TUCKER
Bryan Lamar has continued building Tucker’s winning culture since taking over the Tigers’ head coaching job last season. Tucker claimed the 2008 and 2011 state championships (the school’s only state titles) under Franklin Stephens, who leads this year’s Class AA finalist Lamar County. Lamar’s Tigers willed their way past defending-champion Gainesville 20-14 in the semifinals after incurring an early 14-0 deficit.
The defense turned in a memorable performance, forcing Gainesville quarterback Deshaun Watson to a career-high four interceptions. Dominick Sanders scored the game-winning touchdown on a six-yard run with 2:22 left to play. The game-winning 11-play drive was comprised of only running plays. With linemen like 6-foot-5, 295-pound four-star Elisha Shaw, the Tigers can take comfort in pounding the football and keeping defenses on their heals as quarterback Joe Farrar takes shots to his playmakers.
Farrar ran for two touchdowns in Tucker’s 29-0 win over Ware County in the quarterfinals. In the second-half comeback over Gainesville, Farrar relied on his arm in completing 3-of-4 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. Earlier in the season, Farrar kept the Tigers’ perfect season alive with a 35-yard Hail Mary to Nekyle Lundie that gave Tucker its 31-28 victory over region-rival Stephenson.
Defensively, Tucker has one of the best units in the state. Ware County gained just three first downs in the quarterfinals and Duke Shelley returned an interception 80 yards for a score. UGA-commit Detric Dukes is a star at linebacker and had a huge sack in the semis that forced Gainesville into a long field goal attempt that fell short. Tucker uses a variety of ways to produce big plays and through the Tigers’ first 11 games this year, they already had scored 15 non-offensive touchdowns.
CREEKSIDE
Olten Downs and his coaching staff have done an incredible job during their first season with the Seminoles. Downs came to Creekside after leading Riverside to a 7-4 record in 2012, and has the Seminoles in the state championship for the first time in school history. Their 14 wins this season are a new school record. The Seminoles opened the season with a tight 16-14 win over Langston Hughes but have erupted offensively since, averaging 43.5 points per game.
The defense has matched the offensive success by allowing just 12.4 points per game with a pair of shutouts this season. In the playoffs, the Seminoles have been unstoppable in scoring more than 40 points in all four games and winning by an average margin of 31.5 points. In a 55-10 rout of previously-unbeaten Kell in the semifinals, senior Dexter Knox rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns and junior Bricen Terry raced for 123 yards and three touchdowns.
In the 41-14 win over North Paulding in the quarterfinals it was Knox again, as he rushed for 197 yards, scored four touchdowns and caught four passes for 48 yards. North Paulding entered the quarterfinals averaging 43.6 points per game and Creekside’s defense was able to hold them to less than 27 points (14 points) for the first time all season. In the second round, Knox scored both of his rushing touchdowns in the second half to lift Creekside to a 42-21 win over Harris County.
Quarterback Felix Harper threw three touchdown passes; two to Jayson Stanley and one to Evan Berry. Knox, twins Evan and Elliott Berry and Cameron Jackson can spark plays on either side of the football. Elliott took his only carry of the semifinals in for an 80-yard touchdown. Evan, who came up big offensively in the quarterfinals, hauled in an interception and recovered a fumble in the semifinals.
THE MATCHUP….
In this battle of unbeatens, both teams bring explosive playmakers and advantageous defenses capable of turning miscues into quick, momentum-changing plays. Creekside had four one-play scoring drives against Kell that resulted in a 55-10 blowout and the most lopsided semifinals game since 2006. Dexter Knox had three of the one-play scores on touchdown runs of 39, 12 and 51 yards. Elliott Berry’s 80-yard run was the fourth one-and-done of the game. Special teams could make a difference between these evenly-matched opponents and Tucker holds some key pieces. The Tigers averaged nearly one kick return touchdown per game this season by Dominick Sanders or Duke Shelley. In the kicking game, the Tigers have senior Eric Weber handling the duties. Weber set the DeKalb County scoring record for a kicker this season and will have a chance to continue to add to his record 96 points in the state championship.
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