Football Fridays in Georgia presented by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, reminding you to park your phone while you're driving.

It saves lives as we welcome you back to Grisham Stadium in Carrollton, Georgia, for the Georgia High School Association.

6-A state semifinals as the state's fourth ranked North Gwinnett Bulldogs come to town to take on the MaxPreps national number 1 Carrollton Trojans.

And good evening, I'm Matt Stewart, joined by former Auburn Tigers All-American NFL first round draft pick and 15 year pro Wayne Gandy Wayne.

We were here a week ago when Carrollton knocked off.

Then number 1 Grayson, and now the Trojans are the guys at the top of the mountain.

And North Gwinnett is the underdog team.

But this Bulldogs team has won 12 in a row.

And among the most fundamentally sound teams in the entire state.

How fast you can go from being the hunter to being the hunted.

Tonight, Carrollton comes in here with a complete team, but this North Gwinnett team very gritty.

They go out, they play hard.

So you have to keep your eye.

They have a puncher's chance here tonight.

Carrollton trying to get to their third finals in the last four years.

A year ago, they had the five star quarterback Juju Lewis, who's now at Colorado.

This year they have the no.

Star running back, Cam Wood, who picked up his first FBS offer on Tuesday, signed with the Liberty Flames on Wednesday.

He's been an incredible story.

Yeah, this young man has definitely impressed the both of us and anyone that's watched him.

He is fast between the tackles.

To me, he's their offensive MVP.

As you can see over 1,300 yards rushing on the season.

The thing about him he's elusive.

He can get to the outside, get out of tackles, make it into a foot race.

This young man is so impressive.

He is the heartbeat of this Carrollton offense.

Four star Zykie Helton signed with the Georgia Bulldogs on Wednesday as an offensive lineman on the defensive line.

He's unblockable.

He's a young man that really has put in the game to destroy it, and he does it well.

He's going to Georgia as a sinner, but I'm not sure that he's not a defensive tackle.

He's dominant, he's strong.

He's great.

Getting off the block and exploding to the quarterback.

They have to find him and put two hats on him.

Now North Gwinnett trying to get to the state finals for the first time since 2017 when they won it all for the first and only time in program history, they played two quarterbacks all season long.

But as we've gotten deeper into the playoffs, the junior Left-Hander Elam Rahman has kind of taken over the show.

One of those guys that you just don't look at the statistics.

He's an impactful player with a big arm.

The lefty can really throw it down the field.

He's managing the game.

He doesn't make a lot of mistakes.

19 touchdowns, only two interceptions on the season.

He's emerged out of this two quarterback system to be the main man.

He's going to have to make some plays tonight with his legs.

He's a physical runner out in space.

And on the defensive side of the ball, the coach's son, Jake Godfree, the three star, 41 total offers.

He has 339 career tackles.

132 on this season, eight sacks, four rushing TDs.

There's really nothing that Jake Godfree can't do.

He is the definition of this defense.

It's all about his energy, his effort.

He sets the tone and they seem to follow and they're going to have to get the Cam Wood tonight.

North Gwinnett Bulldogs and the Carrollton Trojans, they're meeting for the first time ever for a spot in the 2025 state championship game.

The third member of our team is Cody Chaffins.

Down on the sideline.

Yeah, Matt, I think Ric Flair said it best to be the man.

You got to beat the man.

Well, Carrollton beat the man last week, taking down the nation's number 1 team in Grayson.

And now they are the man ranked number 1 in this week's MaxPreps polls.

Trojan coach Joey King said he started yelling at this team on Sunday.

He's been hard on him all week trying to keep them humble and hungry.

On the other side, Eric Godfree says he and the North Gwinnett Bulldogs are embracing this underdog role.

He said he brought up to his team a dozen times over the last few years, that North Gwinnett was picked by the computers to lose a game, and they went on to win it.

Just trying to prove to his team they've done it before and they can do it again.

Winner tonight moves on to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the 6-A championship game coming up in a couple of weeks.

There are a lot of other teams trying to be Ben's bound by the end of the night.

Our John Nelson and Nikki Palmer are back in our GPB studios, keeping an eye on it all.

That's right Cody, we're going to find out the teams that are bound for the Bens.

But first you guys are going to have to go through us, Nick and Nelly here, we're going to be holding it down right here in Midtown at our GPB studios for our halftime show.

We're going to keep you updated with all the other scores going on in the state tonight.

As teams get one game closer to play for a state title.

Fellowship with an early lead Carver Columbus has been scored on late first quarter Burke County on the board.

Do we get some Cinderellas tonight or do we get some limousine riding jet plane flying, kiss stealin, wheelin dealin, son of a guns making their way to the bends.

We'll have our answers at Grisham Stadium.

Let's send it back to Matt, Wayne and Cody for a big matchup.

Top ten.

And we are just moments away from the opening kickoff here on GPB.

Please go to our QR code here and pick the winner of tonight's game between the North Gwinnett Bulldogs and the Carrollton Trojans.

So North Gwinnett Wayne won the opening toss.

They elected to defer to the second half.

That means we will see the Carrollton Trojans on offense to start this game.

Yeah, interesting to give Carrollton this ball.

The high powered offense they put out on the field.

North Gwinnett Gist has in this first half.

Keep everything, man.

All the ships and keep this game tight going into the second half.

The opening kickoff is brought to you by Heads up Georgia.

Park your phone while you're driving.

It saves lives.

A little pop up kick is going to be fielded at the 36 yard line.

So rather than kick to Rontre Welch, who leads the state in return yards, they give the ball up at the 36 here.

And that's where Carrollton starts on offense.

I don't think Rontre Welch will be getting any action here tonight.

He's that kind of dangerous.

Maybe the best in the state now.

This high powered offense with CJ Cypher is about to take the field.

There he is.

Number 7.

He's a freshman 61, one 89th grader, starting quarterback with 16 offers.

Already including Nebraska and Miami.

You can just imagine what his recruiting will look like when he's a senior.

Yeah, he is very mature.

He has a great arm, can get the ball deep down the field, and he also does a great job in the pocket.

Moving around to complete passes.

Going to hand off to Cam Wood to start the game.

And Wood bounces it outside and gets around CJ Davis and picks up the first down with an 11 yard pickup on his first carry of the game.

This young man is just so explosive.

Elusive right here.

The footwork, the jump cut to get to the outside.

Bouncing it just a little zone.

Pull right there to kick out block with Miller.

And then he finishes all the runs as Cam Wood.

He is number three in 6-A with just under 1,400 yards rushing for the season.

Going to fake the handoff to him this time and pass the ball to Mosley and Ryan Mosley, who signed with the Georgia Bulldogs on Wednesday, picks up the first down at the 42 yard line.

Let's take a look at the impact players when the Trojans are on offense is brought to you by Breda Pest Management.

Dynamic duo Zachery and Moses.

Big physical receiver and Mosley dynamic slot receiver in Zachery, Coxwell and Robinson.

Defensively Ethan Robinson all over the field and Coxwell their main pass rusher.

He can get big penetration in the backfield.

Peyton Zachary gets the handoff and Zachery trying to get around the edge and run out of bounds at the 40 yard line.

Remember, Breda Pest Management is the official pest control of high school football.

Great job of stringing that to the sideline by North Gwinnett the speed of Carrollton sometimes surprises you when you talk about Mosley Zachery and you throw wood in there.

That was Harrison Johansen the safety who ran him down after just a 1 yard gain.

Zachery in motion now behind the line.

Handoff goes to Cam.

Wood looking for a lane to run in and finds it and he gets to the 35 yard line.

Bryson Ford the corner made the stop tonight.

Starters are delivered by Johnny's New York style pizza.

Your original neighborhood pizzeria and the Trojans up front.

Helton Wells, Sheffield Ball and Fielder and the back Cam Wood and the wide receiver Zachery Mosley and Welch.

And the tight end is Miller and the offense is averaging 47.5 points per game this season.

Great offensive line up front, good pass protecting O-line.

Cypher to the air.

Throws high throw and Miller cannot come up with it.

Got broken up by Johansen.

Nice job right there.

Trying to go up and bring that down.

Is Miller.

As he came down to hit the turf, the ball just came out of his hand.

Guice right there.

Andrew Guice on the coverage.

The Yale commit.

Yale committed.

Yale signee signed with the Bulldogs Yale Bulldogs on Wednesday.

Carrollton keeping the offense on the field fourth and makeable right here.

Watch CJ Cypher the young man not known for moving and running, but in this down and distance, always a threat.

Fourth down and two Cypher going to pass.

It fires and it's caught for the first down.

Ryan Mosley out of bounds at the 19 yard line.

Second catch of the game for Mosley already.

Always great to have this kind of protection to survey the field by KJ Cypher.

Great job.

Long developing route there.

By Mosley.

These two receivers.

So great catching the ball in tight spaces.

Mosley the four star rated as high as the 17 wide receiver in the country and catch by Miller across the middle.

And he gets jacked up by Johansen or make that Gist.

Andrew Gist made the tackle right there.

Cypher nice job taking that hit.

As you can see, Miller paid the price right there.

He's down.

Great find on a little slant route across the middle.

Ball gets with the big hit there, making him pay the price to pick up that yardage.

Second down and two from the 11 yard line.

Eric Godfree talking about that offensive line for the Trojans, he said that's really been the key to their offense as he looks at that team from a defensive perspective.

Yeah, this offensive line very capable of getting outside their big bodies.

They're experienced up front.

When you look at it, it's four seniors right there having to get Miller off the field.

White hat calling for someone to bring him off the sideline.

He paid the price for that.

That catch right there.

He's still laboring a little bit.

So that was a brief time-out to get the sophomore wide receiver slash tight end Keaires Miller off the field.

He has five offers, including Georgia Southern and Georgia State.

Second down.

Handoff goes to wood being pursued and woods going to get down to the nine yard line.

And no more than that tackled by Robinson the linebacker the money linebacker.

As we take a look at the starters delivered by Johnny's New York style pizza Coxwell, Benemon, Glass and Autry up front, Robinson, who just made the tackle from that money linebacker spot, Godfree and Mazone on that second line and in the secondary, Ford, Gist, Johansen and Davis, who signed with Southern Miss on Wednesday.

Big boy package here for Carrollton big bodies where they put Helton over at tight end.

It's first and goal to go right up the middle.

Touchdown Cam Wood 32nd touchdown of the season.

This heavy formation has paid big dividends for Carrollton.

Zykie Helton moves over to that tight end spot 52 right there.

Look at the block right there on the edge on Autry.

And then just no chance there for Ford.

When you take on a guy like Cam Wood in that situation, just hard to tackle.

Plays with great leverage, runs behind his pads.

Just an outstanding senior year.

Looks like they've lined up to go for two right here.

Zachery out of the Wildcat shotgun is going to try to find his way into the end zone, and he does not gets denied.

So the two point conversion fails and it's a 6-0 lead for the Trojans.

But an impressive opening drive for Carrollton as Cam Wood takes it in for his 32nd touchdown.

He's number 2 in 6-A in total touchdowns.

Football Fridays in Georgia is presented by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, reminding you to park your phone while driving.

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Heads up, Georgia.

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

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Three welcome back to Grisham Stadium in Carrollton, where the Trojans have scored early, taking an early lead.

They've also scored with a $1,500 donation from our friends at Cigna Healthcare here with Elizabeth Sanders, the athletic director here at Carrollton.

What a night.

That's right.

Thank you so much.

We're so thankful for GPB, and it's a great night to be a Carrollton Trojan.

It is a great atmosphere here.

We got the cheerleaders all in their Santa hats.

And how about this gift from Cigna Healthcare?

All right.

Thank you.

Cody.

Nine plays, 64 yards on the DBHDD.

The new red ribbon 365.

Curriculum scoring drive for the Trojans.

Nice solid drive.

A little curious about going for the two points right there.

A balanced drive, a mixture on the outside throwing the ball and then Cam Wood running between the tackles.

Interesting call on that first drive.

Kind of took a little air of going on that first drive and getting the touchdown, missing that two point conversion.

But an explosive offense.

Interesting call that North Gwinnett Wilson Taylor Jr.

Decided to take the ball in the second half and give it to Carrollton off the bat, because you feel like this offense is in a groove here, especially in the last six or seven games.

Especially when you got Julian Vargas on for Pats.

He's money.

He's one of the top kickers in the entire state.

He had made 64 out of 68 this year, so obviously they must have seen something there in the defensive linemen thought they could sneak a two out of there kicks.

Going to come down at the 1 yard line and taken by Jackson, Christian Jackson comes straight forward and tackled at the 19 yard line.

And that's where we see the North Gwinnett Bulldogs going offense for the first time tonight, averaging right at 39 points per game, about 199 per game on the ground and 185 through the air.

So a very balanced attack for this Bulldogs team that up until the last couple of weeks they had not had a game decided by less than 14 points.

But the last two games in the playoffs against last week, West Forsyth, the week before Lowndes, which we saw in person, they won by an average of 11.

Efficient offense don't beat themselves between the two quarterbacks.

Only three interceptions on the season can they establish the run up front with Wilson, Taylor and Stephen Brown.

Stephen Brown gets the first handoff and Brown's going to struggle to pick up about a yard to the 20 yard line.

Kalil Mazone, who's been their leading rusher all season long, turned his ankle in the West Forsyth quarterfinal win last week, and so they probably will not be using him as much on offense tonight, probably more so on defense.

In the last couple of games with Stephen Brown.

The young sophomore has paid off.

He's their leading rusher.

He's a big up and coming guy.

But you can see right there Mazone in the game early testing out that ankle.

Yep.

There he is lined up next to Rahman.

And Rahman going to throw it instead.

And it's complete to the 25 yard line.

As he squeezed it into tight space to Evan Hawkins, who makes his 44th catch of the year.

As we take a look at the impact players brought to you by Breda Pest Management with the Bulldogs.

Have the ball.

Big play.

Bray five receptions, 164 last week Zach Lewis, physical tackle also gets over there on defense.

And for Carrollton Caden Spratling the splash three star Memphis always on a play and Jay Hagan gets a missile coming out of that secondary physical against the run as Jay Hagan.

Spratling splat.

You number 34 lined up on the near edge right here.

As you look at the field.

And he comes in there hard and broken up.

Huge play coming downhill.

And that was Jermichael Simmons the safety who flattened the ball catcher.

And it's going to be fourth down.

Just a great job by Simmons running through the block right there.

Just not going to be blocked by Max Patterson.

The big tight end running through his 511200 senior physical hitter right there to break up on that third down.

So it's going to be fourth down a three.

And out here for the Bulldogs.

And they're in a punting situation.

Number 20.

And CJ Davis their three star cornerback is their punter.

Ever since Liam Hughey suffered a collarbone fracture late in the season.

But he's a pretty good punter.

High snap.

He goes and gets it and gets it out of there.

A line drive kick that's returnable from the 48.

This could be trouble for the Bulldogs.

Zachery coming this way and steps out of bounds at the 30 yard line.

And Carrollton has great field position for their second possession.

And you see there with the inexperience at punter and not having a front line punter.

Just a position player.

The line drive kick set him up for a great.

Return line drive.

Always the worst, allows the return man to get the ball in his hands quick, and when you give it to a guy like Peyton Zachary downhill, as you can see, just so much speed.

But this is how Carrollton beats you.

Complementary football offense score defense three and out.

Now we have Mason Hotlzclaw in their two quarterback system.

These quarterbacks all night long will rotate each and every drive.

The 63, 195 senior, who has 19 offers himself, did not sign on Wednesday, will not sign until the later signing period on that first Wednesday of February.

Penalty goes against the Trojans as Ken Clampett is our referee tonight.

There's a look at the rest of the officiating crew working this 6-A semifinal.

False start out there on the edge with Ryan Mosley Coach King very confident on a mission.

When you talk to him, he's not worried about a ranking.

He's trying to win a state championship in the state of Georgia.

So first and 15 now ball at the 36 yard line.

And Hotlzclaw is going to take a big loss back at the 49 yard line.

As Gist got in there was not fooled on the play.

Nice job.

As you could see showing blitz out on the edge right here.

You want if you're Mason Hotlzclaw you got to read this and hand this ball off.

Just nowhere to get to on the outside right there as Gibbs comes downhill and makes a big play.

Big time play by Andrew Gist.

As we mentioned, he signed with Yale over seven total offers 97 total tackles on the season.

With seven TfL and a pick six.

Yeah, great tackle and play off.

The edge really is coming on.

Great upside.

Hotlzclaw throwing a screen pass here to Wood Wood with some open room and breaks through a couple of tackles and gets down to the 30 yard line.

Got most of it.

Back to the original line of scrimmage.

This is all Cam Wood right here.

Watch how he has to go down to the turf and catch this ball.

Little screen, a lot of room in front of him.

Great hands, balance and then the ability elusiveness as you can see run through tackles running through people's chests is Cam Wood.

Told me before the game.

He benches 360 and squats 580.

Very strong and he shows you he's that kind of explosive player out on the field.

Third down and ten ball sitting at the 31.

He's going to get the handoff again and bash through the hole and get close to the first down.

Gist made the tackle holding on for dear life.

And Wood got the first down.

Great job on that left side with Wells and Helton Gist zone read blocking to the outside and watch how Cam Wood explodes.

Once he sees the hole right there.

He understands the down and distance.

That's not the typical down and distance you run that kind of play.

Third and ten, but a great job accelerating through the hole.

Hotlzclaw on the quarterback run gets to making the tackle at the 13 yard line.

And this is where switching quarterbacks.

If you're North Gwinnett, you got to pay attention to who's in the game.

And this situation CJ Cypher more likely to throw the ball.

Mason Hotlzclaw he's more of a dual threat quarterback.

He's going to run and they're going to run those kind of plays.

When he's in there.

He's taking official visits to East Carolina, Charlotte and South Alabama.

Among his 19 offers.

Second down Hotlzclaw going to run it again and pick up the first down and more.

And he's going to get into the end zone for the Carrollton.

Touchdown Hotlzclaw.

13 yard touchdown run for Hotlzclaw.

And the Trojans have a 12-0 lead.

Matt.

Player recognition has to be key.

When you take on Carrollton right here.

These are the kind of plays that CJ Cypher does not run right here.

Good pull there by Mateo Wells.

Good block on the edge by Cam Wood Mason Hotlzclaw showing you the athletic ability there.

Stumbled but kept his balance.

The big body 6′3″, 195.

Getting into the end zone.

They'll go for the single point right here.

As Vargas is on the kick.

And Chase Fortner is the holder here.

Kolton Messer is the snapper.

They get it back and the kick is up and the kick is perfect.

And a 13-0 lead for Carrollton.

They are off to a tremendous start, but don't go anywhere.

This is kind of what the script was last week when Grayson jumped out to the big lead and Carrollton came back.

We'll see what happens.

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Tonight's game is brought to you by Breda Pest Management with Breda.

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Let's send it down to Cody.

Yeah, we've got a matchup.

A couple of future Georgia Bulldog teammates.

Zach Lewis on the North Gwinnett side against Zykie Helton on the Carrollton side.

These two will play both on offensive line and defensive line tonight.

We'll watch those 75-52 matching up.

I talked to Zykie Helton about playing against Zach Lewis this week and he said, I don't want to say anything on the record about it.

He said the two met at a Georgia recruiting visit a couple of weeks ago, and Lewis told him, if y'all beat Grayson, we'll see you and take on Carrollton.

And he said, we beat Grayson.

So here we are right now.

It should be fun to watch these pair of future centers face off here tonight.

Yeah.

Cody, I was admiring Zach's war paint.

I told him I liked it down there.

His whole face is blacked out.

And, of course, there's another Georgia Bulldog signee in this game, Ryan Mosley.

The four star wide receiver.

So we actually have three Georgia Bulldogs signees playing in this game tonight.

Of course, National Signing Day was two days ago.

They've moved it up from a couple of years ago where it used to be right before Christmas.

So a couple of years ago they moved it to the first Wednesday.

I think this is actually the second year in a row.

We've had it the first Wednesday of December, kick return by Jackson.

Nice return and Jackson all the way up to the 46 yard line.

Let's see if that gets North Gwinnett started on offense as we take a look at the DBHDD new red ribbon 365 curriculum scoring drive for the Trojans, and it was a short drive set up by that punt return by Peyton Zachary.

Five plays, 31 yards, 36 yards.

Impressive drive right there.

Switching quarterbacks.

Still being able to go behind that offensive line and run the ball with a couple of quarterback draws with Hotlzclaw.

But this North Gwinnett team you feel like the special teams are going to have to get him some yards.

You feel like the defense is going to have to get a couple of turnovers, but the offense here has to get in the groove and be able to make some first down yardage.

Rahman goes to Braylon Jackson and Jackson with a big pickup down to the 46 yard line.

This Kidd Braylon Jackson is highly Under-recruited.

6′1″, 195 the senior coming to the game with 40-5 receptions, eight touchdowns right out here.

Big body, nice job.

Elusive physical.

Making the stop.

That's an attitude play right there by the star receiver Jackson.

He has one offer UT Martin.

They were hoping he would pick up another one this week.

Obviously he will not sign until the second signing period.

So these two games right here this game tonight, if they can win the state championship game next week.

Big for him individually from a recruiting standpoint.

Run by Rahman he gets submarine tackled by Boyd.

The corner as we take a look at the starters there delivered by Johnny's New York style pizza.

Your original neighborhood pizzeria for the Bulldogs up front.

Jones O'Dell, Bayer Torres and Lewis.

The Georgia signee and the back starting back tonight with Stephen Brown with Jackson Hawkins and Jackson.

Braylon and Christian and Max Patterson, the massive 66, 245 tight end.

He is already NFL height.

He's going to fill out a little bit more, but that's hard to believe.

At 2:45, he's going to fill out more.

He's going to be massive.

He might be an offensive tackle one day.

He's broken up over here by Simmons as they tried to get the ball to Taran.

Dangerous throw right there.

Kidd playing underneath here.

Throwing this ball.

Double coverage out on the edge is Rahman tight coverage.

He's able to get it in there.

Trojans.

Those are the kind of throws and plays he's he's he's doing now.

He's playing with a lot of confidence.

He has belief in his arm.

Big third down here to keep this drive alive.

Where is Zykie Helton.

As you can see now he's on top of Zack Lewis over there.

But that's the guy you have to block in these situations.

That's a good one to watch.

The ball is incomplete.

Trying to go to Brown and Brown couldn't do anything right there and it's going to be fourth down.

Let's see if they keep the offense out there.

On Stephen Brown.

Looks like they're going to keep the offense on the field.

A little screen on the backside here to Stephen Brown just a little high on the throw.

Great job by Kaden Spratling going up forcing him to throw the ball over him.

So fourth down and five.

They're going for it.

Line to gains the 36.

Stephen Brown that sophomore running back who has been their leading rusher these last two games in the playoffs.

And they're really looking forward to him these next two years.

Having big seasons in the Bulldog uniform.

The time-out is going to be called.

Deep into the play.

Call out North Gwinnett their first charge time out of the half.

Just not able to get the play call soon enough to get the operation going.

Dangerous situation right here.

But you feel like if you Coach Godfree after watching those first two drives of Carrollton, this is a safe Gamble you're going to have to go out.

And when you cross that 50 yard line, take some chances.

Well, North Gwinnett had five players signed on Wednesday.

National Signing Day Zachary Lewis with the Georgia Bulldogs, Chauncey CJ Davis with Southern Miss Connor Coxwell ended up signing with Kennesaw State.

And they feel like that's going to be a really good fit for him.

Kennesaw state right now playing in the conference USA Championship game and leading Jacksonville State.

And then Andrew Gist signed with Yale and Kalil Mazone signed with Army.

Yeah, always.

Such a big thing when you sign with a team like Army had a chance to call one of their games one time and always a proudful team that shows first class operation and tells you the kind of person that Malzahn is.

So it's fourth down and five.

They keep the offense out there again.

Mazone on the rollout to his right.

Heavy rush gets it out of there.

Going to Patterson incomplete.

Jay Hagan once again coming this time off of the edge.

Playing in the backfield right there.

First down Trojans.

Excuse me, is that Shem Mcmillan?

Excuse me.

Mcmillan.

Yeah.

Mcmillan the star coming off that edge playing in the backfield.

A lot of pressure on Rahman trying to get the ball out to the big tight end.

And now once again this defense has to start making some plays.

Force third and long and try to slow up this rush game of Carrollton.

So first and ten is Carrollton goes back on offense for the third time and Cypher back in their quarterback handoff goes to Cam Wood and Cam Wood batters his way forward for a couple of yards on the play.

That was Gaston on the tackle again.

Even blew up one of his offensive linemen.

He doesn't care if you're in the way he's running over.

He attacks the line of scrimmage.

He swears his shoulders.

And the thing about him with his height, sometimes that height is something that confuses the defense.

He hides behind those big linemen and they can't find him until he's running into their chest.

So second down ball at the 45 yard line.

Wood gets the handoff going to the left this time.

Gets to the outside if he can, but Jake Godfree gets his Mitchell on him and drags him down at the 50.

Great play here by Godfree this maybe a touchdown saving tackle?

Beau Ball doing a good job blocking on Godfree.

Just able to get a hand on that leg.

Watch ten.

He's he's beaming down trying to get there.

Right there.

If he doesn't make that tackle with the ability of Wood out in open space and the speed we know he has, that could be a touchdown.

He runs a ten, seven, 100.

It was on full display on a 69 yard touchdown run against Grayson last week.

Kind of got them jumpstarted after they fell behind 14 to nothing.

Wood gets a couple of yards and that should be good for the first down.

Yep.

He's going to have the first down at the 48.

This is where this Carrollton team impresses me.

They're so balanced they can run between the tackles.

Cam Wood is a complete back.

He's an every down back as he can show you right there.

Able to short yardage.

Always a weapon.

Keep those legs driving as Wood.

It's a great story.

He was JV last year.

Stood on the sideline and watched.

Pass is thrown complete to Zachery.

He turns and tries to get to the sideline and falls forward.

Flag is out.

Ford made the tackle.

Let's check the flag.

Zachary on the play.

Picks up the first down.

Let's see if it stands.

Right there.

It looked like maybe they were going to get a holding here on Welch.

From our angle.

Looks like the run holding offense 10 yards from the spot of the foul.

Still first down.

Rontre Welch out there.

Stark blocking.

Looks like he had his hands inside.

He did let go there late.

Great play call there by Dusty Phillips, offensive coordinator.

Whenever you can get the ball to Peyton Zachary out in space.

Also dangerous.

That pushes it back to the 48 we can.

They don't tell us who the penalty's on in high school, but you can surmise that it was on Welch who was out there blocking on the receiver because only a ten yard mark off takes it back to the original line of scrimmage.

So first and ten.

Quarterback run by Cypher and Godfree grabs him as he slides down at the 43 yard line.

Great job keeping the defense honest.

CJ Cypher right there, making the stop.

That's just one of those plays where Mason Hotlzclaw is in the game.

I got to make you respect that.

Also, both quarterbacks might run the ball right there.

As you can see CJ just picking up what he needed and getting down.

Final minute of the first quarter and a 13 to nothing lead for Carrollton in this 6-A semifinal.

And they're driving again.

Cypher wants to throw it.

He's looking deep.

Got Mosley out there.

And Mosley comes down with it.

But out of bounds.

What a catch by Mosley but could not keep the feet in fair territory.

Great battle there with Chauncey Davis Jr., the three star hitting the Southern Miss.

What a battle here.

As they work down the field.

27 didn't get his head around but able to use the sideline as a weapon and not give Mosley any ground to be able to catch that ball is Davis.

So they take the shot on second and five.

So now it's third and five.

Got to figure they're probably four down territory right here, right.

Where this offense is moving.

Cam Wood is a great call right here to give him the ball.

Instead, Cypher stands in the pocket.

They do go to Wood out here on the edge.

And Gist comes up and makes another huge tackle.

Gist has been all over the field tonight and it's going to be fourth down.

Luke is already paying dividends.

Pressure off the edge there by Ethan Robinson, but a great tackle in the open field against a top notch player.

10 seconds it's fourth down and they're going to go for it.

Let's see if they snap the ball here in this quarter.

They will not.

That's the end of the first quarter.

13-0 Carrollton on top trying to get to the state championship for a second consecutive year.

And Cam Wood already doing Cam Wood kind of things here tonight at Christian Stadium.

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As we head to the second quarter here at Grisham Stadium and Carrollton on top 13 to nothing.

As you take a look at the Carrollton signees, they had 11 sign on Wednesday.

Here's the top five.

This is by recruiting ranking.

And this is not a personal opinion, but top five Ryan Mosley to Georgia Dorian Barney to Ole Miss Zykie Helton to Georgia, CJ Gamble to Georgia Tech.

Caden Spratling to Memphis.

You can probably throw in Cam Wood as well as he signed with Liberty.

Great story.

I mean, this guy was nobody knew anything about him.

Forced into duty because of the unfortunate situation involving Kamari Farmer, and he has stepped up and been not only the next man up, but the star quarterback star running back in this program.

Yeah, you're talking about a young man that was on JV.

I hear a lot of guys that he's probably playing with.

Didn't even know him personally.

And has just come in and to me, he's been the glue the motor of this team.

Ball is fumbled and North Gwinnett has it.

And Zach Lewis covers it.

Maybe the break that North Gwinnett read it right there.

Number 75 Zach Lewis.

We just talked about him a few moments ago.

Sign with Georgia.

He recovers that fumble.

Just a mix up with the handoff.

Mason Hotlzclaw in on this drive right there.

Cam Wood.

Looks like Hotlzclaw thought Wood was going to take the ball.

Wood looked like he was going to block and give the ball there to Nick Archer and a break here for North Gwinnett that they have to capitalize on offensively.

That is just the tenth turnover for the Trojans on offense this season, and that is the 21st takeaway for North Gwinnett as they run a reverse and the ball coming to Christian Jackson and Jackson gets dragged down at the 43 yard line.

Now expect to see some trick plays.

That's the first little wrinkle razzle dazzle that we've seen from North Gwinnett tonight.

But they got a lot in their book.

The reverse action here, 76 Jacob Torres a little pull there on Spratling to spring Jackson to get on the edge.

But this team here, they're going to have to find a way to conquer this defense.

A little trickery early on in this drive, and they're going to have to capitalize, get some plays down the field as well.

So first and ten for the Bulldogs.

They have it at the Carrollton 43.

Mazone back in there at running back.

And he will not take the handoff.

Instead play action Rahman going up top and incomplete looking for Taran running on the far side.

So we take a look at the starters delivered by Johnny's New York style pizza for the Trojans on defense with Ackey, Carter and McLendon up front and Helton most of the time to Spratling, Gamble, Harris and Mcmillan on that second line.

And in the secondary you got Boyd, Simmons and Hagan.

Along with Barney, Hagan had a team high nine tackles last week against Grayson Simon, Charleston Southern on Wednesday.

Physical safety downhill, always moving towards the ball.

Second down Rahman throws nice.

No good.

Come up with it.

Trying to go to Evan Hawkins.

There 55, 140 pound Evan Hawkins with 40-3 catches on the year, nearly 700 yards receiving.

Trying to work on Dorian Barney.

Always a tough task.

The four stars headed to Ole Miss out there.

Six feet, 170 right now.

Carrollton keeping everything in front of him, not letting any of these white jerseys get behind him, forcing a third.

And long.

Did sign with Ole Miss on Wednesday despite the departure of Lane Kiffin.

And you know, coach King, said Dorian, his connection was with the defensive staff.

Of course Pete Golding got the job, so that really worked out well.

Double pass Patterson throwing downfield and it is going to be broken up.

What did I say about the tricks?

They got a lot of them in Todd Faulkner playbook and that was a double pass right there from Patterson broken up downfield.

Great job.

Aidan Rosemond not being fooled.

Staying on Braylon Jackson running step for step, giving up a lot of height right there.

Just being a knack.

Getting that left hand.

You can see the size difference.

But the best part about that is he did not get off his coverage.

He ran step for step, not looking in the backfield at the fake and was able to be there to break up that pass.

So fourth down now and ten.

And CJ Davis Chauncey Davis his dad Chauncey of course starred at Florida State.

Played with the Atlanta Falcons.

Seven years in the NFL.

And he's a cornerback.

His dad was the defensive end.

He's going to punt here.

Delay of game offense five-yard penalty.

Still fourth down.

The main thing you're going to want from C.J.

Davis right here is make sure you get some height on the ball.

Do not kick another line drive.

Yeah you can't kick this ball to line.

Drive to the dangerous return man.

Whether it's Welch or in this case here.

Peyton Zachary with their ability to make people miss and the speed they have.

Zachery does have 140 1 yard punt return touchdown on the season.

He's going to try to return.

This one breaks out of the first tackle, but not the second as he gets run down at the 17 18 yard line.

Looks like they're going to spot it at the 17.

And that's where the Trojans go back on offense.

Up 13 to nothing.

For the Bulldogs.

Peyton Zachary got a little off on that last drive.

Now let's see if CJ Cypher coming back out.

We saw the little switch on that fourth and short when they put Mason Hotlzclaw, but we see Cypher back in the game.

He's five for 740 8 yards passing so far tonight.

Getting the ball out quick.

Has a great arm.

And what a bright future as a freshman.

Looks to the far side and throws up top Mosley cannot come down with it.

Matched up with CJ, Davis and Eric Godfree told us that Davis would be blanketing Mosley all night.

What a challenge.

What a battle.

Step for step size as Davis 6′2″, 190 Mosley 6′2″, 210 Davis hasn't given up a touchdown in his three year career here.

Zachery breaks out.

That's going to be trouble for the Bulldogs.

Cuts back.

Zachery still on his feet.

He's like a human joystick all the way down to the 22 yard line.

The UNLV signee out in space.

We talk about how dangerous he is.

Little bubble screen.

Get the ball.

Great.

Block out on the edge by his receiver.

Makes good block down the field by Zykie Helton just a foot race between Guice and Zachery.

Great job of guys changing his angle.

Watch how Zachery Peyton Zachary pulls on the jersey to get by Guice right there.

So first and ten Cypher looking for the end zone firing.

It's caught inside the ten and that is Miller.

The tight end comes down with it.

It'll be first and goal to go for the Trojans.

It's Miller is going to be something 6′2″, 195 South Moore Keith Miller.

We saw earlier willing to pay the price to make a big catch and get a hit right there.

Great hands going up and just taking it out of the air.

But yeah they've had some great tight ends come through this Carrollton program as Cypher going to run it and score sees.

Pardon.

Just like the Red Sea.

And he goes right up there.

Sheffield Ball Wells inside quarterback draw once again putting points on the board for Carrollton.

This time it's CJ Cypher.

Hotlzclaw is more of the runner, but Cypher the freshman.

Very athletic.

Look at the blocks up front.

Nice combo block there between Sheffield Wells and Ball.

Just no one in the middle of the field to stop Cypher for the touchdown.

Vargas on for the p.a.t.

They get the snap down and the kick is up and good.

And it is 20 to nothing.

Carrollton has not been stopped tonight.

And North Gwinnett precious little on offense so far.

It's been all Carrollton so far in the 6-A semifinal.

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CJ Cypher just scored on that seven yard touchdown run, capping a four play, 83 yard drive.

Less than a minute.

Of course, the big play was the pass to Peyton Zachary.

That's brought to you by DBHDD new Red ribbon 365 curriculum.

And it's something that coach King offensive coordinator does.

Steve Phillips have seen on film?

You feel like the way they're running that quarterback draw here in this first half is something that North Gwinnett is giving up.

They're capitalizing with the quarterback run for Julian Vargas.

Back.

So Vargas is set to kick it off.

And North Gwinnett has got to get something going here on offense.

Put together a sustained drive and they will be starting from the 20 yard line as that ball goes deep into the end zone.

Here's a look at North Gwinnett.

Season summary 12-1 They've won 12 straight since losing to Douglas County in their opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The region seven champs and 7-0 beat West Forsyth in the quarters last week, 25 15.

This is their tenth consecutive playoff season in 21 of the last 22.

They're seeking their first state championship game since 2017, when they won it all for Colquitt County under head coach Bill Stewart, who's now on staff at Georgia Tech.

Todd Faulkner, offensive coordinator for the Bulldogs.

You feel like you got to establish the run a little more, be more patient.

Coach Godfree talked about.

When you take on Carrollton, you start just trying to live on the big play.

Can you establish the line of scrimmage with the run game?

Rahman slings it out to the outside.

It goes to Hawkins and Hawkins gets dropped right away.

Just about a 1 yard gain.

Spratling over there on that tackle.

You mentioned Todd Faulkner, his brother, in the news over the last 24 hours as Buster, the Georgia Tech OC, just took the job with the Florida Gators.

What a big job right there for Faulkner to take Gator Nation.

Want to get back on track?

They've been a revolving door similar to the team that I used to play for in college.

There's a lot of coaches, but a big moment for the Faulkner family taking that job.

Handoff goes to Stephen Brown and Brown moves the pile forward to the 24 yard line.

Going to bring up third down and long.

This is the down and distance.

The speed of Carrollton really shows up, especially on the back end with his secondary Dorian Barney Tyler Boyd Jay Hagan Simmons.

These guys tight coverage, a lot of athleticism and here can you keep and block Zykie Helton in this down and distance.

Empty backfield here for Rahman in the Bulldogs and nearly picked jumping the route and nearly picking it.

Did they know it's not going to be a catch there.

Zachary nearly picked it.

Ruling on the field.

Ball hit the ground.

And would have taken it back the other way.

And then on the follow through, like Hagan nearly had the interception.

Great instincts here.

By Peyton Zachary receiver instincts on defense, breaking on that ball, tipping it.

Willing to jump the route.

Watch how one right here he sees the tight end Patterson settling.

Come in and yeah yeah the ball hit the ground right there.

Good job there by Jay Hagan.

So Davis punting another line drive kick could be dangerous here.

Zachery takes it on the run now.

Spins and goes the other way.

Peyton Zachary goes down at the 47 yard line.

But here is Carrollton again, taking over on the plus side of the 50.

Once again, low hang time on that ball by Davis giving Zachery the ability to catch and survey the field.

Trying to make a big play.

But this offensive Carrollton this kind of field position, you imagine they're going to try to go up top here right off the bat.

And nobody thinks about the punter except maybe the punters parents.

Until you don't have the punter anymore.

And then it becomes a big concern, right?

Yeah.

The kicker is never needed until they're needed.

And in this situation you know, filling in, doing a good job, getting the ball off, but it's becoming a dangerous situation on those punts.

And now Hotlzclaw back in the game.

He's going to run it straight.

Quarterback draw right there.

Gets run down from behind by Andrew Gist who had seven tackles and a TfL in the first quarter alone.

Once again, another quarterback draw.

Now regardless of which quarterback in there seeing something defensively pulling a little power pull there by the right guard.

Ball following the blockers.

And really right there.

If Guice does not run that play down there's no defender back there that's not being blocked to stop Hotlzclaw.

Handoff goes to Wood.

He's got some room and Wood crashes down to the 27 yard line.

Close to the first down.

Godfree got in on that tackle.

A bunch of other guys did too, but it's going to be close to the first.

This is a great job.

Once again, being patient here by Cameron Wood.

Offense.

Five yard penalty from the previous spot.

First down.

Well that wipes out the first down run.

And you're right.

You don't want to get into a chess match with Joey King and his offensive staff.

Of course last week they were trying to run side to side against Grayson and we were like, what are they doing?

You can't do that against Grayson.

There was a method to the madness, he said.

We wanted to wear out their big linemen.

Yeah, you want to get out on the edge.

You wanted to.

Gas him and make those guys run to the numbers a couple of times, get them winded.

And as we start that second quarter, we saw Carrollton decide to run downhill and it was very effective.

So first and 15 following the penalty as the ball is back at the 42 yard line and now Joey King comes running out on the field, he wants a time-out.

Carrollton first time out of the half.

So they'll take that time-out with 8-0 nine to play here in the first half.

And what have you seen from Carrollton so far tonight?

Well, the one thing I've seen is that they're engaged.

Coming off a big win against the number 1 ranked team in a lot of polls last week against Grayson.

You know they have the talent, but can they come replug in and take a North Gwinnett team serious enough to hit the ground running.

And they have in this first half.

And you feel right now this game on this drive, if North Gwinnett doesn't do anything, it's going to get away from him.

You know, they don't really have the offense that's built to come back from a 27.

28 point score.

So they're going to have to do something right here on this drive to stop this Carrollton offense.

Well, Carrollton one of the true blue bloods in the state chasing history.

They're trying to win their first state championship since 1998.

They have seven all time state championships.

Eight times they've been the runner up, including last year.

And they're looking for that first state title since 1998.

35 region titles, ten plus wins and 28 of the last 37 seasons.

And this is their 27th all time semifinal appearance.

This is nothing new to them.

Will this be the year they finally get that elusive state title?

It's coming up on 30 years.

Cam Wood gets the handoff.

Miller the tight end out there blocking for him, and Connor Coxwell runs him down and drops him for the TfL.

That's his 30th TfL of the season.

Nice job Connor Coxwell playing out on Edge basketball player who's really still developing as a football player.

Signed with Kennesaw State, showing you the range and the speed to run the play from behind.

But Carrollton right there on that set of that play.

Just taking a long time to get that play in.

Hotlzclaw goes to the air and it's going to be caught by Welch, and he gets tackled by Robinson.

Hotlzclaw pass is complete.

It's going to be.

Long now.

Third down and long.

You mentioned Kennesaw State Connor Coxwell signing with the Owls on Wednesday.

They're leading the conference USA Championship game at halftime, leading Jacksonville State 7-0 Coxwell 65, 240.

Hagan on that Edge has a lot of upside to him.

And now forcing a third and long.

You got to get off the field if you're the Bulldogs.

Yeah.

Third and 15.

You cannot give up the first down here showing blitz Hotlzclaw stands in the pocket and fires downfield.

It's caught and out of bounds.

Mosley going to be short of the first down.

But that puts him in position to go for it.

And it looks like that's what Coach King is going to go for right there.

Enough on that down and distance to give him the idea of keeping his offense out on the field.

Good pick up on the blitz there by Wood.

As you can see, Robinson late dog.

The big fourth down here for the Bulldogs.

It's fourth and four.

This is huge.

Line to gain is the 27.

Got to watch Mason Hotlzclaw on the quarterback draw in this situation.

Hotlzclaw they pick up the blitz now they're coming after him.

He's being chased.

And Hotlzclaw is going to get the first down.

And more.

They came after him Gabe Autry had a shot at him but could not run him down.

And Hotlzclaw picks up the first down.

Good protection.

Nice job on that left side.

Illegal shift offense.

Two men moving without getting reset.

Five-Yard penalty still fourth down.

Well, that's a killer right there.

Because now a big decision for Carrollton Vargas can hit from this distance.

Do you go for three.

This would be a 53 yard kick.

We saw him nail a 47 yarder last week.

And very interesting on both illegal shifts.

No whistle to alert either side that really this is a dead play.

They're letting the play play out.

And you can see they're going to pretend the kicking unit out on the field.

I think this is going to be for a punt.

Now.

This is going to be for a field goal attempt.

This is going to be a 53 yard attempt for Julian Vargas.

This kid's really good.

He handles all of their kicking duties.

Julian Vargas.

So this is.

A 53 yard kick and it's coming from the left.

Hash.

They get the snap down.

The kick is on its way and it is going to be no good.

Just a little bit short.

He was on target but about a yard short.

Good operation snap whole.

Just a yard short.

But what a weapon.

And what confidence for his coach to send him out there for a 53 yarder.

And he was darn close.

Look at that from the end zone camera.

You can see how close he was I think nearly nicked the crossbar on its way down.

52.5 right there.

Just a little short.

But for high school level football to even have the confidence of your coach to let you try that down and that distance right there, and a great stop for North Gwinnett to get off the field.

And of course, the beauty of that in high school football for the kicking team is the ball comes to the 20, not the spot where they kick the ball from like it does in the NFL.

So it's almost like a punt into the end zone.

Banks Halcomb now in their quarterback looking for a spark, and Halcomb is going to be dragged down at the 22 yard line as Jay Hagan comes up from his safety spot to corral Halcomb.

Keeps the ball Jay Hagan.

Hagan just quick to the ball.

Get downhill getting into the legs.

Halcomb in 6′3″, 180, giving up some size right there.

Nice tackle, little change of pace, setting Halcomb into the game.

And Ramon's back in there now.

And this offense established the line of scrimmage.

Get some run.

Take a little pressure off of running.

Having to make big plays.

Throwing.

As you can see Mazone in there at running back.

Yeah they have not run him.

And that's going to be a quarterback sack.

Wow.

And that was Shem Mcmillan I think was that three.

It was Mcmillan just blasted right through Mazone and made the quarterback sack.

Mcmillan coming with the pressure just too late right there.

By Mazone to pick him up.

Read it late.

When you see a corner or safety coming and that's your pickup, you got to get off the fake and go pick him up right there.

Still trying to carry out the fake.

Good job.

By Mcmillan pushing him and getting the sack.

Now Mazone is a great player, but he rolled his ankle last week against West Forsyth.

We've not seen him run the ball here tonight.

They basically just had him in for pass broke.

He looks like he's limited.

And the ball falls incomplete.

Going to Patterson.

Wow.

North Gwinnett could not get anything going here on offense.

Incomplete.

Great job by the Trojans.

Forcing another third and long just putting this Gwinnett offense in a situation that they're not really built on.

Lucky right there.

That ball went.

It almost looked like a backwards pass right there.

Wasn't sure where he threw that ball from.

But a. Three and out to get off the field for Carrollton.

You cannot kick it to Zachery right here.

He gets it out of there and Zachery will not have a chance to field this one.

It does take a bounce.

So in that regard it was effective.

It rolls across the 50 and finally down at the 47.

And that's where the Trojans will go back on offense when we get back Carrollton on top in the 6-A semifinal 20 to nothing.

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Matt Stewart Wayne Gandy with you upstairs and Cody Chaffins down on the sideline.

Having spent some time on the North Gwinnett sideline, nobody's flipping tables.

Nobody's freaking out over there, although they're probably a little frustrated here.

I asked Eric Godfree this week, how do you coach resilience into your team?

He cited resilience in their win over West Forsyth last week.

He said it starts with the weight room.

It starts with everything they do, all of those practices, all of those weight room sessions.

So we'll see if they can show a little resilience here.

Down 20 to nothing.

Trying to keep Carrollton out of the end zone one more time.

They need it right now.

Down three touchdowns.

They're going to have to make some plays, get some negative plays and hope get a turnover on this this Carrollton offense really the only thing that's holding them back the last couple of drops, it has some penalties.

It took some big plays off the board.

But right here with 4-53 left they have to keep them out of the end zone and keep this game at half at least 20-0 And off goes to Wood.

And Robinson meets him right there in the hole.

And Ford comes up to help.

And Godfree is there too.

So short gain for Wood on that play.

Nice job Ethan Robinson the senior.

Just a great high school football player, willing to the passion and heart of this team.

Godfree is the guy that sets the tempo and Ethan Robinson is right there.

Second on the team.

Came into the game with 102 tackles for most teams.

That's the leading tackler.

He just playing with Jake Godfree.

Yeah.

Been offered by Rhinehart.

He did not sign on Wednesday.

We'll see how his recruiting goes from here on that here on out Zachery in motion.

Cypher looking in his direction and throwing downfield and Gist in the coverage is blanketing Zachery step for.

Step pass was intended.

Just playing at a different level tonight.

Andruw Gist running step for step really late Zachery finding that ball CJ Cypher not hitting key Miller right there on that underneath route.

Trying to go for the big play down the field to Zachery.

Gist is playing at a different level right now.

As you mentioned, eight total tackles and one TfL.

It's going to be third down and ten.

Our quarterback.

Cypher dumps it off for wood.

Wood's got blockers out there.

Has the first down and more.

What a great job of blocking by the Trojans out here on the edge.

And wood picks up a big first down.

Great job by the offensive line in the screen game tonight.

Wells Bo bo Ball watch 58 53 leak out late.

And then the patience right here.

Setting up the block.

The footwork to get back into that lane by wood.

Yeah, both those guys signed on Wednesday Ball with Sanford and Wells with Anderson University.

Cypher up top for Mosley.

Incomplete back of the end zone.

Lot of hand fighting.

What a battle that has been already between two Division one signees.

Johnson Davis trying to end his career with no touchdowns given up and challenging him is Ryan Mosley.

That doesn't even sound real.

It sounds like a myth, doesn't it?

Yeah, he's going to be telling that story.

You know.

It'll get it'll be from sixth grade in about ten years.

But being having a chance played with his father for two years with the Falcons, some great pedigree.

Chauncey Davis senior great athlete playing D lineman.

Wood right up the middle.

A gaping hole cuts to the outside with that speed and scores the touchdown for the Trojans.

And it's 26 to nothing.

How many times have we seen cam Wood do exactly that this season?

Becoming a Trojan legend in one season?

The ability, the vision, the cut right here, the blocking by the offensive line.

Nice job there with the kick up block.

Kickout block there by Fielder and then the speed the Jets outrunning Chauncey Davis right there down the sideline in a foot race.

So much speed.

So explosive is Cam.

Wood I. Think he shocks everybody when he gets out in the open like that.

And Vargas with the p-a-t puts it through to make it 27 to nothing.

His speed just shocks everybody when he gets out in the open like that.

I can't wait to see him play at Liberty.

Yeah he's just an exciting player.

The story, the offensive line, the kickout block right there by Fielder and then the speed right here.

Watch how he turns on the jets.

He makes it a foot race.

He starts where Davis can't even get a hand on him.

The vision the cut ability.

Seeing the field working the blocks Cam with the Liberty commit.

Just a story that even as an old timer, you just embrace and cheer for this young man.

Third time watching him play and he's as good of a performer as we've seen offensively this year.

No matter where we've been.

83 yards rushing tonight.

He is well on his way.

That's right.

Big smile.

Well on his way to his sixth consecutive 100 yard rushing.

It's been fun to watch.

Unless of course you're the.

Opposing team.

Then he's not fun at all.

Vargas kicks it into the end zone.

North Gwinnett going to have to bring it out to the 20.

North Gwinnett trying to get back to the state championship game for the first time since 2017, when they won it all for the first time and only time ever, twice more.

They've been state runners up, 12 region titles, four consecutive 3-1 all time in the semifinals, and this is their first semifinal since 2019, when they got knocked out by Lowndes.

That Lowndes team would go on to lose to Marietta in the state championship game that season.

Rahman nothing doing in the run game and bounce outside, and Stephen Brown tried to make something out of nothing and got maybe a yard on the play.

They just have not been able to run the ball at all.

North Gwinnett has 14 yards rushing in the game prior to that run.

Right there.

Great job getting down here.

Jahmir Harris the linebacker filling the hole, not giving Brown anywhere to go.

And you really feel like in this set of downs, North Gwinnett they've got to eat up this clock.

You can't have a three and out and then give Carrollton this ball back here with any time left.

They have two time-outs.

Stick around.

Coming up at halftime, Nicky and John in the studios will get you updated on all the scores around the state on this semifinal Friday night.

And Evan Hawkins picks up the first down with the catch and run.

Robins Pass.

That is just the third.

First down for North Gwinnett in this game.

Carrollton has 12.

And a big first down to give him another set of downs.

They have to end this half with points, or at least possessing the ball.

They can't give this high powered offense another chance here.

Movement on the line.

I agree with you.

Going forward.

They're down four possessions right now.

False start four touchdowns.

Offense five-yard penalty still first down.

Even if they don't score right here they've got to possess the ball to the end of the half.

They're going to get the ball to start the third quarter.

And then in the second half they're going to have to steal some possessions.

Yeah they're going to have to be able to get some turnovers defensively.

Something in the kicking game as a returner.

Something big that the offense is not providing is going to have to happen for them.

It's very much in their wheelhouse.

They have 29 takeaways this season, including a fumble recovery already here tonight.

Rahman to the air incomplete.

Going to Taran.

There is a flag down at the 43 yard line.

Might have pass interference right here.

Ryan Taran incomplete.

Coverage Aidan Rosemond young sophomore stepped in and got a good job at corner tonight.

Giving up a lot of height.

Pass interference defense 15 yard penalty results in a first down.

So maybe that's a little spark there for North Gwinnett.

Trying to work the ball out on the edge to Christian Jackson.

Feeling that Rosemond got there a little early.

They've been able to get the ball to Braylon Jackson just once in this game.

They need to try to get the ball to him a little bit more.

Showing blitz once again off of that slot.

Shem Mcmillan got to pick him up in this situation, changing the play.

Rahman to the other side and it's complete to Jackson, Christian Jackson with the catch.

Pass complete to number 0.

Now this.

Trojan defense is kind of made North Gwinnett one dimensional.

They're just getting quick passes out on the edge trying to work the ball down the field.

Second down.

Stephen Brown stays in the game at running back.

I know Coach Eric Godfree.

His hope was that the adrenaline would get flowing and the ankle would loosen up for Kalil Mazone, but that does not seem to be the case.

Brown gets hit in the backfield and dropped right away.

Mcmillan making that Simmons comes up from his safety position to make the tackle.

Nice job.

Jermichael Simmons Keontay Kidd pardon me, it was 16, not 18.

Big time penetration.

Getting into the backfield again.

Third and short here on Rahman being able to make something with his his his legs.

See if they can get the ball to Patterson here.

Instead they go to Jackson and gets broken up by Boyd Tyler Boyd, the sophomore corner already has 12 offers.

They expect big things from him going forward in the future.

That's a big pbu right there.

Coming with the pressure.

Late dog having to get the ball, the left hander and a good job right there by Boyd being able to come from behind without pass interference.

So fourth down, punting situation still 2 minutes left in the half.

That's more than enough time for the Trojans to score.

Again.

Peyton Zachary Eric Godfree team in some trouble right now.

This is just the second semifinal appearance for him in his 22 year career.

One of the really good guys, great guys to work with every Friday night.

Punt got it out of there.

They kick it away from Zachary, which is the smart thing to do, and it's going to keep rolling inside the ten all the way inside the five.

Wow.

Whatever he did, he needs to do that again.

Big break here for North Gwinnett getting a roll.

And now how aggressive will Carrollton be now inside their own five.

You kind of felt like if they got the ball up around the 25 with the time and the time-outs, they would be very aggressive.

Here.

It's all about how this first and second down go for them, how much yardage they're able to pick up will put them in the mode of how aggressive to stay.

Chauncey CJ he goes by CJ, his dad Chauncey has the same name as his dad, but he goes by CJ.

Signed with Southern Miss over 22 total offers on Wednesday.

Consensus three star cornerback, 43 tackles on the season and a three year starter.

He's really good and he'll play for Trojans going to go play for coach Charles Huff in Hattiesburg.

Handoff goes to Wood and he gets swallowed up right away.

Robinson I think it was Robinson.

Number 0.

Cam Wood carries.

Actually that was Autry.

Gabe Autry made the tackle.

Keeping it on the ground.

The Wood.

And the only thing with that is you're giving it to a young man that has this kind of home run speed.

So you got to be able to get to him and get him on the ground, because he does have the speed right here to break one long.

You cannot let him get to the second level.

They give it to him and he breaks out of one tackle, breaks out a tackle, and then Johansen comes up there to make the stop.

And if you're North Gwinnett, every time he gets that second level breaks a tackle, your heart skips.

A beat.

Yeah, that's that short stature just bouncing off of his legs.

Watch out guys that get into his legs.

But he's so strong.

As you mentioned, squatting about 56580 right there young man on that that strong.

And as we laugh cut up like an action figure as he goes about.

Play action.

Cypher looking for the home run.

Looking for Zachery double covered.

Now 46 seconds left in the.

Half.

This Ryan Mosley coming underneath.

Running a post, trying to get the big play over the top.

Being aggressive as young CJ Cypher.

His target.

Zachery signed with UNLV on Wednesday.

The running Rebs are losing to Boise State in the Mountain West championship game.

Tonight.

It's 14-0 Is there a better time of the year with all this football?

No, it's just a great time.

So much on the line on all three levels now.

Championship game here at the Benz between Bama and Georgia tomorrow.

And Jake Godfree corrals Cam Wood and pulls him backwards after a short gain.

Might have been the final play of the half.

Let's see time-outs going to be called.

It looks like by North Gwinnett.

Maybe they want to try to get the ball back.

Time out.

Because it's third down.

Second charge, time out of the half.

Yeah.

If you coach Godfree right here, you got to be able to try to force a punt and see what happens.

At that point.

Maybe you get a nice return or at least a chance to throw the ball into the end zone.

You do have one time-out.

So you have the ability after this third and eight to call a time-out.

Final home game of the season for Carrollton.

They got the Christmas music playing.

They're 10-0 here at home this season they've won 19 in a row here at Grisham Stadium dating back to the 2023 quarterfinals when they got eliminated by Walton.

Walton would go on to lose to Milton in the state finals in an epic game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

And the winner of this game will play the winner of the Buford Valdosta game in the 6-A state championship game.

That state championship game has been moved from Wednesday to Tuesday.

They flip flop spots with 5-A with all the stuff that's been going on in the 5-A bracket.

So it'll be on a Tuesday, December 16th for the 6-A state championship game.

It'll be the winner of this one against the winner of Buford and Valdosta, and Buford had an early 3-0 lead on the Wildcats down in South Georgia.

But if if if it's Carrollton if they hold on and get the win here, they're number 1 in the MaxPreps national poll.

Buford number 1 in the USA today Super 25 poll.

You basically would have a national championship going on in addition to the state championship.

And it's something that as a fan, you have to be looking forward to two big brand names, top ten, nationally ranked teams, regardless of what poll you look in.

Cypher.

Throws it complete to Mosley and they get him on the ground right away.

Cypher pass complete to number 4.

Ryan Mosley.

That was.

Mazone who made the tackle.

It's fourth down.

They don't call the time-out though.

That was interesting.

Yeah, very interesting that they did not.

I thought they would call the time-out right there.

Short of the sticks here, but they're still going to just have.

It makes that last time out very curious because you thought they called that time-out so they could get the ball back.

And fourth down.

And that's going to be the end of the half.

That's the end of the first half.

Well it's been all Carrollton as you can see 27-0 The Trojans halfway to going back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to the state championship game.

They are in command here in this 6-A semifinal.

And doing it on the ground when you look at it, four rushing touchdowns total for Carrollton in that first half.

And time now for our halftime interview.

It is brought to you by Johnny's New York Style pizza.

Your original neighborhood pizzeria.

All right.

Here with Carrollton head coach Joey King.

You come off the emotional win last week being fed rat poison all week.

Your team comes out very focused.

It seems like.

Yeah, they're doing a great job right now.

Defensively we're flying around and playing really good football.

I'd like to play a little bit cleaner from an offensive standpoint, and other than the the big return we gave up on special teams.

I think we're playing solid.

We've got 24 minutes before another trip back to the Benz.

What's your message to those guys in the locker room?

Just that let's make sure we handle the business and do what we're supposed to do and play Trojan football in the second half.

Thank you coach.

Good luck in the second half.

Carrollton in control like you heard Coach King say.

Offense, defense and special teams.

They've dominated it all in the first 20:04 minutes leading 20-7 to nothing.

Nick and Nellie on the other side after the break.

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All right.

What do you think?

Jasper?

Honestly, I think that polyester shirts affecting 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 wicks 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 hadn't thought about it.

Football Fridays in Georgia on GPB is brought to you in part by Georgia's EMCs.

So much more than electricity.

Hey there everyone, and welcome in to our Football Friday in Georgia halftime show presented by Georgia Access.

We're bringing health insurance home.

I'm Nicki Noto Palmer.

This is John.

Mr.

Bracketology Nelson, also known as Nick and Nelly.

I mean Cody says it.

It's obviously true.

Yeah, it is obviously true.

And what's true is that right now we are in the semifinal matchup of class 6-A between Carrollton North Gwinnett Nelly.

It is all Carrollton with all the points.

They're leading 20-7 to nothing, but they also have all of the momentum, all of the touchdowns are rushing touchdowns.

We saw two quarterback keepers and then two from Cam Wood.

All the things basically choice D all the above have gone Carrollton's way here in the first 20:04 minutes.

Let's see.

What special teams of course.

Well well yeah that's true.

Well yeah we'll get.

Into Joey King going to get that figured out.

So then we'll find out what Coach Godfree has to say.

Cody Chaffins is going to catch up with him in about 20 minutes or so, and we'll find out what the conversations were for North Gwinnett as they are down, they've got to steal some possessions to get ready for the second half.

Yeah.

Do you think that this is the first test for North Gwinnett this season?

Oh, I think it's the first test for North Gwinnett this week.

Every week is a test for for North Gwinnett.

So but now when you when you're in a semifinal and it is win tonight go to the Benz.

Then it is up against the wall.

And I want to see the back of the playbook.

I want to see because we saw that against Lowndes a couple weeks ago.

I want to see what the back of the playbook looks like.

Yeah.

So North Gwinnett, they get the ball when they come out for the second half.

I have no doubt that Eric Godfree is back there.

He's going to be pulling some stuff out of the rabbit hat for sure that we're going to see for the Bulldogs.

All right.

Let's take a peek at the scores.

And that is brought to us by our friends at Georgia EMC.

So much more than electricity.

Winner of our game gets the winner of Buford and Valdosta.

Buford missed a 40 yard field goal a couple of minutes ago, so the margin is only three in the second quarter.

One game going on only in 5-A right now.

Gainesville and Langston Hughes.

That one is 20-13 That one is late second quarter.

It was 136.

Langston Hughes Gainesville scored twice in about a six minute span.

And so now they're up by seven at the break.

And Langston Hughes driving at about midfield right now with about 2:00 to go in the first half.

Quad a breakdown Kel and Creekside.

It's all Creekside at the break by 18 Benedictine on the coast leading Marist 21-10 It was 217.

You got a 50 plus yard walk off field goal to cut the margin to 11.

Jefferson.

They are leading West Laurens at the break.

That one is heading.

Third quarter 14:13 Sandy Creek.

It was tight.

It was 1410.

It's now 2110.

That one easing toward the third quarter.

And Hapeville charter and Sumter County in Americus.

Hapeville charter on the road.

We talked to Winston Gordon last week and he has no fear about going on the road, any place, any time, anywhere.

They're up seven heading to the third Carver Columbus we mentioned before even we got kicked off, they got scored upon.

Ever since then it has been Carver Columbus 20-7 third quarter Toombs and heard that one is at the break.

Toombs leading herd by the score of 147 and Franklin worth County shutting out the Dragons of Pepperell 16-0 Bowdon.

It is all.

Bowdon.

Homerville 28-0 at the break Lincoln County in Blakely, all.

Lincoln County 20-0 in the third Calvary Fellowship.

Christian third quarter.

And that game is speeding by gassy and Hebron Christian Hebron Christian late second quarter leading by 11.

And that is all we knew.

That's all we know for right now.

And of course, throughout our halftime show, we'll keep you updated with those scores as the games progress.

Well, right now, our signature moment is brought to you by our friends over at Cigna.

Now teens, they are using social media on the regular.

Now we have some signs for you that you might want to pay attention to.

If your teen is using social media too much, there are some behavioral signs and our Hannah Goodin she has more on that.

On average, teens spend 4 hours daily on social media, which can affect their mental health.

Matt Evelyn, senior new business Manager at Cigna Healthcare, is here to share some valuable tips for parents.

Matt, what are some of the signs that social media might be negatively impacting your child?

You know, social media isn't all bad.

It's a great place for teens to connect with their friends, to learn new things and access information.

Of course, it can also be exposed to cyberbullying, misinformation, and peer pressure that could lead to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

We also want to make sure our teens aren't on their phones too close to bedtime.

It's going to be really hard to fall asleep if they're checking their phones throughout the night.

It can disrupt their sleep cycles.

Yeah, getting that phone away from teens at night is really important.

What are some signs that social media might be negatively impacting your child?

Well, keep an eye if they're spending excessive time online.

If they're withdrawing from family and friends, or if they're showing lack of interest in hobbies, your spidey sense should really go up.

If they show negative emotions or if they're starting to display harmful behavior.

That could have learned on one of these platforms.

How can parents guide their child into using social media in a positive way?

Because there are a lot of positives.

There are.

But just like anything, set clear boundaries.

Probably monitor screen time.

But if there are, if they break the rules, there need to be consequences.

Have open and honest conversation with your kids about the benefits and risks of social media, but engage with them just like anything they're interested in.

If you're interested in social media, it might help boost their self-esteem.

For hours on average is a lot of time, so we need to get that number down.

Matt, thank you so much for being here.

Yeah.

If you would like to learn more about social media and your teen, please visit cigna.com.

Thanks as always to our friends at Cigna for helping us out here on Football Fridays in Georgia all season long.

Now it's time to catch up with our friends at the Heads Up Georgia Campaign and the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

This go round, it's about the pedal in the middle that some folks might need to learn how to use more than the pedal on the right.

Here at the brakes program, we're just introducing to the teens some of the basic concepts of car control.

And in our program itself, it's 3 hours long, but we jam pack it full of a lot of things.

So they're learning how to use that steering wheel correctly to brake and then steer around something that could be in your lane.

We also teach them a slalom course so they learn how to look ahead, plan their route, be real smooth the steering wheel so they maintain control of the car.

Looking, looking, looking.

Good job.

Distracted driving is a huge issue right now.

And it's not just cell phones.

It could be a sibling in the car.

It could be a friend.

It could be those huge nav screens the manufacturers are putting on cars.

It could be loud music.

Unfortunately, majority of the teens that are hurt and killed in a car crash never had the steering wheel in their hand.

They were just an innocent bystander sitting on the passenger side of that vehicle.

So we have to teach the teens to keep both hands on the wheel and keep their eyes focused on the windshield.

And by the time these teens rotate through our exercises, they're going to have a good feel for car control and be better prepared for those what ifs that they're going to encounter sooner or later down that road.

We think this training is important for any driver behind the wheel.

If you're young or old, if a parent and teen can give up 3 hours of their time, we're going to make them a better driver, that's for sure.

Look, see, that is the face that I get every single time.

I have a quick question for you.

Do you think that training program takes 38-year-old women?

Hey, look, I'm sure that I'm sure that we might know some folks.

Well, I think Michael Palmer has probably already signed me up without my knowledge.

So you think they take guys that are 712-years-old?

So there's that.

Well, hey, we have to take a quick break.

Oh, I'm so embarrassed we did that.

But we're gonna have to save it.

Pharmacy player spotlight and so much more coming up when we come back.

She's just so driven to accomplish the goals.

I started.

Kind of in between seventh and eighth grade, never playing before.

She really did get a late start, but she she worked her tail off to catch up is what she did.

You know, if we don't have.

A good setter, then the hitters can't do what they need to do with the ball.

So that takes repetition and learning and thinking and knowing what to do instinctively.

And she's she's got that.

And to me, that's what makes her exceptional at what she does.

It's a really hard position to play.

It takes a lot of focus, a lot of really quick decisions.

You can be the most athletic person in the room, but you have to be able to make those split second decisions and make smart choices to benefit your team.

Thanks, as always to our friends at USA pharmacy for being great friends here at Football Fridays in Georgia.

A couple of scoring updates.

Buford has now got to 11 at Valdosta because it's one more than ten.

Second quarter Buford leading Valdosta by the score of 11-0 Gainesville on a pick six.

It is now 27 13 under a minute to go in the in the first half.

It's now 27 13.

Calvary day is now leading fellowship Christian by the score of 247.

That one is in the fourth quarter, which means I'm done updating scores and we go this way.

Well, this week's Georgia Player Spotlight is brought to you by you save at pharmacy and it's all about Jasmine Walton.

She is a cheerleader from Mary Persons High School.

Jasmine faced adversity early on in her life, but she is using those early life experiences to help others along the way.

She lost her father when she was nine, her mother when she was 11.

In tenth grade, I was diagnosed with type one diabetes.

She fought through with.

Perseverance and just a strength of character that is not typical for a 16-year-old student.

Being a good cheerleader is a lot more than having a pretty face and good motions, and being able to stunt.

It's in our name to be a leader, and she's just a great role model for all of those around her.

She's always trying to help whoever she can help.

I have every reason to be sad, but I choose to be happy.

Great story out of Monroe County.

You can catch all of the stories from the You Save.

It features that you see all season long.

You can catch that on their YouTube channel.

Now it's time to catch up with our friends from Georgia's EMCs.

And let's just say that this visit to Middle Georgia ended in a gym with a very, very loud sound system.

Once again, the award to our friends at Northside.

Flint energies and 35 other participating Georgia Electric membership cooperatives congratulate.

Northside High on winning the GHSA Cooperative Spirit Sportsmanship Award.

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

Said it's.

Only one school in each region.

In each classification is chosen to receive this annual award.

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

Flint energy is proud to present the Cooperative Spirit and Sportsmanship Award to Northside High School of Warner Robins, an award which recognizes something deeper than just talents or wins.

It's for athletes who lift up others, the ones who lead by example, encourage their teammates, respect their opponents, and remind us that success is about more than stats.

It's about how we treat one another like a true cooperative.

They bring energy, connection and care to everything that they do.

They don't just play hard, they play fair, and they make everyone around them better.

It is with great pride that Flint Energy presents this award to Northside High School.

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.

In every sport, not just football, basketball, track, volleyball.

You want to respect the games, and I think that's one of the biggest things that I know.

I try to instill in all our players, and I know the other coaches in the school, in the building, the same thing.

They always want everybody to understand that the importance of the integrity of the sport, because when we come to different situations, I always try to remind my guys, hey, just keep it classy, let's keep it classy.

Up, down, it don't matter.

Character goes a long way and all that stuff plays in with sportsmanship.

Georgia EMC in the 36 participating Georgia Electric membership cooperatives are proud to sponsor the Cooperative Spirit Sportsmanship Award.

Congratulations to the Northside Eagles community.

I told you told you the gym was packed.

Those pep rallies that have been created this season for us when we present the awards have been a blast to be at.

When we were there at Hawkinsville, we had a pep rally.

Northside we had a pep rally.

Always good to catch up with our friend Boone Williams as well.

Absolutely.

We're our own personal pep rally right here.

Rah rah sis, boom bah.!

Was I supposed to keep going with that?

Sure.

Why not?

Wiggle, wiggle.

War Eagle?

You know, the rest of it goes to.

The post game show and it's off the rails.

All right, why don't you guys stick with us?

We'll be right here.

Promise?

We'll be back by.

Be back whether you want.

Want us to be or not.

Right here on GPB.

Salute.

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.

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.

EMC 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.

Georgia's EMCs so much more than electricity.

Welcome back into our Football Friday in Georgia halftime show presented by Georgia Access.

We're bringing health insurance home.

If you're just now joining us, you're probably getting ready to go back and watch the semifinal game.

6-A matchup between North at Carrollton.

Right now, it is all Carrollton 27 to nothing.

Nelly, why don't you go ahead and take us to the 6-A bracket?

Rapid fire.

All right, Brad.

All right, Ryan, let's get tested.

Here we go.

This is what it looks like.

Winner of our game gets the winner of Buford.

Valdosta once again.

Buford leading that one by the score 11-0 Second quarter as we say 11 because it's one more than ten.

It would be score origami here on GPB.

Let's go to 5-A let you know what's going on.

Left hand side of the bracket is watching the right hand side of the bracket, and the upper right hand side specifically heading to the break.

Gainesville was down six and now they're up 14.

Let's go to show you what's going on there.

Once again Kellen Creekside.

Creekside up big at the break Benedictine up big.

That game could go fairly quickly.

And so it's looking like Creekside and Benedictine.

Interesting clash of styles.

Probably a lot of points if that happens next week, change it.

Let's go to West Laurens and Jefferson once again.

Jefferson winning at home.

Sandy Creek winning at home in a rematch of a region game that Lagrange is trying to get back in.

Even the season series.

Change it.

Let's go to Hapeville charter Sumter County Hapeville charter.

If they get the win on the road, it won't surprise Winston Gordon one bit.

Carver Columbus.

We can update that.

13313 9:00 to go.

Regulation Jarvis Jones looking like they are going to make it to the last game of the year.

Second year in a row.

Class A, Division one Toombs and heard that one is now third quarter.

Toombs is leading that one worth County still shutting out Pepperell.

That one was heading to the third quarter as well.

Class A, Division two.

Bowdon in control.

Third quarter 28-0 Lincoln County in control in Blakely 20 to nothing.

Private.

Calvary Day, fourth quarter over fellowship 247.

Do you have an update on that one?

Still 247.

Still 24 17.

What she said so.

GHSA 24 seven she's giving home teams ten points, 2110 Hebron Christian second quarter.

That's where we are right now.

We'll keep an eye on what's going on here all night long and be back for the postgame show to let you know who is heading to the bench.

That's right.

Ben's band is coming up.

You want to stick with us after the game?

We'll be right here for the postgame show.

That's where we really go off the rails.

What?

She said it's a lot of fun.

High.

GPB sports broadcast of this game is made possible by supporters of the GHSA, including the National Federation of High Schools.

What?

Come on, come on.

Oh, what a bad call.

You have no business being out there.

Terrible.

You know, I'm a person to.

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Halftime Carrollton on top of North Gwinnett 27-0 in this 6-A semifinal in the halftime interview is brought to you by Johnny's New York style Pizza, your original neighborhood pizzeria.

Here with Eric Godfree head coach of North Gwinnett down 27-0 a frustrating first half.

Yeah, yeah.

Very frustrating.

First half.

Obviously we got to execute better.

And I remember my biggest fear that offensive line is they were very, very good.

And they're getting the better of us right now.

So we got some adjustments coming right here.

Second half talked about resilience this week.

What what was your message to the guys in the locker room.

And just that right there all the way from January to now our kids have had no quit in them.

We're not expecting it right now.

All right.

Good luck in the second half.

Eric Godfree and his North Gwinnett Bulldogs got some making up to do.

Matt.

Yeah, indeed.

Cody.

Thank you.

Upstairs here with Wayne Gandy.

Wayne.

You heard him talk about that offensive line for Carrollton.

What can they do to offset that dominance?

They're just going to have to start selling out against the run and try to get some penetration.

Right now, the offensive line is just dominant up front there.

They're outside.

They're inside.

No matter who runs the ball.

There's big chunks of yards being made.

Let's get to the highlights.

You mentioned the run.

All four touchdowns came on rushing plays starting with Cam Wood going in from 9 yards.

Out.

Ten Wood the band director getting it going, getting on the board.

And then right here Mason Hotlzclaw the dual threat, keeping his balance and getting into the end zone.

13 yard score there.

Then CJ Cypher said, I can do it too.

He scores from 7 yards and then the big 35 yard touchdown run by.

Wood out on the outside.

The blazing speed Cam Wood setting the tempo once again in that first half for Carrollton.

Let's take a look at those first half stats.

What jumps off the page at.

You right off the bat?

Third down conversions for North Gwinnett, zero for six.

And then when you look at it, the time of possession just dominant by Carrollton the rush yards.

Only 15 rush yards for North Gwinnett.

They're going to have to pick it up here in the second half and establish the line of scrimmage.

Just a total yard disparity.

That's just really almost hard to imagine.

300 and 6-57 at this point.

So it's not just a problem with that offensive line for Carrollton.

It's a problem, I think, with North Gwinnett's offensive line too.

Yeah.

They're not getting it done up front and they're starting to try to throw the ball out on the edge to try to get some things going, but they're going to have to start winning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

Three for three in the red zone was Carrollton in that first half, just dominant running the ball in this third quarter.

They can't let Carrollton possess the ball to eat up the clock.

Well they do get the ball first.

So that's a good sign for North Gwinnett.

We'll see if they can do something with it here as they get the first possession of the third quarter.

And the second half kickoff is brought to you by Heads Up, Georgia.

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Julian Vargas has it teed up and ready to go 20:07 nothing.

Can the Bulldogs come back from a four score deficit?

Can Carrollton give up a four score lead?

All those are big questions here.

As we start this second half.

The winner going to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to play either Valdosta or Buford in the state championship game.

You had a return opportunity right there for the first time really all night, and you let it go through your legs.

Going through your legs.

Not a good sign, but this offense has to come out, play with some pace, try to change it up.

We saw a couple of trick plays.

They tried there in the first half.

Expect them to have a little trickery here in this second half.

Try to get some things going vertical.

So they're going to bring out Banks Halcomb to start this third quarter at quarterback.

The sophomore who's got a little bit more size than Elam Rahman.

He's got an offer from Georgia State, even though he's just a tenth grader.

So let's see if he can ignite this offense.

He's going to run it.

Halcomb is going to get dragged down from behind, does pick up about 4 yards on the play.

So a nice little run there by Halcomb.

And he's going to come out.

And Rahman comes right back in.

Yeah.

The last time we saw him in there he did a little quarterback draw.

Just trying to get a positive play.

On first down.

Too many third and longs in that first half for the Bulldogs.

So Halcomb has you know been a big time quarterback for him this season.

Interesting that they're only running him one play because earlier in the season he was it was almost it wasn't quite the split that Carrollton has, but he was playing a lot.

Two quarterback system.

Rahman has just kind of played with more confidence down the stretch than Halcomb, but very capable and a good switch up here.

Also, one of the keys is watching, keeping an eye on Mazone in these situations.

When he's been in the game, he hasn't touched the ball.

I'm quite sure the Carrollton defensive staff has pointed that out to their team.

Pass is thrown.

It's complete to Braylon Jackson and he goes down after the tackle by Boyd.

Right there.

You saw the blitz right there.

They see Myles Mazone in there and they get aggressive.

They start attacking because they don't feel like he's going to run the ball.

And now another third and long here for Rahman to navigate.

Bulldogs were zero for six on their third downs in the first half.

Pump fake Rahman flicks it out there and it's going to be caught by Patterson.

The big tight end target.

First time they go to him and it pays off.

The big target.

6′6″, 245 working out of the slot, running a seam route, just airing it out, keeping the ball high.

Playing in the post right there is Max Patterson.

I should say the first time they've gone to him downfield, that's a 20 yard pickup.

Maybe that's going to be something they go to here in the second half.

Handoff goes to Mazone first carry of the game for Mazone.

Looked like he was moving pretty good right there.

Little shifty.

And he felt like they had to start running him a little bit because I think they were keying on that.

He was just in there for pass protection.

Nice six yard gain.

Handoff goes to Stephen Brown.

Stephen Brown gets stood up and pushed back.

Demetrius Carter among the first guys there along with Jahmir Harris.

Jahmir Harris what a story.

He's been here in his senior year.

It's a playmaker playing downhill, a program kid who got his opportunity and just played lights out as a senior.

He was another guy that was JV as a junior, won a starting job here as the senior Zykie Helton is in there, lined up at left defensive end.

You see him standing up there at the line of scrimmage.

Rahman gets it out here to Hawkins, and Hawkins is going to pick up the first down.

And finally get body slammed.

Nice job of getting that ball out on the edge over the arm of Zykie Helton is Rahman as you can see, getting it out there to the playmaker working in space there is Hawkins trying to get that first down.

It's hard to corral when you're only 55.

Hard to get leverage on a young man picking up that first down.

C.J.

Gamble, the Georgia Tech signee, slammed him, gets out of the tackle of Helton, then a great submarine tackle coming by Gamble.

Number 24.

What was that?

Barney.

It's hard to tell with these numbers.

Is that a nine or an.

852?

Working from the back?

Edge Zykie Helton spinning Stephen Brown.

And then Darian Barney coming in with the physical cleanup, trying to get some energy into this defense.

In this second half.

He got off to a slow start this season.

He had shoulder surgery in the offseason, but now fully healthy.

Rahman pump fake being chased and Rahman is going to get to the 38 before he's tackled.

To bring up third down and short.

Good strong run by Rahman.

Seven.

Nice decision.

Didn't see anything downfield.

Felt Zykie Helton rush got underneath and able to work through the pocket.

Pull the ball right there and then just trying to pick up as much as possible.

So third down and four ball sitting at the 38.

Ball goes to Mazone.

Mazone hits the hole and picks up the first down.

So Mazone has beaten their leading rusher all season long with close to 800 yards.

And you can see there's a little bit more oomph in the run game than Mazone is in there.

Can run it.

Yeah, he's the bigger back six feet, 202 pounds, three year starter at linebacker.

So you know he has that physical downhill mentality.

Just driving those legs and this drive getting the run game going.

We talked about that having some success being physical in that offensive line.

Hawkins on the sweep.

They fake the handoff.

Now throw it to him and he gets dropped right away by Hagan.

Wow.

Jay Hagan had that play scouted.

Robins pass.

Right here.

Rahman not.

Didn't even really survey down the field.

Looked quick and then just threw the ball.

Dangerous pass right there.

As you can see, Hawkins kind of relaxed.

Didn't think the ball was coming to him.

And once again another open field tackle for Jay Hagan.

Big loss on the play.

Going to be second down and 14.

Bulldogs have held the ball for over 5 minutes now.

Rahman stands in there and fires in the middle to Patterson and Patterson gets to the 27.

They're trying to wrestle the ball away from him.

Good luck.

He's 66.

245 complete to number 7 Matt Patterson.

Peyton Zachary on the defensive side along with Ryan Mosley playing at that safety position right there.

Getting the ball to the big target once again.

Max Patterson young junior.

The basketball body.

I think that's someplace you got to go because he's a matchup nightmare.

And 6′6″, 245 and a good basketball player.

He's got great hands.

He's a ball guy.

He's a guy that you can get the ball to and trust him.

He's third down and short.

Let's see if they go back that direction again.

They're going to run a reverse to Hawkins.

Hawkins cuts back up, does not get the first down.

Lost yardage on the play.

Hagan was not fooled.

Ball carrier brings up.

Great job right there by Kidd outside linebacker Keontay Kidd good job staying home.

As you can see right there.

Forcing that run of Hawkins back underneath.

Nice tackle there by Kidd.

Yeah good call.

That was Keontay Kidd with the tackle.

So now it's fourth down.

The offense stays out there.

Ball goes out here to Hawkins has a man to beat.

Does gets the first down and more Evan Hawkins making something happen as he gets it down to the 16 yard line.

And a big fourth down pickup for the Bulldogs.

Great job once again by Evan Hawkins getting out of this tackle.

Tyler Boyd has it a bead on him right there.

Didn't really look like the offense was expecting the ball to be played.

And just getting out of that tackle, he had him for a loss.

If he makes that tackle his Boyd.

I think that was a trick play.

Mazone looking to the sideline, they're supposed to look like they're distracted, snap the ball, maybe distract the defense a little bit.

Todd Faulkner and North Gwinnett, they're really good at running these trick plays.

Handoff goes to buys, buys on the cutback inside the five and down to the one.

Walker buys.

First time he's touched the ball tonight.

And his first and goal to go for the Bulldogs.

Nice job by here cutting this ball up a little jet sweep action.

Hand off underneath.

Exploding up the field trying to get in the end zone.

Ryan Mosley having to stop him at the 1 yard line.

First and goal to go.

They've held the ball for over 7 minutes on this drive.

Handoff goes to Mazone.

Stand up.

Touchdown.

Bulldogs get their first score of the night.

It's 27-6 Impressive drive right there by North Gwinnett.

The resilience coach Godfree talked about getting downhill getting the ball to Mazone.

The bigger back didn't touch the ball much in that first half.

That ankle's feeling pretty good right now.

Got some magic juice at halftime and losing that thing up.

He did not touch the ball at all in the first half.

Impressive drive to start this half.

Showing the character of their coach.

Not going to quit.

93 Brayden Clark.

And Clark P-a-t is going to be no good.

I think they got a piece of it.

Carrollton has done a really good job of blocking kicks this season.

That's their eighth and the score is 27-6 But the Bulldogs get in the end zone with Kalil Mazone and the score.

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It was a 15 play 80 yard drive.

That's all very impressive, but it helped Carrollton out because you chewed up 7.5 minutes of the third quarter.

The scoring drive is brought to you by DBHDD new Red ribbon 365.

Curriculum.

Yeah.

Showed the personality of Coach Godfree and you got what you wanted a touchdown on the board.

You did miss the extra point, but you're still three touchdowns.

Three scores down right here.

You ate up a lot of clock.

So defensively you're still under the gun as far as needing to come out here and get your offense the ball back here.

Another possession.

North Gwinnett needs in this third quarter.

I'm Carrollton I'm on high alert here for some kind of trickeration on the kickoff.

Don't know if it will be an onside kick, but something certainly not.

Deep to return for the Trojans.

And here is the onside kick.

And it does not go 10 yards.

That'll be Carrollton ball.

Felt like they had to get another possession here in this quarter.

Kicking the ball off.

Always dangerous when you have a Welch back there.

And ball really only went about 5 yards there.

Trying to do a good job of following it, but just didn't put enough on it and giving giving Carrollton great field position here.

Well that was a little embarrassing.

Not quite as embarrassing as when Younghoe Koo kicked the field and not the ball.

This past Sunday in the NFL, but kick did not go 10 yards.

Did not come close to it.

So Carrollton takes over at the 48 yard line.

Hotlzclaw will begin the third quarter at quarterback.

And he's going to run it.

Hotlzclaw got a big first down run.

Robinson holding on for dear life after Hotlzclaw runs it to the 34.

Great job of Mason Hotlzclaw.

In that first half he ran a couple of successful quarterback draw draw plays right there that powered quarterback draw got ran down by Guice that time able to get up in the line of scrimmage.

Cam Wood right into the middle of the defense, gets a couple of yards on the play.

Coxwell in on that.

Tackle.

2 yards.

Holsclaw has.

31 total yards rushing here tonight.

45 gain in 31 is the net.

He's had a nice night running the ball.

But an additional weapon in the run game for the Trojans tonight.

Next to that guy Cam Wood who's over 100 yards rushing for the sixth consecutive game.

Coach King you're very well cool with him just running the ball and making plays with his feet.

Mass is going to be caught by Wood.

Are they going to rule that complete?

It is.

A flag on the play here.

Down to the 12.

Let's check the penalty flag.

Great job of Cam Wood body control.

Catching this ball almost laying on his back.

Pass interference offense 15 yard penalty from the previous spot.

Replay.

Second down.

And erases the big play.

There was one negative.

Coach King talked about it at halftime with the self-inflicted wound.

Carrollton did have five penalties in that first half.

Three was offensive.

And here wiping another big play off the board.

Joey King one of the great coaches in Georgia high school history.

I think you got to make that statement.

He's at 1:30 1-10 through ten seasons.

He's won a couple of state championships.

He's played.

And I think five state championship games.

He has he's won two and been a runner up three times and five times in ten years.

Handoff goes to Wood.

Watch out for that guy.

He nearly broke another touchdown right there as Johansen made the touchdown saving tackle.

Joe does a great job of getting out of that first tackle.

Puts a lot of pressure on the effort of your defense.

You got to have a lot of bodies rallying to the ball.

Third down and long 17 to be precise.

Hotlzclaw to the air.

Going for Zachery caught over the shoulder inside the ten.

And that's going to be first and goal out of bounds at the four.

What a catch by.

Zachery.

Beautiful catch by Zachary.

Great decision.

Great throw here by Hotlzclaw.

Throwing this ball before Zachery even got out of his break hitting him in stride.

Great job of anticipating the throw there by Hotlzclaw.

Trojans in the red zone.

It's covered by Alpha Insurance.

First and goal to go.

Handoff goes to Archer.

Nick Archer in there and he.

Number 36.

Is stopped at the one.

Inside the 1-0 they give him the touchdown.

I didn't see a touchdown signal did you.

No signal for the touchdown.

But they announced touchdowns.

But I never saw the officials give the touchdown sign.

Definitely looked like the young freshman got in the end zone right there.

Not really sure what they're discussing.

Maybe they feel like he fumbled the ball.

So it is a touchdown.

Apparently they haven't changed the scoreboard.

And now we have a penalty here late.

Right here Nick Archer Gist fighting his way.

Shoulders driving.

Yeah he's.

In there.

That's a touchdown right there for that young freshman.

So I'm not sure why the official the sideline official on either side didn't call touchdown I think that's their job.

But anyway it's a touchdown.

They do have a late flag here at the end.

After all the after the play was over.

After the play unsportsmanlike conduct against Carrollton 15 yard penalty.

What an answer.

By Carrollton.

Even after the pass interference put him back 15.

Took the big play off.

A lot of resilience there.

Big throw Mason Hotlzclaw down the field to Peyton Zachary and the young freshman Nick Archer, who we saw last week.

Physical blocker this time running the ball, getting downhill for the touchdown.

And he's going to make this p.a.t.

A little longer here with Vargas.

So this will be a 35 yard p.a.t.

Right in the middle of the field.

Looks like an NFL p.a.t right here.

Kick is on its way and the kick is still good.

And it's 34-6 217 left in the third quarter.

Carrollton back on top by four touchdowns on the touchdown by Nick Archer.

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Down to 217 left in this third quarter.

And Carrollton back up by four touchdowns.

Now, after the score by Nick Archer and the five play, 48 yard drive.

Brought to you by DBHDD in the new red ribbon 365 curriculum.

Fifth rushing touchdown of the night for Carrollton.

And what an answer after the long drive.

It looks like all the momentum is on the Bulldogs sideline and then overcoming a penalty and still getting in the end zone.

It's Carrollton team is just so complete on both sides of the ball.

Their attitude, their engagement tonight is just what you want.

If you're Coach King.

Moving closer and closer to going back to the state finals for the second consecutive year, third time in four years under Joey King and.

The 16th time overall.

Buford, by the way, is leading Valdosta 11-0 at last report down in South Georgia.

Kick is into the end zone.

So North Gwinnett starting to see a little sagging of the shoulders.

Some negative body language here from North Gwinnett would be hard not to feel that way.

With the way things have gone so far.

You had the momentum.

You tried the onside kick you didn't get.

You gave him the short field and now it's 217 left here in this quarter and you're really behind in a situation that the offense is going to have to start getting some big plays and going to more of a two minute mode.

Yeah, the last drive took 7.5 minutes.

He got into the end zone.

That was great.

But you can't take that long again.

And now we'll have movement on the offensive line.

Zach Lewis.

False start offense five yard penalty.

First down.

Big ups here.

Just tough sledding.

You start to drive off with a penalty by your best lineman up front Zach Lewis making it even harder here for an offense.

It's not really built to throw the ball vertically.

Rahman tosses it up there and it's caught and finally dragged down at the 48 yard line.

Big catch and run by Taylor.

Just a little wheel route.

Little roll out here by Halcomb.

Good job right there.

Composing his body as Wilson Taylor to pick up that big play.

Get some energy.

Try to go fast here.

If you're North Gwinnett.

That's just the second time that Taylor has touched the ball in this game.

Rahman on the quarterback keeper across the 50 to the 48.

Number 16 Banks Halcomb.

O Halcomb was on the run that time.

Not.

Jermichael Simmons Rahman.

Let's see if they.

Leave Halcomb in here.

They've only let him when they've subbed him in.

He's run one play at a time.

Looks like they're going to keep him in there.

Trying to go a little faster.

Get up to the line of scrimmage.

Get the play off.

Time to get the play in.

Going deep into the play clock down the 4 seconds.

Halcomb pump fake, steps up.

Hit.

He's going to go down.

Quarterback sack.

Back at the 46 yard line.

Jahmir Harris was there.

As he tried to set up.

And.

Throw Thomas was there.

Throw this ball guy.

Helton kind of hit his arm right there.

And then the sack started.

But Harris a lot of pressure there.

Third and long.

And now you sub and you put Rahman back in the game here for Holcomb.

I think they're just looking for anything that will work and not much has.

Rahman on the spread out throws complete the Hawkins Hagan comes up to meet him.

It's going to be fourth down at the 48.

Number 9.

Gotta keep the offense on the field.

It's going to be fourth and six.

Nice job keeping everything in front of him short of the sticks.

Nice tackle once again.

Jay Hagan playing center field breaking on the ball fast and.

Feeling the pressure of the clock trying to get something here.

Another possession.

Keep this drive going.

Going empty backfield here with Rahman.

Final 29 seconds of the third quarter.

Rahman backpedaling and throwing.

And we're going to have interference.

They were holding Patterson.

Patterson had gotten behind the defense and Boyd the corner.

Holds him.

Bringing the pressure playing man to man, trying to get the ball to Patterson right there.

Shem Mcmillan a little snag on the jersey right there.

Not really sure that Patterson could have caught up to that ball.

15 yard penalty from the previous spot results in a first down.

So they had the most success when they've been trying, when they've been able to try to get the ball.

To pass.

Yeah, trying to go vertical, running those seam routes going to their big target, taking advantage of the mismatch in size and height.

When you talk about Max Patterson.

So first and ten following the penalty ball at the 33.

Rahman throwing deep for Hawkins.

And he can't run under it.

Once again a little roll out trying to get away from the pressure.

Only one man route.

On that side of the field trying to get it to Hawkins tight coverage down the field.

There.

Second down.

By Jamari Jermichael Simmons.

It's going to be second down and ten 18 seconds left in the quarter.

So Hawkins comes off the field after that play.

The situation bringing the pressure off of the slot.

Heavy rush Rahman fires in the middle.

It's going to be caught by Patterson first down at the 22 yard line.

Familiar theme success.

Throwing the ball to Patterson.

Nice pickup there by Zach Lewis.

Pressure off the edge there by Mcmillan.

Good job.

Good route.

Making himself available as Max Patterson.

Think that was the final play of the third quarter.

That was the third catch for Patterson.

They found something there with their big tight end target.

As the third.

Quarter comes to a. Close.

We are heading to the fourth at Grisham Stadium, 12 minutes separating one of these two teams from a state finals and Carrollton in command.

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Heads up Georgia.

Start of the fourth quarter.

Carrollton on top 346.

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Final 12 minutes.

It's been all Carrollton up to this point.

North Gwinnett has the ball to start this fourth quarter.

Is it possible to even come back from this win?

It's going to be tough sledding the way that the Carrollton offense is working down the field.

Their ability to run the ball with the quarterbacks, keep drives going right here.

You got to get in the end zone here in one or two plays here to start this fourth quarter.

If you're North Gwinnett.

Rahman in their quarterback.

He surveys the field and guns it towards the end zone.

Jump ball touchdown.

Did he come down with it.

He did.

What a catch by Braylon Jackson tipped the ball to himself.

Kept his eye on the ball and hauled it in.

And this is just about Braylon Jackson.

And his ability his height his size Tyler Boyd right there doing a great job, had his head around and a jump ball situation right there with Jackson big play break.

Just throwing it up 50 50 ball.

As you can see, Boyd is in great position and a good job by Jackson of tipping that ball intentionally.

I feel like to himself.

Wow, what a play.

They're going for two right here.

Ball is thrown to the back of the end zone.

Patterson's got it for the two.

But there is a flag out.

Check the penalty call.

Formation offense for the four men in the backfield.

Five-Yard.

Penalty.

Retry.

So we'll have to do it again.

Somebody was not up on the line of scrimmage.

Sounds like the call.

Illegal formation.

The receiver has to get up on the ball.

Too many men in the backfield.

That was two plays back to back.

Beautifully executed by North Gwinnett.

We talked about it.

Had to get in the end zone in one or two plays.

Can't take a lot of time scoring.

So now they'll try for the single point right here.

And the kick is up.

And the kick is good.

And it is 34-13 as North Gwinnett pulls back to within three touchdowns.

Still 11:52 to go.

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So North Gwinnett makes it a little more interesting with the touchdown capping a seven play, 80 yard drive with a spectacular catch by Braylon Jackson.

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Scoring summary.

After North Gwinnett.

Defensively, you got to get a three and out or a turnover, but your offense needs this ball right here.

Not only you can't give up any points, you can't let Carrollton take this ball and get three or four first downs.

Do you try the onside kick again?

I think you're going to kick this ball off here.

Again they try the onside kick.

It does go 10 yards.

But right into the welcoming arms of the Trojans there on that front line.

And so another failed onside kick attempt there.

And so Carrollton takes over at the 47.

The bad thing about those failed onside kicks is you give the offense.

You're trying to stop a very short field to.

Work the high powered offense like this.

You got to feel like in this situation, just keep riding that momentum to kick the ball off and try to trust your defense right there.

Ball didn't get any bounce.

They didn't even they didn't have pace to even bounce off the return, man.

Yeah, maybe try to drop it midfield.

You know, not all the way deep kind of midfield a pop up kick.

If your kicker can do that.

Cypher going for the home run trying to get it all back.

Welch's out there and Welch catches it down at the 1 yard line.

Wow.

And a flag down.

Rontre Welch dropped under the bomb thrown by CJ Cypher might be going against Carrollton here because Joey King is not happy.

He is mad.

Illegal formation.

More than four men in the backfield.

Offense.

Five yard penalty replay.

First down.

And if I'm right, Matt, that's the third time they've had illegal formation in the third big play that has been taken off the board.

And those are the little things in a tight game.

As you can see, Coach King, he's trying to slam the door shut as he's going vertical with a big play down the field being taken off.

Rontre Welch has to be helped off the field a little bit.

Looks like he might have fallen on top of that football after making a spectacular catch.

That wipes that off the board and pulls the ball back to the 43.

Situation.

You felt like the Trojans are going to come out and just try to grind the ball down right there, being explosive, going over the top.

Play gets blown dead as the pass is complete.

Zachery out here at the 41.

He's going to get another.

Encroachment offense line up in the neutral zone.

Five-Yard penalty first down.

Carrollton right now in a situation where they can really just put this game to bed, shooting themselves in the foot feet, the foot.

Starting this drive.

Two penalties in a row.

Helping this North Gwinnett defense out.

So now first down and 20.

Offensive line reacting to the defense.

Shifting.

Cypher on the sprint out.

Throws complete to Zachery.

Zachery down the sideline.

Gets shoved out of bounds at the 41.

Picked up the first down.

Got it all back.

Nice play.

Little rollout there.

Once again getting the ball out on the edge to their most explosive player in Zachary picking up a big chunk of yardage right there.

Picking up a first down.

Little roll out.

Good job by Keith Miller.

Securing that end.

No one in the face there of CJ Cypher.

Zachary up to four catches for 131 yards tonight.

Double move.

And the pass is going to be caught by Zachery down the sideline.

Touchdown!

Carrollton!

Cypher pass.

Complete to number 1.

Peyton Zachary right back at him.

Confusion in the secondary of North Gwinnett just letting the big play of Peyton Zachary did a good job adjusting to the ball.

Came so open CJ Cypher threw the ball behind him.

A good job getting back behind.

Just confusion out on the edge, letting the receiver go free right there.

Now Faulkner one playing zone, the other playing man capitalizing his Carrollton.

Kick is up and good 41-13 and Carrollton might have a little reticent to say they put the game to bed totally, but if they haven't, they're close to it.

If Peyton Zachary really lighting it up tonight, that's five catches for 172 yards.

Just doing a great job here.

As you can see, little double pump right there.

Marshall Brown buying on the fake letting Peyton Zachary free.

Explosive player.

Coach King just going all gas there on that drive.

As we saw a drive where you really nine out of ten times you're going to run the ball, try to eat up some clock.

Really just trying to take the momentum once again.

Snatched it from the Bulldogs by going vertical and going with the big play.

Carrollton inching closer and closer to another trip to Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

And you really got to feel with what you've seen from this Carrollton team the last couple of weeks, the victory over Grayson, the way they've dominated this game tonight against North Gwinnett, they have emerged as the favorite to win the state championship.

Yeah, they are efficient.

They are complete.

They can beat you in all three phases.

Special teams hasn't shown you a lot as far as return.

But they do a great job returning and they have a kicker.

So they are complete team.

They can score out on the edge, they can run the ball between the tackles.

They have big play ability.

They have two capable quarterbacks that can make plays with their arm and feet.

Vargas tried to squib that kick.

Kind of a line drive along the ground kick, and it went right to Robinson and Ethan Robinson started the return.

So they've got the ball at the plus 43.

Interesting decision to onside kick.

I don't think it was on side.

I think they were just trying to line drive, kick it through there really hard.

Onside kick would have more hop and bounce to it.

I think they were just trying to drive it through there.

Didn't work though.

Rahman to the air.

Caught by Patterson.

Patterson goes down at the 23 yard line.

Rahman Patterson is really come alive in this second half, making some big grabs.

Hard to miss when you feel level.

Big target.

Truly is 66 about 2:50.

That time playing out wide as a receiver, coming up with a big grab.

, four catches for Patterson tonight.

They go back that way on a back shoulder throw towards Braylon Jackson again who made a spectacular catch on their previous possession this time.

Could not come up with it.

Rollins pass is intended.

For we might see that catch that Braylon Jackson made on that touchdown.

Might see that on Sportscenter.

That was amazing job.

Great decision young man.

He saw he wasn't going to be able to get two hands.

He tipped it to himself and then kept his body control to stay in bounds.

Handoff goes to Brown.

He gets hit high and low.

He goes down.

Jay Hagan once again getting downhill from that safety spot, playing on the other side of the field.

He has had a couple of games here where he's just been dominant from that safety position.

Bulldogs.

Brings up third down.

Higgins got six total tackles tonight.

Had nine last week.

Up top Rahman and Hawkins can't run under it.

And Hagan we were just talking about him.

He was running step for step in coverage.

Hagan getting his head around late.

Hard to find number 9 Evan Evan Hawkins in that situation.

Kind of took his line of sight to the ball away, but staying aggressive, trying to get in the end zone.

There.

He's Elam Rahman.

So fourth down.

Got to get it to the 14 yard line or thereabouts to keep this drive going.

Pocket for Rahman it breaks down, he throws and nearly intercepted.

Braylon Jackson was the target.

It was nearly picked off there in the end zone.

There is a flag down that was Simmons back there who had a shot at it.

So we're going to get a facemask here on North Gwinnett.

Personal foul face mask offense.

That penalty is refused.

Result.

First down Carrollton.

So ball goes over to Carrollton 41 13 lead here in the fourth quarter.

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.

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Heads up Georgia.

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Welcome back into Grisham Stadium.

For two weeks in a row here, we have been dazzled by senior Trojan running back Cam Wood.

Now Wood story is interesting.

He grew up in Buford, Georgia, played his first couple years at Buford, but then felt like he was buried on the depth chart.

Moved in with his grandparents out here in West Georgia and started coming to Carrollton.

That's why he was ineligible last year, because he had made that move so he could not play varsity football for the Trojans.

The other interesting part, the last two weeks they've played Grayson in North Gwinnett.

He's playing against a lot of guys he played with and against growing up.

And now, depending on the way things go for the final 942 and the way things shake out in Wintersville could be a very interesting matchup next week in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as Cam Wood could potentially be taking on his old team.

Exactly.

And Buford still leads that one 11-0 as the Trojans go back on offense.

Archer 117 I'm told, is the update on that Buford still on top, but the lead is now down to four.

Mazone running the ball there with Hayes Archer with this score.

And at this point in the game, maybe Tate Cam Wood out, protect him a little bit more in this situation.

The young freshman do some work.

Stick around Jon Nelson Nikki Palmer and our GPB studios will have all the scores from around the state.

Update the brackets, tell you who's playing in the bins in the state championship games.

Going deep and jump ball and incomplete Hotlzclaw in their quarterback going back to Welch trying to get him a long catch after he had the last one wiped out by a penalty.

Great job there by the Bulldogs.

Taking the option of Caleb Hudson underneath away from Holsclaw.

Just trying a 50 50 ball down the field to Welch Cass Johansen and I think he hit his head on the turf right here as he goes up and tries to knock this ball down.

Number 4 right here.

As he comes down, his hand gets slammed on the turf right there, as you can see.

Grabs it and he went to the sideline.

Third down.

Hopefully he's okay.

Nick Archer in there at running back right now.

Maybe Cam Woods done for the night.

Time out Carrollton first time out of the half.

With 17 carries for 108 yards.

Two touchdowns Cypher 11 of 17 passing for 211 and a touchdown.

Peyton Zachary five catches for 172 and a touchdown.

Big plays by Zachery.

So explosive.

So many weapons that contribute to this offense.

Such balance.

And that's the key.

This offensive line.

Any game they are the star.

Their ability to pass protect.

As you can see there's not a lot of pressure on either quarterback.

They can run inside.

They're powerful.

They're good in the screen game.

It's going to take a big time effort to to knock this Trojan team off.

So 200 yards plus advantage here for Carrollton for 32.

Total to North Gwinnett 232 total.

Just a night of domination here for the Carrollton Trojans.

Here's a look at their key regular season wins.

Started with a victory over Woodward.

Beat Rome by seven.

That's the only game they played the entire year.

That's been decided by a touchdown or less.

And they had to come back and win that game.

They were down late in that game late in the third quarter, beat Gainesville, beat Parker, top team out of Alabama, Douglas County victories over North Forsyth, Harrison and Grayson here in the state playoffs.

And it looks like North Gwinnett will be the next victim playing the winner of Buford and Valdosta in the state finals.

Ball up in the air and Welch broken up.

Good job by Ford.

Get his hand in there.

It's going to be fourth down.

Nice coverage there by Ford running step for step there with Welch down the field.

A little rollout.

Staying aggressive, throwing the ball down the field once again Carrollton not really running the ball trying to eat up the clock.

Still going vertical.

Attempting to put points on the board.

So Update Buford now leads 257, so it looks like they're pulling away from Valdosta.

And that means that to win the state title, Carrollton is going to have to win that.

Gwinnett Gantlet back to back to back.

It would have been Grayson, North Gwinnett, and then Buford to win the state title.

Gwinnett people feel like it's the best county in the state of football.

And Carrollton so far.

They look like they're up to the challenge.

What a game.

Two brand names.

As our producer likes to talk about.

When you talk about Carrollton taking on Buford.

And what's interesting about this and this is no knock on Juju Lewis.

We all loved watching Juju Lewis play, and he's an outstanding quarterback.

He's proven that historically.

He might have checked out with all the state records that he played another year, but he decided to reclassify and go to Colorado early.

But I think they're a better team without him, not without him.

Just they're just better, a more complete team.

They don't look to juju for everything.

Yeah, it looks like it's a team effort.

Like all the guys, every position, everyone is engaged this season.

Last year you did maybe feel like at times everything they were going to try to do was going to come off of Juju Lewis's arm.

But this year, variety guys, a two quarterback system, both quarterbacks are asked to do different things in the game.

Mazone on the run, Bulls his way up to the 40.

Number 2.

Kalil Mazone continued success to Juju Lewis there in Colorado.

What a spectacular, fun guy.

He was able to we were able to watch the last three years.

Yeah I think he's he's still going to be one of those guys that you see on Sunday sitting out that last game for Colorado and going on the red shirt.

So he still has those four years that he can play.

And we always have to ask the question, does he stay at Colorado.

And you don't say not because he doesn't like it there.

It's just because that's the way the game is.

Now.

You might like a place, but there might be a better opportunity where you feel a better opportunity might be a better opportunity than you make the move.

Monetary and also coaching, moving around.

And sometimes you take a guy like a Bo Nix, who left Auburn after four years, went to Oregon to learn how to get his pass game going, had more weapons to work with.

So that's that's what you have now in the college landscape, that ability, if you lose your major two receivers, go play with somebody else's other two receivers.

Now that's really how it works.

Halcomb picks up the run.

The first down run, and he's kind of worked out for Bo Nix.

And Denver, hasn't it?

Yeah, it seems like Sean Payton Bo Nix doing some big things for the Broncos.

Pass is incomplete.

Just a frustrating end to the season here for the Bulldogs who have put together a really special year.

They lost that opener to Douglas County and they felt like a game in which they lost in large part because of self-inflicted wounds.

They just did not play well that night.

And then they rattled off 12 wins in a row until they got here.

Total team spirit about this Bulldog team.

A lot of pride in their coaching staff and in their players.

They're just a gritty, gutsy group.

Robbins pass there.

You see that loss to Douglas County.

But then they beat Colquitt County, Mill Creek and Buford.

Their four key games all came in the first four weeks of the season than they beat South Gwinnett.

Lowndes, West Forsyth in the playoffs looks like the journey will end here tonight at Carrollton.

Third down and ten.

Ball in the air and it's going to be caught downfield for a first down.

Hawkins comes up with another big catch.

He'll be back next season as catch number 9 for him tonight.

Definitely a lot to build on.

When you talk about Hawkins Christian Jackson coming back Max Patterson as well.

The young running backs and Brown and Taylor.

You got both quarterbacks still will be here next year if they choose to stay.

Mazone on the run defensively of course.

Jake Godfree or Mike linebacker coach's son.

He's going to be back next year.

They got three guys on that defensive line that will be back next year.

Benemon, Glass and Autry.

They lose Coxwell to Kennesaw State.

Lose the great corner.

Davis.

But Ford will be back.

Johansen will be back in that secondary.

Halcomb looking, throwing for Patterson and intercepted.

Intercepted inside the 15 yard line as Jay Hagan comes down with the pick.

What a night.

Jay Hagan has once again had for this team.

This time coming up with an interception.

Running step for step with Matt Patterson and making another splash play for the Carrollton Trojans.

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41 13 Carrollton just 529 away from advancing to the state finals for the second consecutive year, and for the third time in the last four years under Joey King, it's been a story of domination here for the Trojans tonight, as they're going to send North Gwinnett home for the off season.

And Carrollton looks like they're lining up and will be playing Buford in the state finals, as the Wolves have 257 lead at last report coming out of Valdosta.

Of course, Carrollton went to Buford last year.

This time a year ago, and beat the Wolves in the state semifinals.

Revenge game.

The coach app and Buford and the Wolves.

But this is Carrollton team so focused here.

That was the only question I really had about them.

After beating the mighty Grayson team last week, how focused would they start this game?

And they've been engaged entire game.

Really.

No lulls.

A couple of issues with penalties, but other than that, just great plays all around.

Cypher throws the ball incomplete to Welch.

Yeah, you're exactly right.

I mean, that was the question, you know, can they maintain that level of intensity after knocking off a Grayson team that was ranked number 1 in three different national polls?

But it looks like we're setting up for something.

I don't know that it's ever happened in the history of Georgia high school football, where you have two teams that are ranked number 1 in the nation, playing each other for the state championship.

How fun is that going to be to call that Kane?

It'll be a lot.

Of fun to be part of that.

Carrollton is number 1 in the MaxPreps rankings, and Buford number 1 in the USA today super 25 Carrollton is number 4 in that USA today rankings.

Because you have to imagine they would be playing in a sense for the national title.

Yeah.

When you look at it.

It's not just the state championship, right?

You can make a strong argument that the winner of that game is going to be the unified national champion, at least in those two rankings.

Penalty.

On offense.

Five-Yard penalty.

Third down.

That just shows you how great Georgia football is.

And a lot of teams don't have that opportunity to play another top ten ranked team nationally to solidify.

Usually you're just sitting there and people have to say you're the champion.

But hey, my last game was against another top ten national ranked team.

So whose resume can say that?

That's how they ended the season.

So great opportunity for both of those programs.

I thought Joey King had a great line.

We were talking to him about, you know, have you addressed the team since it's been ranked number 1 after the victory over Grayson?

He said yes.

I told them the team that was ranked number 1, they're playing basketball this.

Week.

So that number 1 ranking doesn't mean anything until you get to the end of the season, which will be the next game.

And they received the message by their performance tonight.

They started fast.

Right now they're just kind of it seems like they're just trying some different sets.

Get the ball to different people here.

Have been in a position really just to run the ball this entire quarter, but still throwing the ball vertically.

Still going deep.

Cypher out here for Mosley flags come out as Mosley for Peyton Zachary Peyton Zachary got knocked down on the play.

That'll be pass interference on the Bulldogs.

Harrison Johansen trying to get back into the play here for chasing Zachery.

Interference defense 15 yard penalty results a first down.

You have to feel like Zachery has to be taken out of this game at this point.

He's had a terrific night here.

A little pump by CJ Cypher.

And just right there you can see Johansen getting beat.

Just not going to get the touchdown away.

So first and ten ball at the 30 with 4.5 to go.

Kind of interesting that they're not just running the ball here.

Now they do hand off to Nick Archer.

And Archer is going to have ten plus 20 plus Archer runs out of bounds at the.

36 nick spot.

That looks like the 46 47 yard line.

First down for the Trojans.

Davis Nick Archer got a big block last week, but 510, 195 freshman.

So you got to keep your eye on him.

That is something for CJ Cypher as a freshman.

Nick Archer, also a freshman, got a little tandem there.

If you're Joey King.

Bright future for Carrollton, but some big things headed their way here as they head to the state finals.

Cypher to the air.

Incomplete.

Six King Miller A sophomore, Andre Welch, a sophomore.

A lot of talent here for Caleb Hudson.

This starting offensive line is still out there.

Coach King told us that any point they could be the MVP.

Some of that is just regardless of who's under center, who's running the ball.

This line has been consistent.

They have been healthy, very versatile, big bodies that can move up front.

Second down and ten.

Ball comes out here to Walker.

Landon Walker got a first down as he tracks it to the 32 yard line.

Congratulations to coach Jerry Mack and the Kennesaw State Owls.

What a job he's done.

They won the conference USA Championship tonight beating Jacksonville State in the USA title game.

Just getting the ball out quick out on the edge out in space.

Another playmaker and Landon Walker getting some guys some reps.

That receiver position I think Ryan Mosley Peyton Zachary we've seen the last of them tonight along with Cam Wood.

Looks like James Madison has a 24, 13 14 lead on Troy in the Sun Belt Championship game as the Dukes hope to sneak into the College Football Playoff and of course, their coach, Bob Chesney, has taken the UCLA job, much to the delight of our producer, Glenn Diamond.

And and Coach Napier is going to land at JMU.

I think the announcements coming tomorrow.

A lot of coaching, moving around, a lot of jobs opened up during the season.

A lot of guys got sent packing, a lot of guys moving into new spots.

I think that's just the new landscape we found ourselves in with college sports.

Two or three years somewhere, winning or not.

As you can see with Lane Kiffin, you can you can be on the heels of college football playoffs and decide to leave a team.

Handoff goes to Archer, and Archer is going to pick up a couple of yards on the play.

I think that landscape includes the players getting paid.

I think there's more pressure on coaches, there's less leniency.

You know, the the support staff, the fan base of those programs are saying we're putting out money.

We're helping you get these players.

You better win with them or else you're gone.

You start being under what coaches.

Play sportsmanlike conduct defense half the distance to the goal results in a first down.

But I think the pressure might be even greater because in the pros, the money's coming from management in college, the money's coming from the alumni in the fan base, and there are a lot less patient than the owner.

Sometimes in the general manager.

Yeah, they don't want to hear anything about I didn't have the talent.

Yeah.

Well, we gave you the money to get the talent and you didn't do anything with it.

See, Brian Kelly.

Very emotional fan base.

Definitely different from college to pro.

Interesting take here on these last couple of drives with Carrollton still throwing the ball around.

And you imagine Coach King, he just wants to get some looks, some formation, some things on tape.

Teaching moment, taking advantage of all the situations.

Still got the starting offensive line and they're.

First and ten.

Handoff goes to Nick Archer.

Easy touchdown for Archer.

Number 36 Nick Archer.

And that will be the sixth rushing touchdown of the night for the Trojans.

And it is 47-13 Going with that big boy package once again where they put Mark Mitchell in there along with Zykie Helton big bodies here.

And this hole just opens up that left side coming off the ball there.

Look at Zach Helton knocking his man four or 5 yards down the field.

Giving coach Brian Appleton at that.

Buford coaching staff a lot to think about next couple of weeks as they get ready for that state final.

And nobody's.

Good.

48 13.

Carrollton going to roll into the state finals.

Just off that left side, hitting the line quick.

Jake Godfree could not react.

Good blocking there on that left side.

Archer the back of the future.

Able to get Cam Wood rest here in this fourth quarter.

For that state championship game, getting Nick Archer some reps just so explosive.

This offense of the Trojans, a lot of weapons.

And as you can see, a guy like Nick Archer hasn't gotten a lot of work.

But he is there if needed.

Joey King he's got a little something going on here.

Carrollton yeah, he's building a true pipeline in here and talent on top of talent.

Fielder over there at that right tackle.

Only a sophomore, 6′4″, 320 I haven't talked about him a lot, but he can move around.

He can pull.

I've seen him on some kick out blocks, kick off Taylor and Wilson back deep.

So with a victory here tonight Carrollton this senior class, four year class will have gone 53-4 Line drive kick that's covered at the 30 yard line.

So that means Carrollton the last four years this class the senior class has won more games than anybody else in the state.

North Oconee was at 52-3 They got eliminated by Marist in the playoffs last week.

So 52 was the mark.

Carrollton moves past that tonight with their 53rd win over the last four years.

And Coach King was telling us he went to meet most of these young men when they were in the eighth grade.

And went to the.

Middle school and signed them up.

Welcome to the Carrollton program.

So he's going to the the middle school, sitting in the cafeteria talking to the kids, Zykie Helton and guys like that, you know, kind of explaining the Carrollton way.

What will be the Carrollton way with him as the head coach?

Breakout run by Taylor Wilson.

Taylor gets it down to the 34 yard line.

Number 28 lining a little room on that backside is Wilson Taylor for the big run.

The run game really for North Gwinnett in this game has been non-existent here a couple of nice runs there by Mazone where they scored a touchdown on that opening drive.

But biggest run biggest play of the night right there.

Possibly by Taylor.

Stephen Brown back in there running back.

And he falls into that line and pushes forward as we're down under 145 now left in this game.

Host of Trojans Kadan Spratling KJ Gamble two seniors that really held it down defensively headed to Georgia Tech.

Is Gamble headed to Memphis and Spratling just big playmakers over there playing their last home game here.

Another acrobatic catch attempt by Braylon Jackson out there comes up empty.

Yeah.

Hagan with seven tackles tonight.

Mcmillan had seven tackles tonight.

Gamble was six.

Incomplete.

Third down Bulldogs.

Nothing about the Trojans this Carrollton team.

Offensively, defensively.

Special teams.

Do you look at it and say oh there's a hole.

No they're a complete team on all three levels of defense.

Offensively they can beat you numerous ways.

Breaking play right there.

Mazone finding the hole punching another touchdown on the board here for the Bulldogs late.

Good for Kalil Mazone gets in the end zone for the touchdown.

Caps a big week for him.

He signed with Army on Wednesday.

Coach Godfree says he's a great kid.

Everybody pulls for him.

And here he gets to cap his high school football career with a touchdown in the state semifinals.

And when you commit to Army, when you sign with Army, you're signing more than a football scholarship.

Yeah, you're signing on as a representation of the country.

It tells about your character to be recruited and for them to bring you in.

And they get the two point conversion and it goes to Mazone.

It goes to.

Good for him.

48 21 here's the guy that we thought wouldn't even really run the ball here tonight.

It's been their biggest surprise at that position, playing through that ankle injury.

So wow.

How about that Mazone with the big run here to get the touchdown.

And then Banks Halcomb keeps the play alive long enough to get him the ball to the two point conversion.

Very good.

You feel good for Mazone there because everything says man.

He is a really solid kid.

They love him.

Going to go play for Army, you know, you say you go, he's going to go represent.

He's going to be in the Army.

So like I said, when you when you sign with Army, you're not just signing up to play football.

You're signing up for a lifetime.

This is a big decision.

Yeah.

And in today's sports, sometimes we forget to talk about the character of these young men, get caught up in how high can they jump?

How fast can they run?

The army speaks a lot about who this young man is.

Slipping, trying to make the cutback right there.

As Lockette.

So that's where the Trojans will take over at the 20 yard line, probably for the final time here at Grisham Stadium this season.

I know they're hoping maybe to come back here and have a big state championship rally in a couple of weeks.

Sponsored by Juju Lewis.

He could do that.

He could do that.

Yes, he could, he could he could pay for it.

So now let's see if Coach King is going to go to victory formation.

I'm I'm betting he is.

At least in this.

It has to be victory.

Matt.

Yeah.

Just 0:64 to go.

Looks like they're still going to run some play here.

Let's see.

And play gets blown dead after contact is made with the running back behind the 15 yard line.

Hopefully juju has been able to tune in and catch some of his former team playing tonight.

I know if he has been able to do that that he's really happy for.

Yeah man.

It really young man we saw as a freshman and just saw his ability even at that age, to read the defense and get.

The ball 500 yards in the state final.

So the countdown is on.

This might be the final play of the night.

And that should do it.

48 21 is going to be the final here tonight.

Carrollton going back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the 6-A state championship game as they dispatch North Gwinnett tonight in a big way.

Impressive showing once again, as we have said during the broadcast, a team that came off a huge victory against the number 1 ranked Grayson team last week showed up here tonight with the same intent, the same effort, big plays offensively, the ability to run the ball and then defensively really there into that third quarter, just shedding North Gwinnett down, taking away the run game, not allowing them to get the ball out on the edge.

Coach King has a lot of things he's going to be proud of, but knowing him as we do, he has a lot of moments of teaching and he's going to have this team ready and humming for their next opponent.

And how about Carrollton?

This will be the sixth state championship game appearance for Joey King, their head coach.

He had three with Cartersville, and this will be the third with Carrollton.

And they will be playing Buford in the 6-A state championship game.

And of course you will see it here on GPB.

Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Your 29 year home for the state championship games.

All right.

Time now for our postgame interview.

It's brought to you by Johnny's New York style Pizza.

Here with Joey King.

Absolute domination tonight.

Proud of our guys.

Our word of the week.

We have a word of the week every week.

Our word of the week this week was effort and I thought we played with great effort tonight.

You know this this is a senior class.

Their last game at Grisham Stadium.

And they wanted to go out the right way.

And I'm super proud that they did.

With the win.

You guys are headed back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium your fifth time just with Carrollton right.

Twice as a coordinator.

It will be the third time as the head coach.

What does that mean to you?

I mean, it's humbling to be honest with you.

You know, sometimes when I look at our career and how the good Lord's work things out, it's been a it's pretty amazing, but definitely excited for this senior class.

I'm telling you, these guys, they're special bunch and they have the chance to just get to play football at least one more week with them.

That's really exciting.

I'll break the news to you, Buford.

Winners tonight in Valdosta.

I think back to last year and a dogfight with that team.

What does that mean to you?

Oh, man.

They're a great football team.

Two great programs duking it out for the state championship.

That's the way it's supposed to be in this classification.

But again, I'm just thankful for the opportunity to play.

And I know the weather will be great.

Before we bring over Peyton, tell me about number 1.

Played big tonight.

Big night for him.

He did a great job with the ball in his hands.

I love him to death.

He's an unselfish player.

Sometimes his number gets called, sometimes it doesn't.

But when it does, he makes people pay.

All right.

So let's bring in Peyton Zachary.

Thank you.

Joey King.

We'll see Joey in the bins coming up next week.

Now with our Georgia Cotton Commission player of the game.

We got to get the towel on this man.

Here with Peyton Zachary five catches, 162 yards and a touchdown tonight.

Peyton, how did it feel to have such a big night?

It felt good.

I was glad we came out here and was able to get this win and go back to the bins.

Yeah.

This week you had the emotional win over Grayson.

You guys are ranked number 1 in a poll.

So much going on outside the program.

How were you guys so focused tonight?

I mean our coach told us all week like last week's game doesn't win us this week's game.

So we just stayed disciplined, stayed the course and just stayed focused this week to win.

You guys were knocked on the door.

You were at the doorstep last year in the bins.

You're going back.

How has that driven you all year long?

I mean, just that feeling of us losing.

We don't want to feel like that again.

So we've been putting in the hard work since the offseason to come this year and just win it again.

Win, win this year.

Big week for you.

Also signed with UNLV.

Tell me about you know this big this week.

Couldn't get any better could it.

Yeah exactly.

I was glad to sign with them.

It's a great program.

I'm excited to go out there in January.

This running rebels running all over the field.

Tonight, our Georgia Cotton commissioner player of the game Peyton Zachary.

He and the Carrollton Trojans are headed back to the bins.

All right.

Thank you Cody 48 21 the final here.

Our next football telecast will be the GPB state championship games from Mercedes-Benz Stadium starting on Monday, December 15.

But stick around for the postgame show with John Nelson and Nikki Palmer as they may have a big announcement coming up during the postgame show.

So we'll wait and see.

But as for now, the GPB state championships are next for us at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

If you missed portions of tonight's game or just want to see it again, you can catch a full replay later this evening or in the coming week at GPB sports on Demand.

Now for Wayne Gandy.

Cody Chaffins, our VP of sports, Kevin Gerkey, our game producer and our director, Russ Aaron, I'm Matt Stewart.

Once again, the final 48 21 Carrollton rolls on to the bench.

This has been a presentation of GPB sports.

Football Fridays in Georgia is presented by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, reminding you to park your phone while driving.

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Heads up Georgia.

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He's coachable.

You tell him something, he's got it.

He's the kid that you want everybody else to be.

He comes to work.

Perfect attitude every single day.

I think the wrestling and football kind of complement each other.

You know, mental toughness is a real ingredient in both.

Combine his athleticism along with his relentless effort.

That just makes a really, really talented football player.

He's a worker and on the defensive side of the ball.

You've got to have that relentless effort.

He's not the kid that makes the same mistakes over and over again.

He corrects things and that's huge.

I don't care what sport you're playing.

Welcome into our football Friday in Georgia postgame show presented by Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

John, parking your phone while driving saves lives.

Heads up, Georgia, heads up, Nelly.

Heads up all of our viewers at home because the semifinals, they're officially over, Nelly.

We just witnessed a 6-A semifinal matchup between North Gwinnett at Carrollton.

It was all Carrollton final score 48-13 An absolute domination by Joey King and company.

And we'll get to more about what's going on in 6-A in just a little bit.

But we got our first coach and he is ready to go.

And it's time to take a look at AAA and catch up with Travis Nolan, who is making a return trip to the last game of the year.

Congratulations, coach.

What was it like out there tonight against West Laurens?

A really good football team, a lot of sloppy, muddy, old school football going on in Jefferson.

But it was a great win for our team and our program.

Coach.

In three years.

You led your team to the semis in 2023, appeared in the state championship game in 2024, and now you're back in 2025.

How do you finish the drill and walk away?

A champion?

Well, I wish I had the answer to that.

We'd already have a couple of those here.

So I don't know.

I know we got a really tough task in front of us with Sandy Creek, who's loaded with Division One talent.

And we'll just see what we can come up with over the next ten days and hopefully play our best football when we get there.

Coach, what was the message to your team post-game?

We're just happy, you know, to do what we've done is really, really hard.

Yeah, it's hard to get to a state championship one time in your career, but to do it back to back is really hard and very proud of how they've we've overcome a lot this year with some injuries and some things.

And you know, it's a special team and we're really happy for them to have the opportunity to go back and play in Atlanta.

Coach, can't wait to catch up with you at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

A big congratulations again and good luck as you face the Sandy Creek Patriots.

Thank you.

So let's take a peek and show you the path and how things work their way out in AAA.

It is Jefferson, it is Sandy Creek, and it's the upper half of the bracket.

Look at Jefferson's path.

Catching up with Coach Nolan.

You see how it worked here.

Win over Dougherty, win over Harlem.

Then the big win over Cairo.

And then that sets up the matchup that happened tonight with Jenkins and West Lawrence West Lawrence leading rusher in the state pretty much hamstrung most of the way through.

Great season for coach Burdette and West Lawrence.

But once again you look at that left hand side of the bracket and it ends up West Lawrence making it to the semifinals.

Jefferson gets the win.

Number 3 ranked team in the state.

So Jefferson gets the win.

And they're going to take on Sandy Creek.

Sandy Creek made their way through as the number 3 seed overall.

Because remember in AAA it's power rankings.

So Sandy Creek over Cedar Grove then they beat Monroe area.

Then they beat Douglas.

And then the matchup tonight with Sandy Creek down in the low section of the bracket was against Lagrange.

Lagrange once again they beat Stevenson the week before.

Then it was over North Hall in a shootout.

I think somebody just scored in that North Hall Lagrange game again, by the way, and then beating North Clayton in the 15 18.

So let's pull it full.

Give you a look at AAA show you what happened.

Once again Sandy Creek makes it from the three Jefferson makes it as your overall number 1 seed Jefferson and Sandy Creek right now that is the last game of the year in AAA.

Number 3 Jefferson and Sandy Creek ranked number 1.

They had the power rankings flipped.

It was 1-3 It is three in one.

And that is your AAA final.

This go round.

Okay.

Well now speaking of power rankings and maybe even power lifting, we have Coach Finley on the line from Bolden.

Coach, are you in the dark?

Where are you right now.

Yeah I'm actually I'm actually going to physically drive this five hour trip back tonight.

So I'm sitting in my truck.

We came down and spent the night and so yeah, I'm in my I'm in my truck right here.

Okay.

So wait, you're in your truck.

You're driving yourself back 5 hours.

Yes, yes, I'm a I'm a I'm I'm a little bit of a control guy.

I like to know that I'm going to be there on time.

So I'd like to make sure I have a vehicle readily available.

Okay.

So, coach, real quick, before you got in your vehicle, what did you say to your team since now you're going back to back to back state final appearances at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

To back.

Did I miss that?

We told.

Our fourth one.

We told our seniors to to finish what they started.

You know, they've been to the state championship game all four years now.

We're 3-0 going into this one and we're going to try to finish what they started as ninth graders and go get a fourth one.

And we got to have a great nine days of practice leading up to the game.

How hard is it, this consistency that you've had rich, to continue to get to the last game of the year?

How difficult has this road been for this class of freshmen that are now seniors for you?

Well, it's always hard because you have to do things at a certain standard and do things the right way.

But we do have kids that are bought in to what we're doing.

Got a great, great coaching staff here, great coaches, great administration.

So things are set up in place to be successful.

It's been hard, but now, you know, here we are.

And you got nine days worth of work to put in.

To go get another one.

Coach, thanks for dropping by.

Please be safe.

And this ventriloquism, it's like.

So thanks for the safe ride.

Just get home safe, coach, and we'll catch up with you midweek, and then we'll see you at Mercedes-Benz.

Thanks again.

Thanks, coach.

Yes, sir.

Rich Findlay, the head coach at Bowden, once again making it to the last game of the year.

So, Nick.

So it's the last, last, last last game that they've made it four years in a row.

Seniors now.

No pressure to those seniors right.

None whatsoever.

So you see the highlight down here.

Low.

It is bowed in Lincoln County.

Let's follow Bowden's path tonight.

It was dominant against clinch.

It was 38-0 at one point finishes up 45-6 Bowden's path is the overall number 1.

They knock off Wilcox County to start.

They beat Washington-wilkes.

They beat Jenkins County last week.

And that set up the matchup that we had this go round against Clinch County.

Clinch County Jim Dickerson comes out of retirement to coach the Panthers in his hometown of Homerville.

Fantastic work by him coming back.

They knock off Chetco as your region champ.

Then they beat ECI, then they end up knocking off Wheeler County.

Great run for Coach Smith and everybody there in Alamo this year.

Clinch County made it to the last game on the left hand side of the bracket before losing to Bowden.

Then on class A, Division two on the right hand side.

Lincoln County advances so Lincoln County and Bowden in the championship game in class A, Division two, Lincoln County, they had beaten Brooks County to get to the game tonight in Blakely.

They did win against early County tonight.

So Lincoln County knocks off Brooks County.

And then you see here early county in their path.

Early County had knocked off Screven County.

The week before.

Early county's path was Screven Mount Zion Carroll and Greene County.

So early county had made it to the last game.

And you see down here on the low section, it's bowed in Lincoln County.

That is going to be class A Division two.

You want to talk about absolute bluebloods in class A, Division two.

That is going to be a knock down fight in that class.

Knock down fight.

Well we're actually we're going to go back to three A and Coach Nolan from Jefferson actually alluded that his next opponent, Sandy Creek that the Patriots could be a knock down, drag out.

Coach smiley, welcome to the program.

And a big congratulations.

I mean my goodness third year as a head coach John.

They went from seven wins to ten wins.

Now undefeated with 14 wins.

Coach congratulations.

You're going to the state championship this year.

How do you feel.

And it's a blessing.

I couldn't be more excited for our kids, our coaching staff, our community, our school.

It was just a great night here in Tyrone, Georgia, at Sandy Creek High School.

And you know, we we got it.

Like you said, it's it's going to be a knock down drag out with Jefferson, and it's a test that, you know, we're we're going to get prepared for us starting tomorrow.

So how difficult was it to beat a region rival twice in a year?

I mean, Lagrange finishes the season 11-3 Two of their losses were to you.

How tough was it to prepare for a team that you'd already beaten, and you pretty much knew each other's playbooks?

Yeah, it was it was kind of tough.

You know, we the first time we played them, we felt like we ran the ball a good bit, probably more than we wanted to because our running back, our star running back Amari Latimer, had 30 carries and rushed for over 200 yards.

So we felt like we had to prepare a little differently because we felt like they were going to sell out to try to stop the run.

And we came out and threw the ball pretty well.

We had two turnovers that, you know, we'll have to correct.

But outside of that, I was I was very pleased with our offense.

And then, you know, defensively you know, they we knew that they were going to throw some wrinkles in and they did.

And you know, they got us in some spots.

But, you know, that's something that to be expected this late in the year because everybody's good, you know.

And hats off to Coach Napier and the Lagrange crew.

You know, they're well coached.

Hard, hard, hard nosed, physical football team.

And, you know, I'm happy that we came out on the other side of it.

Coach, before we let you go real quick, I mean, you guys have had such excellence year after year, growing excellence, if you will.

What credit?

I mean, what do you credit for?

That gradual success to get you to where you are this year.

Oh, you know, we underachieved the last two years.

We felt like we had the talent to to make a run.

But there was some internal issues that, you know, we had to get fixed and I felt like our kids have, have worked, you know, as far back since January when we started the offseason, you know, making sure that we would do the things necessary to get us to this point.

And that's, you know, everything from academically to how we behave in the school building.

You know, we we, we've our kids have been they've they've walked the straight and narrow and, and I think it showed up every Friday night that we step out on the field.

And, you know, we just try to tell them if you're living right, good things are going to happen to you.

So and I think they're they're starting to figure that out right now.

Congratulations, coach.

The next time the Patriots take the field they'll be competing for a state championship.

We appreciate your time and good luck.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

All right.

Now we're going to have more coaches, more scores, more updates on the brackets if you will.

When we come back right here on GPB after the break we'll have more postgame show.

What she said.

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.

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People care.

Welcome into our Football Friday in Georgia Post game show presented by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, reminding you to park your phone while driving.

It saves lives, John.

Well, that's driving.

I mean, we're doing a post game show, so you're just driving a post game show.

So you see, she doesn't have her phone.

So there you go.

It's all good.

Next up we go to class A, Division one.

Find out what's going on in Sylvester.

And what's going on is a trip to the last game of the year.

Time to catch up with Jeff Hammond, the head coach of the Rams.

Coach, congratulations.

You've made it to week 15 chasing after a championship.

How does it feel?

It feels unbelievable.

It's just been one of it's been a great year.

It's been a great run.

We we we we started this season and this was what was our goal to play in Atlanta in December.

And it's came to fruition.

And now we've got to get ready to go play and be as good as we can be.

Coach, you've been on staff for some really good football programs.

Can you just describe to me, though, about this new era, if you will, of Rams football and what you've brought to the table?

Well, it was I got here four years ago and it wasn't good for several years.

They hadn't had a winning season since 2016.

Haven't been to playoffs for a long time.

And we I came in and tried to talk about this moment right now is that we're going to get there.

And trust me, I've been there everywhere I've been.

And we'll be we'll be right there.

And and our kids bought in and they believe in it.

And they put in all the work.

And it's been really good to us.

And now we have a chance to go play for and win a state championship.

That's right coach, and you'll be playing against the defending state champion in Toombs County.

What's going to be your focus these next 9-10 days?

And what's the message to your team on how they can finish the season with a win?

Well, it's one game.

I mean, it's it's just one game.

And and you can take whatever whoever both the teams there are really good football teams.

They've been there before and they've won it before and they know what the trip's going to be like.

So but we just need to focus on us and be as good as we can be and limit mistakes and play with confidence.

And don't let the stage be bigger than bigger than us.

That's right.

Coach.

Hey, the good news, coach Joey King said it on our broadcast.

The weather is going to be great, so you're going to have great weather and hopefully you can go 1-0 Well, thank God, coach, I was soaking wet.

It was miserable out there.

It rained the whole entire time.

Yeah.

So look, that's at least you got that going for you the next time you play a game.

Congratulations coach.

We look forward to cheering you on.

Thank you very much.

Jeff Hammond, the head coach at Worth County.

And you're talking about going back to the Milton Miller era 19 90-91 the last time.

So the last semifinal appearance 19:90 first time for the final since 1990 was the final 91 was the last semi.

That's the Milton Miller era that we're talking about.

Worth County, upper right hand side of the bracket.

We'll start off here in the left hand side to find out their opponent tonight was Heard County.

They were the overall number 1 seed in the power rankings knocking off East Lawrence social Circle and Fitzgerald in the 39 38 walk off field goal that Heard County had heard County tonight.

Once again it was heard County at home taking on Toombs.

Toombs, the defending champs, three times over defending champ.

And now Toombs gets the win over Northeast Macon last week.

Then they beat Thomasville, then they beat temple coach Nix.

Corey Nix has resigned at temple.

That news came out today as well.

So obviously we'll keep an eye on what's going on with the Temple Tigers.

But that got them all the way through to the last game.

Worth County played Pepperell tonight, got the win.

It was a 20 point win for Worth County.

So let's take a look at Worth County's path and show you what happened here before tonight.

It was a win over Gordon Lee.

Then it was the shootout with Bleckley County then knocking off McNair in the 330 matchup.

And so there you go.

Worth County makes their way to take on Toombs.

And that is class A Division one catching up with Jeff Hammond.

All right.

Well now we're going to move over to 4-A.

We've got Coach Mau on the line.

The Creekside Seminoles.

Now look, Mau Kell, Creekside people were talking.

This was going to be the matchup of all games to watch tonight.

You came away with the win.

How'd you get it done.

We just played swamp ball man.

Physical defense.

We ran the ball control the clock.

Didn't make a lot of turnovers.

We ended up being on top.

13-0 Turns into 14-0 coach, how difficult is it to run a season undefeated?

With what?

What you've been able to build there with that program?

We've just been taking them one every week, man.

Every week presents its own chance.

We kind of work through it together to get to Friday, where we kind of celebrate making it through the week by winning the game.

And all right, coach, well, thanks so much for coming on.

We've got tri verse cadets.

It's going to go down in class quad A. All right.

So give me the I was going to say there's one way that he always likes to talk about tribe pride.

So tribe tribe pride is what that's the proper send off that we got for Coach Dixon.

All right.

Let's take a peek at the quad.

A bracket, show you how things are with quad A, and here's the rundown.

Once again, it is Creekside and Benedictine.

Let's take a peek.

You see Creekside Path once again knocking off Kell tonight.

Before then it was Lithonia with a win where County with a win.

And then it was Dalton with win.

Dominant offensive numbers that we've seen from Creekside this season twice scoring more than 70 once scoring more than 90.

And you've done that.

And so it's been 35 points in the postseason last handful of weeks Benedictine hangs on to knock off Marist tonight 28-20 And Marist had come back in the second half.

Benedictine wins by eight.

Creekside and Benedictine Benedictine over Marist Central Carroll by Cass and East Forsyth.

So it's the top two in those brackets.

Upper left and upper right, Creekside and Benedictine.

Your quad, a final.

All right, John.

Well, we're nearing towards the end, but we still have some more scores and brackets coming up.

You'll want to keep it right here on GPB.

We're not done yet, you guys.

We're not done yet.

We'll see you here.

Right back here in just a few.

Don't go anywhere.

Maybe come back and get.

Some.

It.

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.

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All right.

Welcome back in our Football Friday in Georgia post game show presented by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.

John, parking your phone while driving a save lives.

Right now we're driving.

You're driving a post game show.

And you're about to drive and use.

My phone.

I'll drive a bracket.

All right, let's take a take a peek at the private class.

Three A through single, a private bracket show you what the championship game is going to look like there.

And it's the two at the bottom.

One of the surprises of the night comes from Calvary Day.

Going to Fellowship Christian and getting the early lead hanging on.

Jason Cameron gets the win.

Calvary day makes it to the last game of the year, winning 24 seven.

Great season for fellowship Christian.

We were monitoring that one all night long.

Calvary day knocks off Whitfield Academy.

Then before that they knock off Kings Ridge.

They had the first round bye.

So Calvary Day with their win tonight over Fellowship Christian 247.

Make it to the last game of the year.

Hebron Christian rolls tonight 50-24 over GHC.

Great season for the Spartans in in Gwinnett County, but Hebron Christian once again 50 on the board tonight before tonight it was a win over Prince Avenue Christian.

It was a win over Trinity Christian and a first round bye as the number 2 seed.

So it's the two at the bottom.

Calvary day in Hebrew and Christian.

The number 3, the number 4 seed in the overall and the number 2 seed in the overall.

It's the two and the four because I'm thinking rankings and power rankings and I'm getting them all blown together here.

So Calvary Day ranked number 3 in the overall.

Hebron Christian ranked number 1.

So it's the two and the four in the power rankings.

But the one and the three in the rankings.

So there you go.

It is Calvary Day and Hebron Christian in your bracket.

Well, and not to confuse you, but to keep this party going.

Tonight we we have the 6-A semifinal matchup, which Carrollton, of course, was ranked number 1.

So take it away, Nelly.

Yes.

So Carrollton ranked number 3 depending on your poll and you have a Carrollton and they get the win tonight.

Buford.

Right now, depending on the poll ranked number 2 in the state.

So number 2 and number 3 Carrollton gets the win tonight here on GPB knocking off North Gwinnett once again 48 13.

The final score there Joey King and the Trojans rolling offensively.

And part of that is with a freshman quarterback.

Well they had two quarterbacks.

Yes one of them one of them's a freshman the other a senior.

So you have both ends of the spectrum.

You have the youngest one.

You have the oldest one there for Carrollton getting the win tonight by 35 over North Gwinnett.

Great season for the Bulldogs on the left hand side of the bracket.

Before that it was beating Grayson the number 1 team in the country.

Then you're the number 1 team in the country now.

There it is.

And so you end up with Carrollton beating Grayson, Carrollton beating Harrison Carrollton beating North Forsyth.

And they win tonight against North Gwinnett.

So they come out of the left hand side of the bracket.

Buford dominant tonight.

It was 11.

Nothing at the break in Valdosta.

They would roll 397.

The final score there.

So Buford comes out of the low right.

They knock off Valdosta.

They knock off Douglas County.

They beat Newton and they beat Richmond Hill in the one four early on.

So it is Carrollton and Buford one of the most anticipated matchups that you got to see in all of high school football in the state.

And that is going to be the championship game in 6-A.

And that's how we're going to wrap up night.

Number 2.

There you go.

Okay.

Well, speaking of two let's go to two a this one came down to the very last possession.

We're talking about hateful charter.

Sumter County went to overtime John.

Walk us through it.

Hapeville charter gets the win in the overtime period.

They score in the top half of the OT.

Bottom half of the OT, Sumter County.

They fumble the football.

Hateful charter recovers and it's going to be a fun ride home for Winston Gordon and the jackets tonight.

Hateful charter advances to the last game of the year.

Great season for Will Rogers and Sumter County out of America.

So hateful charter has done it on the road.

They go to Americus and knock off Sumter County.

They go to Morgan County and beat them as well, coming through as the number 4 seed in the power rankings.

Before that, it was Appling County where they had to travel to Baxley as the number 12 seed.

So they had a home game.

Then they go to Baxley, then they go to Morgan County, then they go to Americus, $0.55 a mile.

That is a lot of gasoline that you put in the car.

Hateful charter makes it through and they prevent the rematch of the region title involving Carver, Columbus and Sumter County.

Carver, Columbus.

They put up a number tonight on Burke County.

It was 20-7 early finished up 33-14 So Carver Columbus beats Burke County beats Thompson beat Stevens County and then they beat Redan in the 330.

So Carver Columbus comes through.

Hapeville charter comes through.

And so Carver Columbus ranked number 1.

But number 3 in the power rankings takes on number 7 ranked Hapeville charter and number 12 in the Power rankings.

That's your AA final at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

That's okay.

Well, speaking of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, I feel like a lot of viewers might assume that's the next time they're going to see us.

But that's not true.

Not so fast, my friend.

Where's my Ticonderoga.

Number 2?

Because if you were paying attention to John, specifically, 5-A bracket is not complete.

It is not complete.

That means on Thursday.

Drum roll please.

Hit it.

Woo woo woo.

This is our next televised game.

That's right.

We are going to televise Gainesville at Rome.

Thursday, December 11th at 7:30 P.M.. So 5-A, they're going to be playing their semifinal games this Thursday, and we'll be on location.

At Barron Stadium.

It's been host to championship games in the past in the Naia and Gainesville.

After winning tonight against Langston Hughes, they go on the road again.

Now they're going to Rome for the semifinal in 5-A.

Let's lay it all out for you and let you see where the 5-A bracket currently is.

Left hand side it's Roswell and Thomas County Central.

That's going to be the left hand side that you're focused on.

But now that Gainesville has won, it is going to be Gainesville and Rome.

Right hand side of the bracket.

Gainesville winning tonight.

Rome was waiting after their win over Jackson County last week.

So Rome was at home.

Was a poet.

Didn't know it.

They end up playing Gainesville next week on GPB and it's going to be Thursday Wednesday.

So remember the championship games in 5-A and 6-A have flipped.

So the 6-A title game is now going to be Tuesday as your nightcap.

The 5-A title game is going to be your Wednesday end of the week nightcap.

Wednesday is going to be 5-A.

So right hand side of the bracket.

Gainesville travels to Rome.

Next up on GPB from Barron.

Left hand side of the bracket.

Roswell gets to go to the jackets nest to take on Thomas County Central.

That is going to be a packed house.

And once again, the conversations that Nikki and I have when it comes to Thomas County Central, the most important man in the building might be the fire marshal.

It's going to sound like a lot of bees in that stadium.

Thompson Brusuelas.

Yes, Nikki.

And you know, Justin Rodgers once again, when they make a rule about your noise makers in the GHSA.

Absolutely.

It is going to be something.

It would not surprise me if if Roswell at practice tried to artificially create that kind of noise.

So you get used to it.

You know what?

It's right down the road from my house.

Maybe I'll just go post up outside the fieldhouse and see what I can do.

Do you have a vuvuzela?

No, but I can find one that's in a milk jug.

I'll have a vuvuzela.

A vuvuzela v u v u. In one hand, and then I'll have a milk jug in the other.

And I'm just gonna.

You know, why not?

Hey.

So I feel like Coach Rodgers will appreciate it too.

Nicki Noto Palmer, comma noise maker.

She gets to put that on her CV this week when it comes to Roswell and Thomas County Central and on the left hand side, Gainesville has made their way through, knocking off Hughes at home, one of the most difficult places to play over the last handful of years.

Great season for Andrico Hines, and I know that if you're a fan of Hughes, it ended far too soon.

But Gainesville continues their path and it's going to be on the road.

John Reed and the Rome Wolves next up in the semis.

That's right.

So be sure to tune in this Thursday.

I'm going to repeat it this Thursday, December 11th, 7:30 P.M.

GPB is heading to Rome to air the 5-A semifinal game.

Remember, it's the semifinal game.

Gainesville at Rome.

We'll see you there.

Good night everybody.

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.

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Jasper?

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What?

I think cotton would have been a better choice.

Cotton.

Yeah, it's come a long way.

You know, nowadays, cotton breeze and wicks moisture.

Great.

Plus, buying cotton means supporting Georgia farmers.

I think that's wonderful.

Okay, sure.

But what do you think about the putt?

O. It's really hadn't thought about it.

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