Newnan survived the upset bid from North Gwinnett, handling the Bulldogs’ high-powered offense in a 20-3 win. This Friday, the Cougars will host the visiting Camden County Wildcats, who are trying to win their first title since 2003.
On a wet field last Friday, Newnan was able to shut down North’s spread-option attack, which is a good balance of run and pass. Camden, however, will test the Cougars’ run ‘D’ like it hasn’t been tested this season. Daniel Valdez and Greg Baker make up a potent running tandem, as each of them scored in the fourth quarter to help fight off a Woodstock team that was trying to pull the upset of the millennium thus far. Usually dominant in Kingsland, Camden County barely escaped with a win last week against a heavy underdog Woodstock team, 18-17.
Thanks to Grayson, the winner of this game won’t have to deal with defending champion Lowndes in the final game. Lowndes eliminated Camden County last year in the semifinals, and the Vikings are deadly on the artificial turf of the Georgia Dome due to their speed. The winner of Newnan-Camden will face up with one of two Gwinnett teams, the aforementioned Grayson or Peachtree Ridge, which is coming off a 38-0 destruction of an excellent Coffee team.
Newnan is trying to win the first state championship in school history; the Cougars won their ninth overall region title earlier this season, but coach Robert Herring and team are looking for more. Newnan did make it to the semifinals under Herring in 2003, where they lost to—who else?—Camden County by the score of 20-10. Camden went on to win its only state championship to date; the Wildcats want another one this year to make it known that they are indeed an elite program.
Catch this game on your local Georgia Public Broadcasting affiliate this Friday night, with coverage starting at 7 p.m.
Ewalt can be reached at aewalt@scoreatl.com.
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