County 18Touchdown of the season for Kelvin Scott, who got redeemed a little bit.

Remember he dropped what looked like was going to be a touchdown pass pat by Will Lovett and we're tied at seven.

Stole a possession that they did seven points out of it, recovered the punt return, kept possession of the ball, ended up driving the next 48 yards for the score.

Man, people, those teammates and they watch that tape, watching your lead back, lead block out on the perimeter like that.

That is a Franklin Stevens staple right there.

You better be physical, you better be able to strike somebody to play for him.

Great block, great run.

So Lovett gonna kick it off.

Squib King gonna be covered at the 25 yard line.

Wow, what coverage on the kick return by Burke County.

Fired up right there after scoring the touchdown.

Nice job.

They were gonna kick it deep to Jake's this time.

Make somebody else see if we can get down the field, tackle him.

That special team, so big in high school football, so big kick return, drop, punt, kicking, covering.

Those plays are so much important in the high school level to me.

So first and 10 for carvers.

They take over at the 29 yard line.

Trips bunch formation up top has thrown out on the edge up to the 37 yard line on the catch and run as we take a look at Carver on offense.

Man, they got a loaded offensive line.

Parker Pritchett, the junior 19 offers rated as high as the number 33 interior offensive linemen in the country.

They got him playing left tackle and then your backs and the receivers.

Kobe Kaslin, 1343 yards rushing for the season coming in offered by UConn Troy and UMass Mungein going up top, got a man open.

KJ Miles with the catch inside the 25 yard line.

The guy that Coach Coffey told us ran 45 at Mississippi State camp got early offers.

Memphis, Troy, South Florida.

Just let him just a little bit out there or that's an easy six.

Busted coverage there.

Corner set down, expecting zone safety, didn't get over the top.

Luckily that wouldn't 6, 1st and 10 handoff goes to Tarver.

Let's take a look at Burke county on defense is brought to you by Regions Bank Darius Jordan at that defensive end position.

Off by Suwanee and Hampden.

Sydney Brace Lee we told you about.

He is their leading tackler with 85 stops on the season.

And in the secondary, Kelvin Scott, we've already seen what he can do offensively.

He's going both ways today.

Yeah, you basically have the offense just flipped over for the defensive starters, minus the quarterback.

Second down and six.

That's the beauty of two way football in double A.

Ball goes out here completely.

Jake.

Jake makes a move, Gets upended.

Falling forward to close to the 11 yard line.

Perkins making the tackle there on the ball fast Opposite here, Burke County.

You want to see cars.

Columbus, they're trying to go fast.

They know Burke County's playing a lot of guys both ways.

Third down and one here.

Coffey back at Carver.

Columbus, he was on Del McGee staff.

Same play scored on this time.

I don't think they got him at the spot.

They run in McNeil again or Jamil Williams.

Pardon me.

And he got stopped.

He's gonna be fourth down and one coming up.

Yeah, they ran this play earlier for the touchdown this time.

Penetration on the Burke defense.

Go see big TJ Spencer get in there.

Got a hold of him for no gain.

Maybe lost a half a yard.

This is gonna be.

It's gonna be a long one, Matt.

It is a long one.

Got to get to the 11.

The ball is sitting a little bit outside the 12.

TJ Spencer, you just saw the graphic on him.

The 633-18-Senior has blossomed into a college prospect here in his third season in the program.

Ball goes to Caslin.

Caslan's got the first down.

Caslin was able to get skinny in the hole and pick up the first down.

Still moving.

They're going to blow the whistle.

Dead four of them isn't forward.

Momentum stopped at the seven.

Yeah, it is coming in.

Good job.

There's blocking.

Big 71 for Carver.

Blocking out on the edge.

Big, big McGee.

Six three, 305 pound Junior knocks the defensive end off the ball.

Easy conversion on 4th and 1.

First and goal to go for Carver at the 7.

Final minute of the first quarter.

Great open field tackle to deny the touchdown on the run by Caslin.

That was Bruce Rackins the corner making the tackle.

Absolutely great tackle.

He was one on one.

He flashed well.

There's some collisions going on this game.

People are tuning in right now going, this is double A football.

Those linemen are double A. Rackins on the season.

18 total tackles, one interception.

Just made number 19 right there.

And it was a big one in the state championship game.

Second down, Munching throws it completely.

Jake Jakes gets to the end zone.

Touchdown Carver.

Great block this time by Jamil Williams.

Number 27, the fullback.

He's going to spring.

Jake's for a touchdown.

But you saw Burke county with good blocking on perimeter.

Watch Carver blocking on the perimeter.

Watch 27 out here.

You'll see him come in motion will come in your screen, see him selling off that Burke county defender.

And Jake's does the rest.

He's got the lane to run up the field.

Watch 27 Seal his guy off.

Good job on the perimeter.

We also have a flag sitting on the field at the three yard line line.

So waiting to hear from the officials.

We've been having some issues with the mic, so we'll count on Dave Reynolds, our officials expert up here in the booth with us to give us the call.

Illegal touching, covered up receiver that caught the pass.

Interesting.

Yeah.

So the touchdown gets wiped off the board.

Thanks Dave, for that information.

The receiver covered up, which means they bring the ball back to the 12 yard line.

Penalty there.

Now we're third down, big penalty.

So they'll bring the ball back to the 12.

And now it's going to be third down and goal from the 12.

Tight formation, everybody spread wide.

Mungeance got a pocket.

Now it breaks down.

Heavy rush.

Gonna run it himself.

And gets knocked out of bounds at the 10 yard line.

So now it's gonna be fourth down and goal.

Let's see what coach Coffey does here with three seconds left in the quarter.

Looks like they're bringing on the field goal unit.

Yeah.

What do you say?

One of the main things is going to go out and get a field goal kicker at Carver.

And they were able to do that.

The freshman, Kendrick, Pierce Spencer.

So bringing the 9th grader in here for a kick in the state championship game, you think the heart's thumping a little bit.

27 yard kick coming up here for Pierce Spencer.

Ace Thomas, wide receiver is the holder and Derek Pearson, a defensive end, is the snapper.

Kick is on its way and the kick is going to be good.

Got it through.

Not a problem, man.

Freshman comes up big on the final play of the first quarter.

Not a thing to him, man.

Right?

Nothing at all.

Just like we do it in practice.

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Everyone on my team knows that we're going to fight, we're going to be relentless, we're going to be aggressive and we're going to be determined to get a great result.

Mabra law over here.

107 Carver Columbus leading Burke county as we start the second quarter.

You love the passion, the emotion on the sideline.

That's the quarterback Matthew Mungeon talking to one of his offensive linemen.

Here's a look at the Carver Columbus season recap.

Actually 13 and one on the season seven and oh in region one, 39.6 points per game.

They scored 40 plus in seven of the last nine games given up just six and a half points per game.

11 games allowing 10 points or less.

Imagine that a defense given up only a touchdown a game.

A lot of running clock for this team this year.

Quarterback was pretty animated with his offensive lineman there.

I like it.

So Carver Columbus ODH for the folks in Columbus, the school on the hill.

On the hill man.

And that was the old school.

The new schools just kind of on the hill, but the old school was on the hill.

I went on the hill to cover Isaiah Crowell and all those guys.

Any of days.

So much talent as you mentioned that's come through Carver, Columbus, Princeton, Buckner, D.J.

jones as well.

Absolutely.

Here's the kick return for Burke County.

Amir Williams gets tripped up and stumbles Forward to the 22 yard line.

14 yard return for Amir Williams as Burke county goes back on offense and trailing.

107 as we start the second quarter.

Matt Stewart, Rusty Mansell and Autumn Johnson with you here and let's check in with Autumn right now.

Hey guys, Quarterback Sean Vanderveer has done a phenomenal job this season managing Burke County's offense and making plays when they need them compared to previous years, head coach Steven said.

Sean allows us to throw the ball a little bit more, put the ball in the air and he has the ability to read defenses, coach Stevens said.

Also he's a dynamic player who runs track and has underrated speed to him.

He also mentioned he's been challenging him to be a vocal leader because as a former center Coach Stevens understands the effect the quarterback has in the Huddle when talking to the offensive lineman and getting those guys to play for you, which is a big reason why Burke county still huddles.

No doubt about it.

And when you run the wing T offense, well, any quarterback.

But when you're running that wing T offense, you better be able to manage the offense because there's a lot of moving parts.

Yeah.

A lot of communication, a lot of audibles.

You come up the line of scrimmage, kind of see how the defense is playing you.

A lot of checks from these guys.

Now, I did watch the tape.

I see this.

They do go.

They do go shotgun more than you think.

That goes back to what Autumn was telling you.

His passing ability has opened up.

Oh, it's intercepted.

Pick six, Carver Columbus.

How about that?

Wow.

17 yard, pick six.

You think they saw that on film?

My goodness.

He jumped that with zero hesitation and just snags that one.

Rpo.

Quick release, but he's there.

Zay Billingsley with the pick six.

A lightning bolt from the defense.

Carver Columbus has a 16 to 7 lead.

As soon as he sees Perkins number 10 go flat, he gets up field in a hurry, no question.

Film recognition of that formation, pat makes it 17 to 7.

Wow.

Zay Billings Lee with his second interception of the season.

And that's putting in your field work.

You're exactly right.

Watch, watch.

When TN goes flat.

See that stops.

He's there.

He jumps it immediately.

What a play, man.

He knew exactly where that ball was going.

He doesn't react to the receiver.

He reacts to the passing route they know is going to be there.

Very rare to see that.

You see that sometimes, Matt.

But to be able to catch it and finish the play.

He did everything picture perfect.

That's how quick things can turn.

But man, fantastic play by Zay Billingsley.

Soon as he sees that play, he is all over it and finished it off.

So hard to do that.

And you hear coaches in our conversations and we talk to coaches all season long talking about those players that put in the extra film work.

And that's exactly why you do it right there.

That dude just passed the final examination.

Coaches are going to be extremely proud of that kick is going to be taken at the two yard line, right up the middle.

No hesitation, return comes to the 24.

And that is where the Burke County Bears go back on offense.

But instead of down 3, they're down 10.

Yep, that's how quick it happens.

Still note, plenty of time here.

They've had some success running the football.

Now you give a possession back based off a turnover.

And a pick six.

Get right back into the rhythm, move the chains.

Let's run the football right here.

Yeah, I think the key here is with your players.

And Franklin Stevens, you know he's not going to pan, man.

He has been in so many battles.

His records, 181, 48 1.

But his players, you got to be careful that they don't panic.

They don't push the panic button after making that big mistake.

Flournoy gets nothing.

Let's take a look at Carver on defense.

Dajon Daniels and Tristan Givens, we talked about him off the top.

How about Dejon Daniels, the sophomore with 63 tackles.

Zay Billingsley already with the pick six.

And A.J.

williams or Wilson, pardon me, their leading tackler, 113 stops.

And that secondary is fantastic, as you mentioned already.

Davis, Yancey, Watson, Holly.

Across this back line and only got one senior starter there.

So that's everybody else on the schedule next year.

Not real happy about that.

No.

Carver's set up to this.

This their year.

A year ahead.

No question they're ahead of schedule.

Their junior class should be back here next year as seniors.

Danville tackled by Billingsley.

Zay Billingsley follows up his pick six with a big quarterback sack and nine yard loss.

See the speed here?

They're trying to set up a screen, just never could get it developed.

Nowhere to go.

And you see the speed of those outside linebackers.

Five and 11, both there.

Very dangerous here.

Matt, third and 20.

This is either a screen quarterback.

Draw something quick to see if you can pop something.

You got to be careful here because Carver is going to have their ears pinned back coming here.

Tigers already have five TFL in this game.

Ball goes to Williams.

Williams cuts back in the middle, reaches the 29.

But he's going to be five yards, six yards short.

Five yards short of the first down, they're going to have to punt it away.

Fifteen yard pickup, but not near enough.

Yeah, you knew Carver was coming here.

Good play call.

Good job.

Let it develop.

And Williams almost pops this thing.

See how low the ground he runs?

500 pound squat guy.

Gotta make a business decision.

Hit him below the waist.

No doubt about it.

Coach Stevens says his recruiting drives him up the wall because all he hears is he's too small, he's too slow.

What do you say?

I've coached enough power for Division 1 guys.

I think my opinion is pretty good.

Kick is going to hit at the 41 yard line and be downed at the 39 and a half.

His exact quote was, I coached at Tucker and McEachern.

Yes, I know what a power conference player looks for.

Yeah, yeah, I have more.

40 yard punt right there.

As Carver gets ready to go back on offense, let's check in with Autumn.

Hey, guys.

Just wanted to add on to that, you know, Burke county knew coming into the playoffs they would have to lean on Amir Williams.

He's been the bell cow for this team.

And head coach Stevens described his superpower as having deceptive speed.

He's a strider, he's smooth when he runs.

And the thing about it, people aren't really catching him.

Amir squats and cleans about 500 something pounds.

And coach Steven believes that squat helps him have opportunities to break tackles and get extra yards for his team.

Munge and throws.

It's complete for a first down.

Across midfield goes to Jake's again, 13 yard pickup.

This is where Burke has to be careful because you're feeling like Carver's really building up a tidal wave of momentum.

Man, I'm telling you, blood in the water.

They'll get after you.

And they have done this to virtually every team they have played this year since that loss to Harris County 15 to 6, their first road game of the season in week three.

Lunging.

Gonna run it.

Cut into the middle about Mungin going down to the 30 yard line.

Nice run.

He hasn't shown a lot of that this year.

They don't necessarily have to have him run very much.

That's a 19 yard pickup.

You're talking about a Strider now.

Six foot, 575 pounds.

Good read for him to keep it.

Probably expected somebody to be there.

So he's getting north south as quick as he can and gets down.

He just needs some cheeseburgers and milkshakes and hey, look, I'm, I can help him out on that.

Plenty of time for that.

Plenty of time.

At 6 foot, he's got the frame to start with.

So first and 10 pass goes to Jake's on the screen, makes one man miss and then lunges forward down to the 23 yard line for Jake's one thing match.

You know, I noticed the roster size of Carver Columbus.

There's not many players on the sideline.

Looks like a JV roster from a number standpoint.

I'm telling you, they're probably 35 kids maybe.

I mean they are small, but I mean look at that.

That's not a ton of people on a sideline there, but man, that, that starting 22 they tried out there.

I was getting ready to say it might be small sideline, but the ones they brought.

Yeah.

Don't worry about 31, 32 and 33 right now.

It's those first 22 that has been steamrolling, folks.

The guys that got out there playing, they're.

They're doing all right.

Goodness.

Second down, ball goes to Tarver.

Tarver dancing it there, picks up a first down and he dives forward to the 16 yard land.

Third 16 yard line.

Kelsey Tarver, 7 yard pickup.

See Gracie holding on there.

Right in the middle.

Big offensive line.

See him moving to move the nose guard out of the way.

Bracey fights off, stops him, but they got big 66.

Spencer trying to set the anchor in the middle.

Once you turn that nose guard and clear that alley.

Easy running right there, see?

Burke county can hold up right here in the red zone again.

Ball goes to Tarver.

Big hole.

Touchdown Carver, 23 to 7.

16 yard run by Kelston Tarver.

Matthew's big offensive line is starting to really move that Burke county defensive line.

Gracie misses another missed tackle there.

Look at them move.

The nose guard Double teamed him again.

Two guys.

That is a big offensive line to deal with.

A lot of momentum early for Carver.

Columbus Pat up and good in a 24 to 7 lead for the Tigers.

Kelson Darber scoring his 12th touchdown of the season.

Tigers on a roll.

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What a bad call.

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Kelsey tarver scoring the 16 yard touchdown behind that offensive line.

Watch this, Rusty.

Their smallest guy on the offensive line is their freshman center who's 290.

Yeah, I want you to watch who they run behind the center.

Right here we get this replay and watch the nose go watch the center and guard, there's where all the cheeseburgers are going.

They got to start sharing some with the quarterback a little bit.

Unless he's buying all the meals, which would be a smart move, but.

But a freshman center, 52.

Yeah, watch that.

Watch the two.

Watching the freshman.

Look what he did.

They wall off the nose guard who's trying to keep.

Keep gap control there once they move him out.

Easy pickings.

Kelsey Tarver got the touchdown.

Running behind those big fellas.

I don't want to say it's easy work, but it's a lot easier running behind those big guys right there.

Zamar McGee, number 71.

He's been offered by Georgia State.

He's a six 3, 300 junior.

He just looks like he's got bad intentions.

Yeah, he does.

He's not here to make any friends.

I can.

I can assure you that ball recovered by Burke county at the 48 yard line.

So get set up with some pretty good field position now.

Can they break this momentum that Carver Columbus has built?

Two things you need to do here.

Obviously you want to try to get any point.

You would love to have a drive here.

Got six minutes left.

You're gonna get the ball to start the second half here.

A staple of wing T is ball control.

Move the chains.

Let's get a couple of first downs, shorten this half out and see if we can get some points to get this thing.

Maybe a 24 to 14 late and a half and then get the ball back to start the second half.

The best case scenario, if they could take a 2414 lead or deficit in the halftime.

That's a major victory.

Especially with some time off the clock.

Vanderbilt rolling to his right and throwing and drop.

Can't have any drops.

Amir Williams, the usually very shorthanded running back.

That's two that they've let just drop right out of their hands at Vanderbilt.

Put right on the money.

Yeah, that's not.

That's not helping things there.

Then again, you go with the waggle pass for something you see a lot out of the wing.

T is basically a flood route three level route.

Back in the flat.

Tight end Dragon first option is that back in the flat and just dropped it.

Vanderbilt has passed for 1800 yards coming into today's game.

65% completion, 18 touchdowns, only four interceptions until that pick six.

Carver was not fooled on that.

As the ball went direct snap to Amir Williams and they go trips trying to spread them out.

Go wildcat to Williams is just too much up front right now for Carver Columbus they're controlling the box with.

With five guys.

They.

Billings Lee doing his best to put some big time tape on that huddle reel.

This is the final game of his career.

He's a senior.

He is.

And Givens is the hot.

Is the.

I said today this is not going to be a game where Givens is gonna be able to rush to passer.

Billingsley right now has been the guy.

Vanderveer on the run, dives Forward to the 45 yard line.

It's gonna be fourth down and four.

Do you punt here, Rusty, or do you go for.

No way.

I'm going for this.

Possessions being too much.

This team facing can score quickly.

You've already seen that.

This is in your wheelhouse.

4th and 5.

We.

You can come right back.

You can run past option here.

Get your quarterback out.

They ran a sweep earlier.

Out of motion.

I like the pass here.

I mean they've had guys open.

They got to catch it.

So they.

They go to 10.

That's their guy.

Perkins.

See if they run a little.

Little.

I can't see who that is.

That's Perkins.

That is Denari and Perkins up top.

Yeah, that's been their guy.

Vanderbir go right there in the middle.

Down to the 23 yard line.

But a flag out on the play.

And that was Darius Jordan.

Wonder if he was covered up.

I bet you he was covered up because Perkins.

See if it's a legal receiver downfield.

Let's see if we can hear Greg Hoggle here.

They sell him the punt.

Well, they're calling it illegal shift.

Legal shift.

Franklin Stevens didn't argue it.

We got here.

Did you see it?

I didn't see it either.

So 5 yard penalty makes it 4 and 9.

Now they will punt.

They get it out of there just in time.

Nobody back.

Carver was not convinced they were going to kick it.

And it's going to finally roll dead at the seven yard line.

And that's where the Tigers will go on offense.

43 yard kick right there by Will Lovett, I think.

Can we look at that play one more time?

That's a.

That's a big play in this first half.

And I want to get Dave in here.

Take a look at this with me.

Just.

I'm not sure I see that we get that replay.

So we'll get to it in just a moment as the Tigers bring the offense back out.

They have scored 14 points here in the second quarter after getting that field goal on the final play of the first.

By the way, I love the instant replay.

So Glad we have it.

And these guys are doing a great job.

Job with the teams are using, I think, I think wisely some correct calls.

Fantastic.

We have.

That's for the state finals as ace Thomas in motion behind the line.

Now they bring up Cavs little step punching going to keep it on the fake handoff.

And he gets dropped right away.

Aries McCray, the defensive end making the tackle back to that previous play just one more time.

This is a big play here and illegal shift.

So Dave, do you have what I see?

What I see there is some linemen are moving and still getting set while the motion man goes in set.

So more than one person.

That's why you're up here and not getting set.

Thanks, Dave.

Appreciate that.

Loss of a yard on that play.

So a TFL for Aries McCrae.

And it's going to be second down and 11.

Oh, you cheeseburger.

How about me?

No, me and you're not on cheeseburger.

Dogs handoff goes to Kaslin.

Kaslan up to the 12 yard line.

Cuts the margin in half.

Going to bring up third and manageable here for Carver.

But this is a big third down for the Burke defense.

Yeah, still got plenty of time in the half.

You know, if I'm Franklin Stevens, I've had some success throwing the football.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

They've had.

They've popped some things even more so had two of their guys not drop past correct third down.

You saw the success eight yards per play for Carver so far in this game.

Spread them out.

Blunt said, top trips, munching in the pocket, throws.

It's complete.

That's going to be a first down as the ball gets goes to Jake's.

I'm telling you, this kick, he just gets open.

I'm telling you, can play.

He's explosive.

In and out of his breaks.

Have no idea why he doesn't have more offers.

But I'm telling you right now, he's going to have more offers because this guy.

Easy catch.

Watch him snag that ball.

Get up field.

14 yard pickup to get the first down.

First and 10 at the 28.

Tarver now in there, running back.

He gets the ball.

Wow.

How about Brace Lee stepping in.

Brace yourself.

Yes.

When Kaden brings the lumber.

Yes, sir.

And that's also formation recognition.

First time they've run that.

Try to lighten the box.

Look at him step up.

He sees that guard pull and just steps right up in the gap.

That's what I saw on tape.

I love that out of him.

5 foot 11, 200 pound senior linebacker.

Best player on the team.

And that's Franklin Stevens.

Words right there.

Their best strength and conditioning guy, too.

Yeah, he looks like he's put some weights around.

Been battling an ankle injury that he suffered against Thompson.

Then a little bit slowed by that.

Have a penalty coming up here against Burke.

Off sides, 5 yard Markov against the Bears.

But the gauntlet that Franklin Stevens had to go through to get to the semifinals, they were only 8 and 3 last year.

And I said, wow, are you surprised to be in the state championship?

And he said, I felt like we had a good year last year with us dropping down to double a, correct?

Harvard 2.

Yeah, dropping down to double A. I felt like we had a chance if we could get to the quarterfinals.

And he makes sense.

You get to the quarterfinals, sneak a win, there you go, semifinals.

And once you get there, you're just one went away from the state finals.

And here you are right here, playing in the state championship game again for the first time since 2011, when Eric Parker, the predecessor to coach Franklin Stevens, led them to their one and only state championship.

That's when I found out that where Burke county was, Coach Parker was there.

Had to step aside.

Suffered a heart attack in his final season.

Fortunately, was able to recover, but, yes, ended up giving up the coaching duties.

So third down and two coming up.

And Franklin Stevens left McEachern to go back to his alma mater.

And Stevens was actually on the coaching staff of Mike Pelor when they first went to the state championship game in 1990.

No, Coach Herons tuning in today.

Another coach is retired, but I know he's very excited for Coach Stevens.

For now.

For now.

Always say that with Jeff.

It's.

He's retired.

For now.

Listen, I know Coach Heron.

You're really good on social media.

And he is embracing the granddad life on the lake.

He's pontoon.

And he's doing all those things.

For now.

For now.

Okay.

Coach Aaron, I still think you retired, Jeff.

Maybe you're not.

He's got coaching in his blood.

Miss having him with us on GPB Sports Football Fridays, no doubt about it.

He's always fun to visit with a great job going back to Camden county in his second go round with those guys after he retired the first time.

Ball goes up to the 48 yard and I'm just pulling his leg.

Jake's had the catch in the run right there.

Close to a first down.

Feel quickly.

North, south, that mess around.

Easy, kind of easy speed.

Second down and one coming up here we're down to 75 seconds left in this first half.

Go down to Camden County.

Those years they.

2013.

Go down the first day of practice, August 1st, addressing about 160.

Had like three number 80s at practice.

One of the best playoff games I ever saw.

Ever got a chance to call.

Called with Barton Simmons.

Norcross.

Yeah, it was Norcross and not a good day for Camden county that night.

But Alvin Camaro, you might have heard of that guy.

Maybe he's made.

He's made some money in the National Football League.

Norcross went down there and won at Camden County.

Just a spectacular, fun quarterfinal playoff game.

I tell coach Maloof all the time, I will never say these words again.

61 seniors.

Norcross had 61 seniors, Norcross had more seniors.

And Carver Columbus has got on their team right now.

I said, coach, how do you do that?

He looked at that big old ring and he said, we're trying to get a second one.

I haven't said this publicly.

I've texted it, but publicly.

Congratulations.

I guess the coach Maloof, with his retirement.

Yes.

Has decided to retire as the all time winning as coach in Gwinnett county history.

Great run with Norcross.

Going to miss him on football Fridays in Georgia as well.

You think he's good?

You think he's really retired?

Yeah, I think he.

Is he going to be a double dipper?

No, I think.

I think he might.

And maybe he.

I don't know.

I don't know if it's in him to go back and work with one of his sons.

Yeah, well, you never know, man.

Once in a lifetime, I tell you, talking about a resume and you want to talk about a catalog of players.

You talk about a family tree.

No doubt, man of coaches.

No doubt.

Starting with dad George, brother Kevin, now his son at Lanier.

Second down and one play gets blown dead.

I think just finishing up putting a bow on that topic, I believe since 19, I.

Since 1958.

Maybe that's it.

I did the.

I did the numbers one time, but maybe since 1958.

There's been only one year since then that a. Maloof wasn't a head coach in the state of.

That is amazing.

That is amazing.

Stat.

Something like that.

Of course, his dad George, the late George, led St. Pius to their one and only state championship.

He's not only in the coaches hall of Fame, we inducted him into the Players hall of Fame, the Georgia High School Players hall of Fame as well.

So saw the rolling scroll here underneath the helmets.

Awesome.

See those guys?

And forever be marked as Georgia High School football Hall of Famers.

What a game you had last night.

We'll touch on that one second.

North Oconee Maris, man, it was.

You're talking about two really good football teams.

A lot of energy, great crowd.

Wow, what a game.

That was a fun game.

14.

That was just a hard hitting, old school kind of tackle football game right there.

No doubt be some sore young man today.

Enjoyed it.

Second down and one right here for Carver.

A buck seven left here in the first half.

Mungein in a pocket, going across the middle, caught in stride inside the 30 yard line.

Miles, did he get to the pylon?

Steps out at the one.

KJ Miles with a big time catch and run.

50 yards down to the one.

Love throw here by Munching.

Just lets his receiver clear that area.

Watch him, watch him the whole time.

And just drops it right in the space he needed to.

Quick strike.

Offense, man, Carver, Kinnick, they're explosive.

Love this throw.

Then a stutter step move right there to leave Kelvin Scott behind.

First and goal to go with 58 seconds to play in the half.

Lunching play and he gets dropped back at the seven yard line.

Amir Williams playing defense.

Remember, these guys are going both ways.

A lot of them made the tfl.

Yeah, I think the running back went the wrong way.

Carver, Columbus does have one timeout remaining.

Might be holding that one in case they got to stop the clock and kick a field goal here.

But a lot of time has burned off since that TFL.

They've lost 30 seconds right here.

Mungin retreating, throwing incomplete.

And they let 30 seconds.

So much time burned off right there.

Not good.

Clock management, flag, flag down to.

That's the first incomplete pass for Munchen.

Yeah, Mungin up until then had been 10 for 10 for 164.

It's interesting.

Six, five, not play basketball.

Yeah, they let way too much time burn off here.

They had 58 seconds.

Ineligible receiver downfield for Carver.

It is declined.

So it'll be third down.

What happens there?

You got a quarterback running around a long time and those guys creep up field.

Yep, the clock manager, that's.

That's one thing Carver has done well there on that, that particular series.

They lost 30 seconds.

Yeah, they ran well.

It was 58 and now it's 18.

So 40 seconds and a good job here.

Burke.

They get.

Just got to get that one stop to force them into a field goal.

Mungein throws and it's caught for the touchdown.

KJ Miles right there in the front corner of the end zone.

To make it 30 to 7.

Easy pitching catch there.

Just drops it in.

Nice job getting your foot down.

Got two down.

I think Matt we said in the open.

I think people are about to find out how good car Columbus really is.

Pat up and good by Kendrick, Pierce Spencer and KJ Miles who set up the touchdown drive with a 50 yard catch and run down to the 1 caps the 11 play 93 yard drive that ate up nearly five minutes.

What did you say earlier?

Juniors, junior quarterback, junior.

Don't be surprised if we're standing here next year calling the two a final.

And the school from on the hill is two.

They're playing North Oconee junior heavy.

Junior heavy.

This Carver, Columbus.

Carver, Columbus team heavy.

Juniors.

So now the challenges for those coaches and we've seen those teams before that were junior heavy, Hilton junior heavy, sometimes they come back stronger than ever.

Sometimes you got to over clippings.

That's right, you relax, you take your foot off the gas.

And that season that was supposed to be as a senior never materializes because you stop putting in the work that got you there when you were a junior.

So that'll be a challenge.

This one's not over yet.

But it is 317 late here in this second quarter and you think about that.

It was 24 to 7, you had the ball on this side of the field, you converted and then you get a penalty and next thing you know you're down 31 to 7.

It's just little things like that against a team so good that creates a score difference like this.

Little things.

Don't talk to Alan Chadwick about little things.

They had two major scoring drives derailed by false starts or delay a game.

Uncharacteristic little pre snap penalties that killed what were going to be scoring drives into zero point.

I said last night on sideline I you do not see that have a Marist team.

You don't see false starts like that in Game 15.

But that's the margin happens.

That's the margin of error that they have with that offense, especially in that game.

Yes, when their, their offense is predicated on being able to get three yards, get three yards, get three yards and then when it becomes a first and 15, they're in trouble.

That was the final play of this first 317 carver, Columbus making a statement here in the first half.

But all the teams that have played them for the last 11 games, they're not surprised by this at all.

This is what they've been doing.

1, 2.

They have been, they have been set 12 steamrolling the competition.

September, October, November, and now here in December.

And a 317 lead as they have rolled up 229 yards of total offense and Burke county has only 55.

Our coaches interview is delivered by Johnny's Pizza, your original neighborhood pizzeria and Autumn Johnson standing by with Pierre Coffee.

Well, coach, you said coming into this game, one of the keys of the game is to make the big play.

And Carver Columbus has done that time and time again in the first half.

What's impressed you the most about the quick and explosive offense you guys have been able to come up with?

Well, we've been able to capitalize on, you know, some plays downfield.

We got to protect better up front and we still got to just continue to go out and push our tempo and play hard.

But right now, you know, the guys, they, they, they have executed well, but we got to keep it going.

You also mentioned the X factor.

All season long has been your defense, including an impressive pick six earlier in the game.

How do you continue to make make Burke County's life uncomfortable in the second half?

Well, with that wing tee, it's so much misdirection.

We gotta continue to read our keys.

We gotta continue to continue to make sure we pursue the football and we just can't get caught up in that eye candy.

So if we do that, I think we'll be okay.

But it's still two more quarters of football and that's a really good football team.

Thank you, coach.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

And right after this break, we'll have John and Hannah joining us shortly.

The GHSA football playoffs and championships are brought to you by Alfa Insurance.

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We're harnessing the current to satisfy the future.

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Come over here.

Welcome into the Football Fridays in Georgia halftime show presented by Regions.

Get back in the game with Regions Bank.

I'm Hannah Gooden.

We are live from the bends for the 2024 GHSA boys and girls state championships.

This is the game that we're in right now.

A.A. carver Columbus versus Burke County.

There you saw your score, 31 7.

And look who we have coming up tonight.

It is Langston Hughes versus Milton.

We have head coach Boone Williams.

We have head coach Ben Reaves.

I think I'll start.

I. I think I'll start with coach William.

Coach.

Boom.

Uhoh.

What haven't we asked you this season?

I'm just kidding.

Let's talk about being the underdog in this one.

How does that make you feel?

Oh, man, it's just another football game.

I mean, shout out to coach.

You know, with the team, they have, they've been playing phenomenal the last two years.

So of course, coming into this game, they're the favorite and.

And everybody should, should, you know, as they haven't lost, they're on a roll.

And I mean, like I said, that staff, their coaches, they do amazing job.

Shouts out to them.

So here we are.

We were able to make it through what I thought was the biggest, hardest gauntlet in the bracket in Georgia high school with our first four rounds.

So we're just excited to be here, ready to, you know, rock and roll.

First and only state championship with Hughes is in 2022.

You have built this program from the ground up.

It feels like.

What has that been like for you?

It's been phenomenal.

It's been a lot of ups and downs.

Tumultuous voyage, should you say?

You know, lately, like I said, we have been doing a lot of winning, and that's been the kind of mentality.

Like we had a shirt that says the standard's been set.

So we want to continue to play in the high level, execute and understand we're giving kids the opportunity to go play at the next level.

That's all it's about.

It's about the players, them enjoying having fun, doing something they love.

We'll let Coach Reeves jump in here.

So when it comes to all of the eye candy, you know, Coach Coffey talked about eye candy involving, like the wing T. There's eye candy.

When it comes to being nationally ranked, where there's always folks like me and folks like Hannah are always knocking on your door asking you questions, hey, you know, what's it like being nationally ranked?

How do you sort that out and not focus on it, embrace it or put it aside.

How do you act?

We just attack the narrative.

You know, something that we constantly talk about is something that when our kids.

Kids see or hear, I never want them to be caught off guard by it.

So it's something that it is a real thing.

It's what people have us ranked and we got to go out and earn it each and every day and make sure that our kids know that.

You know, if you want to be that and you like hearing that, you got to put in the work and go earn it each and every day.

What have you learned about yourself in this journey to get to the last game of the year?

It doesn't get any easier, you know, it does not get any easier.

Every week is a grind, you know, Georgia football and general is just so loaded, you know, 5A, 6A.

I believe the top teams in both those classes could play with each other on any given Friday night.

Like coach alluded to, it's been a tough playoff run with a lot of good teams.

So just trying to be our best each and every night.

Anybody can be beat any night.

And we just want to see if.

If we can be the best team on this Tuesday.

This is your first time in the bends.

The last championship win was at Georgia State.

Angle you guys are excited.

What is it going to take to beat this guy over here for them to pack up and go to Milton and we're out.

What are your keys to the game, Coach?

Keys to the game.

You know, just like I always talk, preaching, get them to the ground.

Limited big plays, protect the football.

Those are the things that we need to do to win any ball game.

Not just Milton, the Jackson.

That's how you win football games.

Limited big plays and tackling and protecting the football.

Give yourself a chance.

All right, so then, two part question from me.

What concerns you the most about tonight?

What are you most confident about tonight?

I mean, there's a lot of concerns, you know, whenever you're playing Langston Hughes, big, fast, physical, well coached.

And like I said, you know, regardless of what either of us have done this season, all they have to do is be better than us tonight.

And it doesn't matter what either of us have done done prior to that.

So, you know, we just, we're trying to focus on us and, and not worry about the concerns, but just worry about Milton and, and how we can go out and play our best ball and see if it's good enough to win another championship or not.

All right, coming up, I I think we're tell go, John.

No, no, no.

I was just say he's got grandparents.

Oh, okay.

Grandma's here.

They're like, get the coaches back to their teams.

They got a coin flip.

You need to give them a shout out though.

Definitely.

Did we just get them on tv?

Did we have that angle all the way from Valdosta, Georgia right there.

Coach Reeves, tell us who's here.

Yeah, who's here?

We have Grandma Lindsay and grandma Reeves all the way from Valdosta, Georgia.

Made the trip up to surprise me and my family.

So excited to have them cheering.

And they better not have a voice left in this game.

I know that much.

That's amazing.

Okay, that was worth the extra time.

Coach Reeves, Coach Boone, we are so excited for this one.

It is 7:00.

It is Hughes versus Milton.

That one is coming up.

But first, we are in the halftime of the double A matchup.

More to come on that one right after this on dpd.

The GHSA football playoffs and championships are brought to you by Alfa Insurance.

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We're a part of your community.

Georgia's 41 electric cooperatives are anything but static since the flip of the first light switch.

We continue to innovate as the demand for energy increases.

EMCs draw from a wide variety of resources to generate electricity, from natural gas to nuclear power and renewables so that we can reliably power tomorrow.

We're harnessing the current to satisfy the future.

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The 35 Georgia Electric Membership Cooperative congratulate all winners of the GHSA Cooperative Spirit Sportsmanship Award for the past cycle.

This award honors schools that exhibit exemplary sportsmanship during competitive events.

Only one school in each region and each classification has chosen to receive this annual award.

The GHSA takes into consideration all aspects of sportsmanship, making the award a tribute to the entire community.

Introduced in 2006, this award reinforces the GHSA philosophy that everyone associated with high school activities, from athletes to spectators, should adhere to the fundamental values it represents.

Georgia EMC and the 35 participating Georgia Electric Membership Cooperatives are proud to sponsor the Cooperative Spirit Sportsmanship Award.

Congratulations to all the winners this year.

Welcome back.

It's time for the you save the pharmacy Georgia Place Spotlight.

And we are featuring Columbus High School tennis star Kate Greer.

At the age of seven, she picked up a tennis racket and by 10 she was the number one girls player in the state.

Here's her story.

I started playing tennis when I was seven and when I was ten I was number one in the state for Georgia.

And then I got injured when I was 14 and I was out for 19 months before we were able to figure out what was around my wrist.

The scar tissue's so bad she can't bend her wrist.

We had to change everything.

Forehand, backhand, serve, volley, everything had to change.

So to overcome that and to relearn and to be back playing at the level she's playing in two years instead of 10 years is very impressive.

What a tough kid.

We can't wait to see what's next for Kate.

All right, we have to take one more quick break, but coming up next, it's our make that Kid an OFFER Championship edition and recap the first half of Carver Columbus versus Burke County.

It's all right after this.

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Oh, could you give me a soda there?

You wouldn't take a call during the big game?

Oh, hey, what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team jackets.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game.

When you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

Heads up Georgia welcome back to the region's halftime show.

We're at the half of the Double A matchup between Burke county and Carver Columbus.

Some outstanding performance on the field this evening.

13 players from Carver alone have college offers are signed, 15 combined, including sophomore Trey Warren who has six offers from Alabama, Texas A and M, Georgia State and others.

But what about the kids?

What about the others overlooked when it comes to recruiting, especially this week?

Here's our championship edition of make that Kid an Offer.

We start with Milton senior linebacker and fullback Hayden Taminia.

He holds the title of team tackle leader after back to back 100 plus tackle seasons.

He's got wheels hitting over 20 miles per hour on the catapult and runs a 4.78 40 yard dash.

He's also a member of the Eagles wrestling team where he qualified as a state placer and holds a 3.9 GPA.

Next up is Grayson senior running back Elijah Miller.

According to Max Preps, he has over 1300 yards on the ground, averages five and a half yards per kick Perry and 20 career touchdowns for the Rams.

He's also a member of the Grayson baseball team and has a 3.9 adjusted GPA.

Then it's Northeast senior middle linebacker Santana Balcombe.

He's been one of Bibb County's top defensive players for three consecutive seasons.

He's led the team in tackles this year with 122 and according to Max Preps, he has a career 267 tackles, 161 of those solo.

Balcombe also plays baseball for the Raiders.

Next up is Toombs county junior Gavin Fletcher.

During his sophomore season he was awarded first team wide receiver in Region 3 Double A.

According to Max Preps, he averages 17 yards a catch and scored 15 career touchdowns.

Fletcher's a multi talented athlete, placing second in state in Class AA high jump and give an honorable mention in basketball.

And finally, Carrollton junior linebacker and running back Keden Spratling needs more offers.

He's fourth on the team in tackles and tackles for loss and tied for the team lead in sacks.

He also plays three sports, winning the 2023 state championship in discount and a power forward on the Trojans basketball team.

And congratulations To Gavin Fletcher on that list with Toombs county taking home some hardware, no doubt about it.

So here's the score of our game on Georgia's EMC.

Georgia's EMC.

So much more than electricity.

31 7.

Can't wait to hear what Franklin Stevens, the head coach of the Burke County Bears, has to say about what his conversation was like for the Bears in the locker room.

So that's coming up with Autumn Johnson in just a little bit.

Let's take a look at what's happened today.

We are in game number three, day number two, John.

Yeah.

So let's see four plus three seven.

All right, so Pace Academy and Pope started things off in Division 3 flag.

Pope goes back to back.

They get the D3 title this year.

And it was Toombs county taking a title back to Tombs and back to the town of alliance for the first time since 1975 winning over Northeast East.

Great game.

Great to see one bib the hashtag making sure that the Raiders were represented well and they certainly were.

We've got this game here coming up.

Once again, we caught up with the.

The grandson.

I loved it for the head coach of the Milton Eagles.

Grandmas were all here and there and they're.

They're actually still back there.

They're watching us wrap up our segment.

They can be a little nervous.

Milton and Langston Hughes coming up after the conclusion of this game.

It's going to be a great.

And day number two of three going to go gr.

Give those grandmas a hug after this.

I mean, it's that they are hardcore.

They're hanging out here to the very end.

They didn't even want to go to the coin flip.

We had.

We waited until we could get the coaches to the coin flip.

They know how things are going to be when who's getting the ball first and who's going to defer the grandparents.

They stayed here to watch the end of the show.

That's hardcore.

How you feeling, John?

Running up and down from the field up to the set.

I still wish I brought my Fitbit with me.

I really wish I could have your daily Fitbit report.

I know 10,000 steps, easy.

I guarantee you that.

What's been the highlight so far for you?

Like I said, I love all my children equally.

I love to see all the different classifications.

I like to see all the different towns represented.

For me, it's been fun to see Bibb county show, to see Waynesboro be here to see Carver, Columbus here to see Quitman here yesterday to see all the different communities and towns and see two great communities here in the metro area.

Show up here after this game and the fans have showed up tremendously.

Follow us on social media, GBB Sports all week long.

That's it for the region's halftime show.

More from Burke county and Carver Columbus right after this.

I am disciplined physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drill.

The GHSA football playoffs and championships are brought to you by Alfa Insurance.

We're more than just an insurance company.

We're a part of your community.

Look at that.

Look at that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Let's go back at Mercedes Benz Stadium.

Wrapping up halftime here with Carver Columbus.

A big 3117 lead on Burke county in the two way state championship game.

Matt Stewart and Rusty Mansell with the upstairs and wow, a little bit of right there with that field goal and then the pick six.

The floodgates really opened up and Burke county just swamped them under or got swamped under by Carver Columbus.

Big place.

Talked about how explosive Carver Columbus was.

What they've done all year.

We've seen this all year, Matt.

First half kind of what we expected for Carver Columbus for sure.

Let's start with the highlights here.

And it began with the Raylon Jake's kick return that set up the short touchdown in the opening two minutes of the game.

Didn't take long to showcase this young man.

But it also was a prelude of how explosive they were.

And Chunk plays to go full back, dive for a touchdown and jump on Bart Burke county early.

Williams scored the touchdown.

7 Nothing.

The lone score for Burke county on the 21 yard run by Kelvin Scott.

Over the turnover.

On the pot.

On the pot.

Get a turnover, you still that possession.

You score, you're thinking you're right in this game.

And here comes me the play of the first half.

The pick six by Billingsley.

17 yards.

That was the floodgate opener for Carver Columbus.

They scored two more touchdowns in the quarter.

16 yard run by Tarver for the score.

Big offensive line for Carver Columbus starts taking the game over.

Then you go late in the half right here to seal one off.

Nice easy catch.

Good footwork.

Protect touchdown there to put them up big in the opening half.

Miles scored that touchdown pass.

He'd caught a 50 yard pass and run down to the one yard line to set up that score.

And it's 317 right now.

Let's send it down to the field.

It's time now for our Johnny's Pizza halftime interview.

It's your neighborhood pizzeria and Autumn Johnson standing By with Franklin Stevens, Coach Stevens coming into this game, you mentioned you have to find a way to slow down Carver.

Carver, Columbus.

What are those adjustments on the defensive end?

Well, we got to play better, we got to tackle better, we got to break on the ball and get guys on the ground.

You know, coming in, we knew they were going to be very athletic.

They're going to be big up front.

They're doing the things they've been doing all year.

We just have not done enough to stop that or slow that down.

How do you get your offense going?

Well, you know, we've got to make some plays.

As I told our guys, you know, a lot of these guys, they've got 24 minutes and this is going to be it for them.

They're never going to play high school football again.

And they've got to decide what kind of fate or how they want to rock.

They get to be the authors of their own fate right here.

And it's going to come down to them how much want to.

How much determination they got to move the ball right now.

You know, we've been a little overwhelmed.

Carver is big, fast, athletic football team, which is what they showed on tape.

But we've got to figure out how to get our intensity up a little bit, execute a little better, and then we'll just take it play by play.

Thank you, coach and good luck in the second half.

Back to you guys.

All right, Autumn, thank you for that.

Let's take a look at the Alpha Insurance first half stats.

And Rusty, what jumps off the page at you?

171 passing yards 229.

You hold Burke to 57.

Lets you're a Wing T offense over five on third down conversions.

Time of possessions there for Burke county just been unable to sustain drive.

You look at Carver, Columbus 4 for 4 in the red zone.

I think the passing yards seeing hat Carver and this quarterback who I said it's going to be kind of an audition for everybody to find him six foot five, junior quarterback.

171 yards in the first half.

Matt?

Yeah.

A couple of things that jump out at me.

Number one, the pick six was the play that kind of broke the camel's back here in this game.

And then two late scores.

Carver got a field goal on the final play of the third quarter or Carver final play of the first quarter, take a 107 lead and then they score again in the last minute of the second quarter to add seven more points.

That's 10 points that came in the final minutes of the first two quarters.

Otherwise you got a 217 game, right?

Yeah.

I mean, and you throw in what you said, the interception dudes are that 17 points.

It was that quick on simple, simple scoring adjustments there.

But you look at, you look at Burke county and what can they do every possession.

I love that.

I love what Coach Stevens said.

You got 24 minutes.

A lot of this is the last time you ever gonna put on pads.

So good message from.

Sure.

From him.

Every possession counts.

Gotta have some stops.

And you, you get any turnovers, Matt, you got to capitalize.

And Rusty, you noticed he delivered that message to Autumn very calmly.

Oh yeah.

I'm sure that the 24 minutes left in your high school career came with a little bit more emotion and oomph inside that locker room.

He probably just said, look guys, I mean this is the.

He's right.

It's up to y'all now.

We're at game 15.

How do you want to end this thing?

How do you want to have this memory?

How do you want Burke county to remember this team?

And you got 24 minutes to try to try to rewrite that first half.

So the second half kickoff is brought to you by.

Heads up Georgia.

Park your phone while you're driving.

It saves lives.

And Colin Hodge who put one to the goal line with a straight on toe first kick.

That was.

We didn't talk about that later.

Here we go again.

That's another good kick.

That's coming down at the two.

And the return by Amir Williams does not make it back to the 20.

He gets stopped at the 15 yard line by Tavius Watts who's been all over the place on that back line of the defense and on special teams.

Oh, by the way, Matt, he's a junior.

They're all juniors.

This is this, this, this Carver Columbus team.

I hope their schedule set for next year because he's gonna have a hard time filling games.

They are loaded for 20, 20, 26 as well.

So first and 10 for Burke.

Let's see if they can start the long road back right here in the third quarter.

Shawn Vandiver, their quarterback, three for seven interceptions, a couple of drops.

Now they really did try to change some things, some drives for them.

The interception was a big play, but couple of drops didn't help him.

Handoff goes to Flournoy the fullback and he's going to get a couple of yards on the play to the 17.

Christian Flournoy, the junior two way starter plays linebacker as well.

256 yards rushing on the season.

That's what a fullback should look like if he had a neck roll would be perfect.

I mean, that's exactly what you want your fullback to look like.

Just a scaled down offensive line.

Yeah, it'd be no difference if he was 54 then.

So second down and eight.

Burke County.

They've won 11 in a row.

Just like Carver Columbus.

Both these teams lost in week three of the season.

Have not lost since.

Vandiver fires in the middle.

In and out of the hands of Amir Williams.

Count that as drop number three.

Just out of their wheelhouse.

Matt.

Just having to try to move in the passing game.

Gonna run the drag route.

You're gonna see the wing back come across the middle of the field.

It sits in the zone.

Can't do it much better than that.

You've got to be able to complete those if you want to have any chance in the second half.

Yeah, Vandiver's gonna sue him for non support.

He's now three for eight.

Should be six free.

Third down and eight.

They really do need to move the sticks right here, not punt the ball away on this first possession.

Take the jet sweep.

Vandover's gonna hold on to it and be dragged down at the 20 yard line to get five yards on the possession.

They're going to punt it away.

It's hard to maybe tell on tv, but in person, Carver is so fast on defense.

I mean, they close to the ball.

My goodness.

That was Derek Pearson.

6, 2, 2, 30 senior.

What of the few seniors on this Columbus starting 22 who made the tackle?

They left.

Left the majorette sticks.

Aren't the batons there?

The batons.

And so show.

Show shows you how much I call them majorette sticks.

Otherwise known as batons.

Oh, man.

Listen, as much work as you have done the last week, I'll give you that one line drive kick.

Gonna sail over the head and take a big bounce.

Nice kick by Lovett.

And gonna roll dead at the 25 yard line.

56 yard punt for Will Lovett.

One of the bright spots for the Bears so far today.

And Carver Columbus goes back on offense.

Munchin 11 for 12, passing for 1.

171 and a touchdown.

Tarver, six catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Jake's actually let me redeem.

Let me go back on that.

That was rushing.

Tarver 66 for 33 yards rushing.

And Jake's five catches for 49 yards.

Miles, three catches for 100 yards in that first half.

So first and 10 ball at the 25, four wides.

Handoff goes to Tarver.

Gonna struggle forward and pick up one yard on the play.

And coach Jeff here in Texas said be careful.

His wife's ask him if we know something she don't.

So we're gonna have to say that he is retired.

He's probably ready to get him out of the house.

Don't you have a football practice?

I don't know, man.

He's enjoying it.

He does a good job on social media.

He's second.

Down and nine.

Ball is fumbled and Burks got it.

Break for the Bears as Brace Lee got on top of it.

Well, it looks like Spencer maybe recovered.

I thought Brace Lee was the first guy there.

But Spencer, the nose ends up falling on top of Brace Lee has a chance at.

Let's see somebody gets a hand on this ball right there.

76 gets his hand.

Brace Lee almost gets it.

But watch Spencer come in, clean it up.

Exactly what Burke county had to have a turnover.

They need to convert right here.

Big52 just about had that one, but good job, Spencer run into the football.

A long road back, but the roads got to start somewhere.

And they get a break right here with the fumble by Carver.

And they take over first and 10 at the Tigers 28 yard line.

Good opportunity right here.

Just stay within your offense.

Vanderburg gonna throw back to the other side of the man.

Wide open.

Caught inside the 15.

Touchdown Burke County.

Oh, I love the play call play design.

My goodness.

That leak coming out of the backside off a bootleg Josh Arroyo.

What a play.

28 yards, Vandiver to Arroyo tied in.

Leap to the backside.

That might be the hottest play in all of college football.

Everybody's running in college football right now.

And Burke county does it for a touchdown.

Great answer off a turnover.

Love it.

For the PAT.

Kick is up and good and it's 31 14.

Nice job there.

Great play design.

Perfect time to call that 28 yard touchdown pass, Vandiver.

Finally somebody finds somebody that can hold on to the ball.

Hop skipping a jump into the end zone.

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Learn more about healthy alternatives and live a drug free lifestyle@garedribbon.org Sihut you wouldn't take a call during the big game?

Oh hey what's up man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game.

When you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

Heads up.

Georgia 31 14.

Burke county gets on the board here in the third quarter on the 28 yard touchdown catch and run by Josh Arroyo.

Just one play.

28 yards after they had recovered that fumble by Carver Columbus.

A lot of people running that mat as a two point play.

Good job.

So one of the integral parts of our production team is the red cap.

They're the ones who hold the game for television.

Christy Rivero is our red cap.

She's a valuable professional on our GPB sports team.

Nothing says that the Red camp can't be a Santa hat.

Tis the season man.

It's a red cap.

Right?

She is our red hat wearing the Santa cap.

Good job Christie.

She controls it, keeping us in the season.

Whip kick bounces along to the 24 yard line down the sideline.

Yeah, I think he stepped out of bounds a lot further.

Now a flag comes out late on the play back at the 32 yard line.

So we'll check that call right there.

25 yard return during the return.

Holding on the return team.

10 yard penalty from his father.

Foul first down.

So let's see where they end up putting this ball down because the flag was dropped around the 32.

So if it's 10 yards from there, that's going to put them way back at the 22.

Lot of big plays for Carver Columbus today.

63 yard kick return by Jake's 51 yard reception by Miles and then a 42 yard catch by Miles as well.

Zay Billingsley of course had the pick six.

That equals a 3114 lead.

I cannot be more impressed.

With 18 yard pick six.

They put the ball down at the 25.

Ball goes to Miles.

Just saw he's had two really big catches in this game and that's catch number four for him right there as he's run out of bounds at the 29 yard line.

KJ Miles been offered by Memphis UConn UMass had 10 catches on the season.

Four today.

Six, two, one, 70.

Junior, I'm telling you, when May rolls around, they have spring practice.

There's gonna be quite a few coaches coming.

The Columbus area gonna go to the hill.

Second down, ball goes on a screen.

Jake's up to the 40 yard line.

Just keeps piling up.

Catches.

That's number six for him.

That goes for 11 yards.

Easy pitch and catch out here in space.

Get up the field quickly.

They're moving the chain.

He's now got 52 catches on the season, over 900 yards.

First and 10.

Ball at the 40 yard line.

Handoff goes to Caslan.

Kobe Kaslon up to the 49 yard line, picks up nine on the play.

Got wide splits all the way outside the numbers.

Makes the box light.

Just run out there and look for any seam speed like that.

Next thing you know, it's mad it's second one.

They have 2600 yards rushing between Caslin and Tarver.

Caslin's another guy that's a junior.

He's been offered by Yukon, Troy and UMass.

You see that?

Coach Mora getting down here in Georgia and finding some juniors to offer.

Great tackle there.

It was on the past.

Miles denied Miles the chance to pick up the first down.

Buy ins.

Dexter Byron's outside linebacker.

Outside linebacker is the position he plays.

That is not.

That doesn't look like an outside.

So he's out.

He's out off of the tackle.

You got to cover in space.

That's the new age.

You can't have those thumpers, those downhill guys anymore.

They'll get ate up in the past game.

So good job by him to close third and one.

And Kaslin gets stuck right there, the line of scrimmage.

But he does get the first down.

Flournoy hit him, pulled him back.

But forward momentum gets him the first.

Yeah, he got a first down.

Then he had a loss for three on the tackle.

Flournoy threw him back, but it was too late.

First and 10 for Carver at the 49.

See Carver just burning a lot of time here, kind of sitting on this lead.

Not sitting on the lead, not trying to score anymore, but just taking as much time as necessary or needed to get it done.

They've also went to the quick passing game because Burke County's playing so far off their receiver.

Receivers.

Handoff goes to CAS1 again and again.

Flournoy making the tackle.

Back to back tackles for Flournoy.

Seeing two deep safe.

Two deep safeties.

So you're supposed to run against two deep safety box.

That's what they do there.

Good job though, stopping them.

Let's see if they go back to this passing game.

Spreading out way outside the numbers.

Second down and nine.

Nine.

Munching on the sprint out now under pressure.

They got him.

No, got rid of it.

Tossed it to Caslin.

And Caslin all the way down to the 41 yard line.

What a play by Munchen right there.

He was on his way down for a huge quarterback sack.

Just flipped the ball to Caslin to get positive yard.

What else can you do there, Matt?

You almost have him for a 6, 8, 10 yard loss.

Great play.

Recognizing his running backs behind him.

He flips it and gains eight yards.

Third down and one.

Super play by mungee.

Caslan does not get the first down.

He stopped at the 40.

It's going to bring up fourth and one.

What are you going to do?

You got to have stops here.

If you're Burke, you have got to have soft.

Got a guy down the middle of the field I believe to.

Yeah.

Coming up slow.

Looks like Chris Stiles, number 70, the six three, two six senior defensive end field.

Hope he's good to get back in as a senior.

Don't want to finish up your final game of your high school career.

Over on the sideline, 4th and 1.

Carver keeps the offense on the field.

Big chance for Burke right here.

See if they run right behind this H. Back up, top handoff goes to Caslin.

Didn't get it.

They had movement too.

Yeah, they moved.

Early ball start offense.

5 yard penalty.

4th down, pre snap penalty.

So they don't have the option of taking the play.

So now it's going to be fourth down and five.

Yeah.

See that guard moving just a little bit quick.

Goodness, What a block.

68.

That was a decleater.

Jolen Shelley.

Coach Pierre Coffey called him a dog.

He's a big dog at six foot three.

340.

My goodness.

That's how you pull around.

They keep the offense on the field on 4th and 6.

And now a timeout called by Carver.

Timeout, Carver.

Surprised they're not punting here.

Yeah, I think I put.

Let's go back to this play.

I want you to watch 68 Big Men.

They need their TV time too.

You want to watch how you pull on a running play.

Watch.

Watch this guard on the right.

Right here.

Watch him come out of this stance.

Holy smokes.

You know what that's called?

That's called electrocution.

Wow.

We called it decleater in my day.

Goodness.

Wow.

What a play by Joel and Shelly.

You can wear a Go.

You can wear it.

Herring bone.

When you do that to people.

31, 14.

Look at his helmet.

They're gonna take that to a painting body shot.

So the offense stays on the field through the timeout.

Oh, they just gave him five yards.

Back, back.

Switch back to fourth and one.

That's high school football.

And look at Franklin Stevens.

I feel you.

Encroachment defense.

Five yard penalty.

Fourth down.

You know what, and you know he told you watch the ball during the timeout.

That's a killer right there.

T.J. spencer, the nose shot through the gap.

Fourth and one.

And this is back where we were a couple of minutes ago.

Back to a fourth and one.

Big play right here.

They usually trail this H back.

See what he does.

And 27.

Yeah, that's Williams.

Handoff goes to Caslin.

Got the first down and more.

Caslin inside the 35.

Down to the 34.

Yeah, they don't try to hide that when they put.

They put big Jameer Jamil Williams in.

That's where they're running behind in short yardage.

27, the 5, 9, 200.

Junior put a great block right there on Stein's.

That's freed it up to get the first.

That's why they do it.

Binds.

Pardon me?

Not Stein, but binds.

And it's first and 10.

They got a styles and they got a binds.

Bungeon steps up now.

Going to run it.

Dives Forward to the 29 yard line.

He's ganglies, all arms and legs.

Once he gets that, I mean, not saying he's uncoordinated, but once he gets that a little bit more under control.

My goodness, yes.

That's his season numbers.

He's run it pretty effectively here today.

Names, name skips my mind right now.

Cedar Grove had a big tall quarterback a couple years ago.

Johnny Jelani woods wound up playing tight end, Oklahoma State.

That's correct.

He was about 6, 7 as a sophomore.

6, 6.

He grew into his body.

Lungeon steps up in the pocket, delivers deep.

Touchdown.

Carver goes to Braylon.

Jake's 31 yards.

Matt, we talk about little things.

You're fourth and six, you have a penalty, you make it fourth and one, what happens?

Good job keeping his eyes down the field.

Great pass.

Jake's does the rest.

Good pass.

Pro just drops it in the bucket for a touchdown.

What a day for Mungein.

Only one incompletion.

223 yards passing and now a couple of touchdowns.

And we talked about 80% completion.

He's not Dinkin and Dunkin that.

No, he's throwing the ball down the field.

He's 94% completion today.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow.

Right there in the middle.

From Miles, or rather Jake, who beat his man 11 plays 75 yards.

Yep.

He just said I got two touchdowns.

Two man 11, 75, 541.

J wants no part of the camera.

Carver back up 38, 40, 14 with 350 to play here in the third quarter.

Great answer by then, but you're right.

Burke had the opportunities to get off the field midfield and get the ball at midfield.

You're right.

And maybe get right back in this game.

And now they're back kind of where they were.

Here's our man again.

Hodge gonna kick off.

Straight on toe kick.

This was a little shorter this time at the 8.

Scott leveled at the 22 yard line.

Let's check in with Autumn.

Hey, guys.

Well, we just saw Christopher Styles hobbling off the field, putting no pressure on that left leg.

He was helped off the field by his teammates and straight to the athletic trainer.

They put him on the stretcher's table.

They were working on his knee and ankle, rotating it, stretching it out, moving it side to side for mobility.

They ended up taping his left ankle over his.

I see him right now.

He's right in front of me.

There's still some type of discomfort as he tries to walk it out.

Trying to head to the sidelines now.

Thanks, Autumn.

Hopefully he can get back in.

But not looking promising to see I have a senior man.

First and 10 ball at the 22.

Vanderburg is going to run it.

Not go very far.

Not far at all.

Tough up front as Dejan Daniels, the nose tackle.

Yeah, you come running to the sidelines to.

To get a play.

I mean, there's a lot to it when you're trying to score behind like this in a wing T offense.

Second down, ball is at the 22.

Vandover in the pocket looking for Perkins and tight double coverage out there on him.

We're going to talk about a little bit, but I can tell you that there is some anticipation tonight between Milton and Langston Hughes.

And your next one.

Yeah, no doubt that's going to be a fun 5A state championship game.

Milton, of course, still in the running for the national title.

Ranked number two in the nation.

Max preps number three in the USA today.

Super 25, Langston Hughes.

They're very excited to be playing Milton.

They've said all along they want a shot at Milton.

Will they get it tonight?

The run by Vanderverst gonna slide down at the 27 and a half right around the 28.

And it's gonna be fourth down punting situation here for the Bears.

Been a great season for Burke county.

As we pointed out, they battled through Hurricane Helene, as did so many teams in South Georgia.

And that swath all the way up the east side of Georgia that got just devastated by that hurricane.

So much damage.

And Franklin Stevens, who's been around, seen a lot, said he'd never seen anything like that.

Said couldn't communicate.

Couldn't communicate with the kids.

I'll never take air conditioning and electricity for granted again.

But just for them to come back from that and come back stronger than ever because they were three and one at the time the hurricane hit.

They had just beaten north side one of Robins 14 to 6 in one of their closest games of the season.

And they lost a Benedictine before, of course.

No shame in losing the Benedictine predicted.

But they came back from that and stronger than ever.

You heard autumn deliver the story early on in today's game about how they decided, look, let's play for our community.

Our community.

We can't.

We can't save our community from what's happened.

It's happened.

But we can give them something to look forward to on Friday nights.

Yep, they have done that.

Toombs county wins the state championship day.

They went through it as well.

So many teams in the state of Georgia had their seasons delayed.

I mean, didn't play for a month.

Then some schools played like three or four games in 13 days.

Well, the team will see tomorrow night.

Yes, Grayson.

A little bit different circumstance for them.

They had a crazy schedule.

The ball kicks backwards.

This time it's going to be down at the 49 yard line.

We'll see Grayson take on Carrollton in the 68 final.

But they, they went.

They played one game in six months.

Yep.

And then they.

They played no games for a month and one game in seven weeks.

They had some.

They had some teams forfeit out of Rockdale county.

Because now on top of the hurricane, you also had the chemical fire.

I mean, that basically shut down that entire area, the whole Newton and Rockdale area because of the chemical fire.

And so that means they went seven weeks with one game and then they played four games in the last 16 days of the season.

And while everybody else was getting a week off before the playoffs, they were playing four games in 16 days and then had to go into the playoffs with everybody else at at least one week's rest on it's.

Been a crazy year.

It has.

It has been a crazy year and it started early.

But shout out to Georgia High School association and everybody leadership to to do what they can to get the season played.

Delayed at a week munching.

Going to step up and get knocked from behind at the 50 yard line.

Yeah, they did a super job of managing the schedule.

Had that bye week to use at the bye week that turned out to not be a bye week.

A lot was made about how we're not going to have football the week of Thanksgiving and we did have football the week Thanksgiving, but it all worked out well and the Georgia High School association doing a fabulous job of getting us through the turmoil of this season.

I just.

Just from our standpoint, I'm sure for yours too, you're doing games every Friday night just like me.

You know, it was just a crazy season.

Seemed like every week there was something else.

Yep, second down at nine balls going to be slung out there on the edge.

Move there the sideline and tightrope in the sideline.

Caslin finally out of bounds.

Was almost a block in the back.

He showed so quickly on that plate.

Watch the Burke county defensive back seat right here.

I was close to a block in the back that probably was, but so rusty where we are right here.

And always hate to bring it up, but it is a fact of the game.

If they can score here in the last 117 of this quarter, we will have a running clock in the fourth quarter.

It's always something that as a coach you got to keep in mind.

You don't like thinking about running up the score, but it's also advantageous to you, correct, to get to that running clock if you can.

And they've got the opportunity right here, if they can score.

Going for it right there.

Touchdown, Garber.

Miles again.

Another huge catch for KJ Miles.

Miles 44, 14.

A lot of athletes, man, just a lot of guy.

A lot of speed.

They got a quarterback that can throw the ball.

This ball's on the money.

He never breaks stride, hits him right in the hands.

The size of these wide receivers from Harbor.

He's 62170 and runs like a deer.

Junior, Junior who's had a breakout game here in the state championship, had 10 catches in their first 14 games.

K.J.

miles has six catches for 125 and a couple of touchdowns today do it much better than that.

It's a bright end stride for a touchdown.

And Mutin, the clubhouse leader for commission player the game honors.

He's 18 for 19, 273, three touchdowns, 95% completion.

And I don't even know how they figure out the calculation for the quarterback rating, but his is something like 267.5 right now.

I didn't know that number was possible.

He is smiling.

He is.

He's already, he's already ringed me.

Third quarter and how quickly things change.

Matt, you're 31 to 14.

You're fourth and six.

You're trying to get the ball back, you got some momentum.

Short time after, you're down 14, ball comes down at the five return by Williams looking for a hole to open up for him to run through.

And he's up to the 32 yard line.

And the folks at Pierce and Appling said, yeah, we know, we saw this, we know and I know it caught all of our attention when we saw those scores on quarterfinal Friday night, on semifinals, Saturday night night or Friday night, you're like, what?

They did what?

To those teams?

Yeah, I told a lot of people that.

I dug into them last couple of days.

I said, boys, I'm telling you now, this, this crew right here that's coming up from Columbus is as good as you'll see in this Mercedes Benz this week.

I don't know if they're going to win this game, but on paper, on paper has become on field.

It has Burke back on offense, trailing by 31 points.

Now Vanderbilt on the run, not going anywhere, gets dragged down.

Let's check in with Autumn Johnson.

Hey, guys, I want to talk about these guardian caps you mentioned earlier in this game.

Burke county is one of the only teams who uses guardian caps in high school.

And head coach Franklin Stevens strongly believed if this team could stay healthy, they could go a long way.

It started with his time enforcing them at MCE Train and he made it a staple to always have it a part of his program.

In fact, it was one of the first things he brought to the administration when he came over to Burke county and Coach Stevens said, we started wearing them during practice and contract drills and then the National Federation gave them the green light to wear it in games.

Of course, you miss out on the decals.

They have bones and skulls on those helmets.

But concussions have went down.

They allowed to have guys take on this field.

Oh, it's, it's so important.

No doubt about it.

And Cartersville, and we did a game at Cartersville at Wyman Stadium, they have helmets that actually incorporates like molded into it.

It is.

And they have a company that does that.

I'm sure you can go to their website.

I don't have that information right off the top of my head, but I'm sure they've got that information on their website.

If you'd like to get in touch with that con company or the Guardian Helmets.

The only downside with those is like automatic.

I'm just saying that higher hides the helmet but the positives certainly outweigh the negatives.

It's 4514 as we head to the fourth in Atlanta.

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Come over here.

Start of the fourth quarter here at Mercedes Benz Stadium in a 45:14 lead for Carver Columbus on Burke County, Matt Stewart, Rusty Mansell, Autumn Johnson and our GPB team with you we got one game to go and that's Langston Hughes and Milton that's coming up Next.

Roughly about 45 minutes following the conclusion of this one once they get done with the post game awards ceremony and then the warm up period for both of those teams.

So count on about 45 minutes once we finish this one off.

We will have a running clock here in the fourth quarter since the lead is 30 points plus speed, speed, speed and speed.

Milton Langston Hughes game.

Lots of college prospects too.

So if you don't have a dog in the fight but you just want to see your future college and in some cases NFL players.

No question.

Stick around and watch that game.

Clemson and Miami, the whole NFL thing, that's George, let me tell you, the guy that won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night played in the state championship game here in the state three years ago.

Yes.

And it was dominant on both sides of the ball.

Yeah.

And I have a Heisman vote.

Have had one since 2006.

I did vote for you had a long scout report on him.

Yes, I've been watching that young man for quite some time.

Really.

I guess since the 2020 season.

His junior season is really kind of when they burst on the scenes.

So yeah, got a chance to.

I went, I went.

Travis Hunter one genti Two, he's had a fabulous season.

He's going to break Barry Sanders record in the College Football Playoff in all likelihood.

And then Cam Ward, I went through checking out the big screen up top.

Yeah, it's okay to check out the big screen now.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean it's the haze in the barn, but you don't want to get caught looking at the big screen when it's a tight game.

Yeah, and that's one of the things the coaches, every one of them that we talk to, that's a concern for them not to fall, you know, in awe of watching themselves on the halo board, which is easy to do.

So the countdown to the coronation, it'll be the second state championship for Carver Columbus and a big run by Caslin up to the 45 yard line.

Their one and only state title came in there.

One and only 15, 0 season back in 2007 under now Georgia State head coach Del McGee.

See that number one running back in Carver.

You always gotta think Isaiah Crowell.

You think of Isaiah Crowell and then the next thing you think of is his announcement ceremony.

Yes, the puppy.

I'm going to tell you this, maybe the number one best one ever.

I'm going to tell you this.

I may not be around to cover him, but I have seen some clips of his son.

He's down in Columbus and he is a special talent at a young age.

Isaiah, if you're watching it, I've seen it.

Caswell on the run right there.

It's really extraordinary.

I don't know that Columbus gets the do that it deserves for producing the players that they produce.

A good deal of them go to Georgia, a good deal of them go to Auburn, right across the border and then of course all over the place.

Elijah Pritches, starting tackle, Alabama.

Now he was a Carver Columbus couple years ago, so they put out a ton of players in that.

That's not the only school there.

And that area is producing.

Ball up top.

Going for the home run and caught again by Miles.

Are you kidding me?

54 yards for miles.

He may end up with more yards receiving in this game than he had all season.

Watch the, watch him separate at the end and finish this off.

Watch this catch.

Third touchdown catch of the game for Miles.

He came in with 10 catches, four touchdowns on the season for 273.

Got seven for one.

179 and three touchdowns from Mungein today.

And Mungein is plus 300 in the passing game.

Watch him at the end right here.

Beautiful catch.

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52 14.

KJ Miles.

What a game.

Eight catches for him today.

Seven catches for him today.

Three touchdowns.

And you mentioned wearing those FSU gloves.

I mean think the Seminoles might be able to use a path like that?

I think Georgia would take a wide receiver that can catch like that right now.

What a game.

Watch him track this to the Florida State Track that ball, man.

That's what's hard to do.

You run in full speed.

Go get that thing.

Catch it in your hands.

When you talk about the measurables too.

He certainly checks those boxes.

62170 and great speed returned by Williams.

Had a coach text me to do the commercial breaks equipment and your juniors would play on next year.

I'm trying to enjoy my holidays.

I won't call you out coach, but this is juniors.

That's bad scheduling.

Coach.

Yes, I have to.

Yeah, they're.

They're loaded.

You can tell they're leading.

Leading the state championship game.

52 14.

And now for Burke as they go out there on offense.

The clock is running.

Coming up on seven minutes to play in this one.

The season's coming to a close.

It's going to be a good season.

A bitter end to a 13 and 2 record.

You just want to finish this season strong.

Yes.

Put together a nice solid drive right here to finish the season strong.

And listen, there's seven minutes.

Most of these kids are never going to play again that are seniors which talked about that with Coach Stevens.

Handoff goes to Williams.

Williams gets driven Back Williams has offers, has five offers.

Swanee, unc, Pembroke.

So smaller school type offers for him.

You know, a lot of get a lot of questions.

Got a flag down.

Let's get this.

And I'll mention this about the portal and the second signing day after we get this call after the play.

Personal foul, defense, 15 yard penalty, first down.

I don't want to turn this into a 30 minute conversation because you and I could dominate the rest of the time.

But the fact that there's not 500 coaches on the sideline like there normally is.

Yep.

That, that's not right.

I mean there's no, there's Division 3 coaches here and I'm happy for those guys.

But it's usually a national coaching convention on the sidelines.

These kids get a chance to watch.

But with this portal being open map it has really hurt this class of 20, 25 kids.

So I think the second signing day is going to be a lot bigger than usual.

So a lot of these kids are going to pick up new offers in January once that portal closes December 28th and schools realize what they have left left.

I believe a lot it's going to trickle down to players like Williams right here that doesn't have a lot right now, but he will as it goes on.

So I know a lot of these parents in class of 2025 are kind of, you know, in limbo and not really sure what's going on.

But this portal window open right now has really shut down high school recruiting to a crawl.

Yeah, we've had a lot of conversations about that with coaches this week.

We've got Jefferson and Calhoun tomorrow, correct in our 3A state championship game.

And they've got a tremendous dual threat, quarterback in Markey who is named to our all state team.

You know, the recruiting just hasn't been there for him as you would expect it to be with a guy of his skill set and talent and stats.

Yeah.

And it's funny you say you bring up coach Nolan.

I rented his son last night.

Seb Nolan.

Yeah.

At Murray State.

They're allowed to be here.

He was here last night.

Got a good long chance to talk with Zev and very proud of him.

And he was working sidelines.

Andy McCollum from Sewani was here, head coach.

He was excited to be here.

I said, where's all the coach?

He said, rusty, I'm glad they're not here.

Leave all those guys at home.

He had four or five members of his guy saw West Georgia here last night.

So there are schools here.

Don't get me wrong but I mean it's usually a who's who and it would be, you know, sec, ACC head coaches here and just unfortunate man.

Third down and five.

Vanderbilt to the air and throws.

It's incomplete.

Going to be fourth down.

I was sitting in my office this morning putting the final touches on preparations for Today's Games and SportsCenter was on and then one of the topics of conversation was, you know, the messed up schedule.

And it blows my mind that the administrator that the schedule has been put in place the way it is that the free agency transfer portal window opens before the season's over.

You got teams in the College Football Playoff.

A Penn State backup quarterback had to leave.

Had to leave or miss his opportunity to leave.

It'd be like have in perspective having NFL free agency in week 14 before the playoffs.

Before the playoffs?

Yeah.

Before the season's over.

They've got to do.

I don't.

How can they?

How can you not Timeout Burke County.

I mean it's an absolute nightmare behind the scenes.

It is timeout on the field.

We'll step aside and come back for the final four minutes.

All right.

What do you think, Jasper?

Honestly, I think that probably has the shirt spec in your game.

What?

I think cotton would have been a better choice.

Cotton?

Yeah.

It's come a long way.

You know, nowadays cotton breeze and makes moisture great.

Plus buying cotton means supporting Georgia farmers.

I think that's wonderful.

Okay, sure.

But what do you think about the putt?

Oh, it's really un thought about.

Wherever you go, there we are.

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Learn more about healthy alternatives and live a drug free lifestyle@garedribbon.org 407 left in our two way state championship game and Carver Columbus in command 5214 the score.

It is 7 o'clock.

Scheduled start time For Milton and Langston hughes in the 5A state championship game.

We will have that one, you know, immediately, as soon as possible following the conclusion of this one.

So you can count on about 45 minutes from now.

But stay with us, we got lots of great programming.

We've got the final four minutes of this one right here.

Then we'll have the trophy presentation for the two teams participating here in the two way finals.

Vanderbilt rolls and throws and off the hands of Scott on fourth down.

Ball's gonna go roll downs to Carver, Columbus.

And then of course we'll have the Georgia Cotton Commission player of the game and Autumn Johnson will talk to that young man, have the tailgate party show and get you ready for for the 58 final between Milton and Langston Hughes meeting for just the second time ever.

The only other time they played was in the second round of the 2014 state playoffs.

Well, I'm gonna let you and Wayne have that.

I'm gonna go right to the sidelines and just enjoy it.

That's gonna be a fun one to watch.

No doubt about it.

Let's check in with Autumn Johnson.

Hey guys, we got to talk about the maturity and growth from quarterback Matthew Mungin.

It has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Coach Coffee said after spending time with previous quarterback Jacobe Hunter and taking on more responsibility, he really started to understand who he is as a leader of this team.

Matthew is comfortable with the offense, knows the expectations and his play has been exceptional ever since.

It's been clear that once things click for him, it's been a game changer for this team and the chemistry is undeniable.

These are guys who have been playing with each other and have known each other since 4 to 5 years old.

It's a tight knit group and you can see it out on the field.

He was enjoying watching himself on the halo board.

I tell you, Matt, 19 of 2327.

He will be our Georgia Cotton Commission player of the game with his four touchdown digging into records in a state championship game.

If you go 19 for 20 for 327, that's, that's going to be.

That's got to be close to a record.

That's going to be close to yardage record because the young man we're going to see tomorrow night.

Minimum attempts completion.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Wow.

When you talk about 95% completion on 20 attempts, my goodness.

Ball is fumbled and picked up as coach Pierre Coffey gets some of his reserves in the game.

Now the final two minutes.

There'll be a lot of Miami fans tuning in next to see Luke Nickel.

And I'm telling you, every single time I have seen him in a big game, opportunity, he is delivered.

Yeah, we're gonna have two very interesting quarterbacks as Pierre Coffey gets the water bath.

He's.

He's.

Thank goodness it's indoors.

Oh, yeah, it's been warm.

It's not bad outside, correct?

Yeah.

These last two playoff weeks, though, have been very cold.

And then the quarters, it was cold that day, too.

And the wind on top of that.

I was at an eight overtime game in Athens.

Yeah, I know.

That was a crazy one.

We got done with our Langston Hughes Thomas County Central game that night.

I listened to the call on the way home.

Home.

And it took me all the way home because they just kept playing.

I believe it.

I talked to Jeff Dantler after the game and of course, you know he does the post college show with Kevin Butler.

I said, what time y'all get off the air?

He said, 3am you know what I told Drew Butler, Kevin son to tell his dad thank you, cuz I didn't get to roam to 410.

And I listened to that show all the way to Marietta.

Memorable game.

No doubt about it.

But I would prefer that they don't play it on Friday nights in the future.

Yeah, that was.

I hadn't seen that.

I hadn't seen the date for next year, maybe.

But no, it's going to be in this building right here.

It is.

They're going to play in this building.

Yeah.

Delay game.

Offense.

Five yard penalty, fourth down.

What?

Georgia Tech reportedly receiving $10 million to play the game here.

Yeah.

Just moving a mile and a half down the road.

Moving three blocks.

I'd do that for 10 million in the day of player acquisition.

That 10 million can be put to good use, no question.

Final play of the game right here.

We may have already had it.

They don't have to snap it again.

Here we go.

Champions.

Carver, Columbus, for the second time in school history, Pierre Coffey doing what up until this moment only Del McGee had done, leading the Tigers to the pinnacle, the state championship in Georgia.

What an absolute domination.

The last seven, eight weeks.

Going through the playoffs, no question.

The best team in the state of Georgia in the Double A bracket.

Carver, Columbus, now state championship.

They won their last three playoff games.

Rusty.

Against defending state champions.

Pierce county, against Applin County.

Top five team against Burke County, a 13 and one team.

They won by a combined 118 points.

They won by 39 points a game against three of the best in the state.

Impressive.

And we couldn't say it enough.

They have got the majority of this team coming back next year.

Shout out.

Franklin Stevens, Burke County.

Yeah, what up?

I don't know that anybody outside of Waynesboro and his football team thought they would be here in game 15 after they went 83 in his first season.

But they believed, especially after they went through the hurricane and everything they went through, they believed and they got better, they got stronger and gave their community something to be proud of.

And they will go right back to work in January in that weight room and will not shock me to see them in some very big games late next year as well.

14 and 1, Carver Columbus.

And that's our Georgia Cotton Commission player of the game right there, Matthew Mungein, the quarterback.

Expect to hear his name a lot more in 2026 when he's a senior.

Yep, he's going to have a big off season.

Have a lot of eyes on him.

He might be getting ready to have a big month of December here in the.

Yeah, the DM's on his Twitter.

Yes.

Yeah, I guarantee he's going to check those tonight and have some more schools interested in him.

So the runner up trophy being presented to Burke county as they Finish up at 13 and 2 and have their 11 game winning streak snap on December 17th.

Hugs all the way around for Pierre Coffey and his Carver Tigers.

There's DJ Jones play for the Georgia Bulldogs, member of our he's excited, man.

Board member here on the Georgia High School Football hall of Fame.

And to the champions goes the trophy.

What a moment, man.

Those kids will never forget that.

Braylon Jakes up there with Matthew Mungeon in time to send it to John Nelson.

Thank you very much.

Matt Stewart, time to present you yet another trophy.

And we have yet another champion, the first time in a long time.

And to present it it is Dr. Tim Scott, the executive director of the Georgia High School association and our friends from Alpha Insurance.

Thank you, John.

First thing, I want to say congratulations to Burke county on an outstanding season and their fans were great.

We appreciate you very much.

Thank you.

And now I want to say the Carver community, what a great showing tonight.

Way to go.

On behalf of Alpha Insurance and the Georgia High School association, coach, congratulations on a state championship for Carver High School.

Coach Coffey.

That was probably one of the best bats you've ever gotten, right?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

For someone who's never been to the Hill to know what football means, you were an assistant under Joe Kegler.

Assistant under Del McGee.

What does this mean, I mean, you can look right there.

All those fans, all those people from 3100 8th Street.

That's what Carver football is.

We're a family.

We have a rich heritage and lineage of football.

And, you know, we take great pride in producing young men and young women.

What has this ride been like?

How difficult was it to get to this point and push through to get a title?

People don't understand how difficult it is to be playing in week 15.

And I just got to thank God.

God is amazing.

And these young men have worked so hard since January 8th.

So almost for an entire year, they've been working.

And so, you know, I'm just glad and thankful to God that this.

This is the fruits of our labor.

You see the sweatshirts all over?

Guess who's back.

I think we know the answer.

It's Carver Columbus state champs once again.

Let's send it back upstairs to Matt Stewart, Rusty Mansell.

All right.

Thank you, Nelly.

Just a dominating performance here today.

52:14, the final.

We kind of had a feeling that if Carver got rolling, it might get like this, and it did indeed.

Guess who's back.

And guess who might be here for a while.

Carver Columbus, the state champs.

Yeah, no doubt about it.

Back juniors.

Just a quick thought on Matthew Munch and the junior quarterback.

A lot of times we talk about players using this stage as a jumping off point for them and their careers.

And Matthew Munchen, 19 for 23, 27, four touchdowns.

Today he used that stage to jump onto the big stage.

And in the bright spotlight, Matt, it's hard to do 19 for 20 against Ayer.

He just did it in the state championship game for 3, 20, 27, 4 touchdowns.

Impressive.

Took advantage of every opportunity he's got.

He's a name to know now for sure.

There you go.

52:14, the final.

Carver Columbus state champions for the second time in their program history.

Coming up next, after our tailgate party show, we got Milton and Langston hughes in the 5A state championship game.

We invite you to stick around for that.

In the meantime, Hannah and John going to be with you at the tailgate party desk.

We're also going to hear from our Georgia Cotton Commission player of the game, Auto Johnson will be Talking to Matthew Munchen.

5214, the final.

Congratulations to the Carver Tigers.

Yes, they are back and maybe back in 2026 as well.

We'll see you in 45 minutes.

Football Fridays in Georgia is presented by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety reminding you to park your phone while driving, saves lives, heads Up, Georgia, say hi.

You wouldn't take a call during the big game?

Oh, hey, what's up, man?

You wouldn't be texting while cheering on your team jacket.

And you definitely wouldn't want to watch a video while marching with the band.

So why would you drive a car while distracted?

Driving isn't a game.

When you lose on the road, it could lead to a crash.

So when you get behind the wheel, put the distractions aside, drive hands free and save lives.

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Our service to Georgia goes beyond banking to creating more inclusive prosperity in our communities.

From education to financial wellness to economic development, we're working to level the playing field so more people can succeed and our communities can thrive.

GPB Sports broadcast of this game is made possible by supporters of the ghsa, including the National Federation of High Schools.

This high school gym used to be packed most nights.

Not anymore.

Do you know why?

Because bad behavior by fans, especially adults, has caused a shortage of game officials across the country.

You see, without officials, we can't have sports.

Don't let this become reality.

It's time for a change.

Let's bench bad behavior for good.

The GHSA football playoffs and championships are brought to you by Alpha Insurance.

We're more than just an insurance company.

We're a part of your community.

Welcome into the GBB tailgate party.

I'm Hannah Gooden.

We are live from Mercedes Benz stadium for the 2024 boys and girls state championships.

While the teams warm up, we are going to be previewing what's to come.

We'll have guests live on set.

You never know who might show UP.

And our 2024 GPB All State team.

First, let's take a look at what just happened in the boys double A matchup on Georgia's EMC scoreboard.

Georgia's emc, so much more than electricity.

So is Burke county versus Carver Columbus.

And there you see the Tigers pulled it out, 52 to 14.

They won their second state championship in school history to go 15 and one on the year.

And bringing that trophy back to the hill.

Their last title was in 2007.

Let's send it down to the field where Autumn has our Cotton Commission player of the game.

Autumn, who we got?

Of course, our Georgia Cotton commissioner Player of the game is Matthew Mungein.

19 for 20327 yards, four touchdown passes.

To have that many scoring weapons around you.

What is that, like, I just.

Oh, my God.

It's unbelievable.

A lot of us been playing with each other since we were little, so the connection always been there, but like, well, they got see us again next year.

We only juniors.

I know it's scary how young this team is and how deep and dangerous you are, but it's been 17 years since Carver Columbus has brought a state championship home.

What does it mean to you to lead this team?

It means a lot.

We got an unbelievable.

We got an unbelievable group of guys on the team, and I think we very much deserve this win.

And now you're a state champion.

Thanks so much for your time and congratulations.

Thank you.