They call him ‘Air’ and for good reason. Langston Hughes quarterback Prentiss Noland has done a lot of damage through it. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound junior entered the Class 6A state title game against Gainesville having passed for 3,832 yards and 52 touchdowns. In the 35-28 victory over the Red Elephants, he surpassed the 4,000 yard mark on 12-of-21 passing for 263 yards and three touchdowns to lead Hughes to its first title.
“Air is a player, man,” Hughes head coach Daniel Williams said. “He’s a pro. The team follows him. He was calm, so the team was calm, and we finished.”
But without a crucial kickoff returned for a touchdown from Jekail Middlebrook with :10 left in the third quarter and Hughes nursing a 29-21 lead, momentum could have easily shifted.
Hughes took a 3-0 lead after a Josh Solano field goal and Gainesville tied the game on a 20-yard field goal from Eric Guerra. Noland passed to Jelani Thurman on a 20-yard touchdown pass to retake the lead for Hughes. Guerra kicked a 28-yard field goal to cut into the Hughes lead, 9-6.
Hughes extended the lead on a 15-yard pass from Noland Jekail Middlebrook with :25 seconds left in the first half and then again with :11 seconds left on a 18-yard pass from Noland to Jaden Barnes.
“Just finish the drill,” Noland said. “That’s it. We had two more quarters to finish our assignment, and those two scores (at the end of the half) got us over the hump.”
Gainesville quarterback Baxter Wright scored on a 2-yard run with 7:54 left in the third quarter to trail 23-13. Noland’s 1-yard touchdown run with 4:01 left in the third quarter put Hughes up 29-13. Wright passed to Travien Watson on a 7-yard touchdown to cut into the lead before Middlebrook’s 72-yard kickoff return, which put Hughes up 35-21. Gainesville scored on a 10-yard pass from Wright to Watson with 3:59 left in the game, but could not overcome the deficit.
“That was the thing — resiliency in the end,” Williams said. “We had a lot of guys cramping, a lot of injuries. We just fought through and were able to finish this time.”
See the earlier games below.
Friday’s GHSA state championship triple-header kicked off with the Class 2A finals and Thomson defeated defending state champion Fitzgerald 32-27 to take home their sixth state championship in school history. Both teams traded punches to maintain a one-score margin game until Thomson’s Jontavious Curry exploded in the fourth quarter. Fitzgerald ran twice as many plays (67-to-32), had two more red zone opportunities, and twice as much time of possession as Thomson, but it didn’t matter. The explosiveness of Thomson was apparent in this game. They had four touchdowns of 50+ yards in the championship game. Fitzgerald tied the game 14-14 with a Sylon Davis 2-yard touchdown run, but Jordan Lane took the ensuing kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown to put the Bulldogs up 20-14 at the break.
The Hurricanes struck first in the second half thanks to two forced fumbles by their defense. Ty Solomon ran it in for a touchdown from six yards out late in the third quarter and Fitzgerald regained the lead and had all the momentum at 21-20. Fitzgerald spread the wealth as seven ball carriers took carries throughout the game. Sultan Cooper threw for 86 yards and two touchdowns, and Fitzgerald ran for 178 yards.
It was several critical plays for the Thomson defense that turned the game. On a 4th-and-3 with 8:45 left in the 4th quarter, Marcellus Brigham made a massive tackle to stop Fitzgerald and not yield any points when the Hurricane offense was in Bulldog territory. Curry had a 61-yard touchdown run to help Thomson regain the lead.
Another colossal play for Thomson defense came late in the fourth quarter as the Hurricanes faced a vital 3rd-and-14. Cervutes Felts had a huge sack that forced Fitzgerald to punt and gave the ball back to the Thomson offense to put their final stamp on the game. Curry, a two-sport athlete, was an absolute monster on the offensive side of the ball. Curry had 17 carries for 244 yards and four touchdowns. His final touchdown was the dagger. Curry went 86 yards for the score and converted two critical 3rd-and-11’s on the Bulldogs’ final drive to end the hopes for Fitzgerald. The Thomson offense struggled in the second half and relied on Curry’s gamebreaking plays. The offense turned the ball over on consecutive possessions as the weather became a factor in the game. Jahkius Jones couldn’t hang on to the ball as he coughed it up twice in this game. The offensive line was the difference and elite running ability of Curry. Curry talked about the dagger run that ended the game.
“It was fun. Coach told us to go out there and have fun, and that is what we did no matter what the weather was.,” said Curry. “I told myself I have to score, which is the one that sealed the deal. It was a nice moment for me.”
The win gives Thomson its first state championship since 2002.
Class 4A
Benedictine 14, Cedartown 13
Defending state champion Benedictine stopped Cedartown on five-straight goal-line plays from the 1-yard line to close out an unforgettable 14-13 victory as rain poured down at Center Parc Stadium. Top-ranked Cedartown came into the game undefeated and was 1-yard shy of winning the program’s first state title since 1963. The defenses for both teams dominated throughout the game, with big hits and key stops and Benedictine’s goal-line stand was the capstone on one of the most thrilling finishes seen this season.
“I feel great and I’m so proud of these guys and what they have overcome to make it back-to-back,” said Benedictine head coach Danny Britt. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a game quite like that for the defense to come back and rise up like they did is unbelievable. …I’m so proud of them. We lost a big group last year and this team came back hungry and to have this type of success is unbelievable. …Resilience is what this group is about. We’ve been through a lot of adversity and they refused to let it stop them and you saw it there at the end.”
Neither offense was able to get in a rhythm for most of the first half and the game’s first scoring opportunity came on a 46-yard field goal attempt by Asher Sigmon that bounced off the right upright and failed to get the Cadets on the board. Benedictine finally broke the scoreless game open in the final minute of the half on a trick play that saw starting quarterback Luke Kromenhoek hand off to Houston Jackson on the reverse and the backup quarterback (Jackson) throwing a perfect 19-yard touchdown pass to Za’Quan Bryan to make it 7-0 at the half.
Benedictine received to open the second half and marched down the field and extended the lead to 14-0 with a Rasean Matthews touchdown run. From then on, however, Cedartown’s defense shutdown the Cadets, forced turnovers and it would be up to the Benedictine defense to hold off the Bulldogs and earn the victory. Cedartown quarterback Reece Tanner cut the deficit to 14-7 late in the third quarter on a 1-yard run. Eli Barrow led Cedartown’s defense in tackles and Harlem Diamond and Carlos Jones came up with forced fumbles to ultimately set up another Tanner 1-yard touchdown run with 4:53 left, but the Bulldogs missed the PAT and trailed 14-13.
Benedictine attempted a fake punt from its own 28 yard line and was stopped a yard short and Cedartown took over and marched down to the 1-yard line where the Cadets held strong for the victory. Cedartown outgained Benedictine 280-to196 in total yards with 243 coming on the ground. Benedictine gained 96 rushing yards off 31 carries and Kromenhoek finished 8-of-18 passing for 100 yards. Patrick Gardner, a 5-foot-11, 260-pound running back finished with a game-high 101 yards off 20 carries, but was stopped along with Tanner on the final drive. Benedictine’s Wilkes Albert (20) and Keiran Glover (18) combined for 38 tackles.
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