Grayson snubs Carrollton; Calhoun, Stephenson beat Jefferson; Njoku leads McEachern past Lambert for first flag championship; Gess, Hebron down PACS

GHSA HC Jake Burgdorf top-left, McEachern QB Chelsea Njoku (No. 0) laying, center.

The closing day of the GHSA Football State Championships at Mercedes-Benz Stadium highlighted the ending of the seasons for Division 4 of flag football and Classes 1A-3A Private, 3A and 6A of tackle football.

Follow the links to see Monday’s championship recaps, Tuesday’s championship recaps or see the flag football and tackle football brackets. See the championship recaps from Wednesday below.

Class 6A – Grayson 38, Carrollton 24

Grayson spoiled Carrollton’s perfect season and won its fourth state title in four tries with a 38-24 victory in the Class 6A championship. The Rams received the opening kickoff and marched down the field in an up-tempo 11-play 80-yard drive that was capped by a 17-yard touchdown pass from Travis Burgess to Cam Washington. Grayson’s offensive pace was relentless from the opening drive and the Rams ended the game with a 3-0 turnover advantage, while running 79 plays offensively. After forcing Carrollton into a three-and-out, Grayson capped a 10-play drive with a 37-yard field goal by Ricardo Martinez to take a 10-0 lead. Carrollton answered with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Julian Lewis to Ryan Mosely on its next offensive possession and after forcing a Grayson punt, took a 14-10 lead with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Lewis to Cooley.

Carrollton expanded the lead with a 29-yard field goal by Carlos Hernandez with 10:17 left in the half. Grayson answered with a 15-play 93-yard scoring drive that was capped with a 5-yard touchdown run by Elijah Miller with 3:03 left in the half. The ensuing PAT tied the game at 17-17, but also resulted in Texas-signee Nick Brooks getting ejected after being flagged for a personal foul. Brooks—who was in as a lineman on the point after try had a Carrollton defender around his ankle after the play. When he went to pull his leg free, the referee perceived the motion as kicking the Carrollton opponent and they ejected him.

“The way the kids handled adversity throughout the entire season is incredible,” said Grayson head coach Santavious Bryant after winning the state title.

Later in the first half, the teams traded possessions and Carrollton’s Peyton Zackary had a 55-yard punt return touchdown called back for a holding penalty and the teams went into the locker room tied 17-17—in part to a clutch sack by Tyler Atkinson when Carrollton was attempting to get into field goal range before the break.  Grayson ran 48 plays to Carrollton’s 31 in the first half and outgained the Trojans 258-to-215. On the ground, Kimauri Farmer led Carrollton with all 55 yards of first half rushing yards off nine carries. Grayson’s ground game was distributed with Burgess accounting for 61 yards off of six carries and Elijah Miller accounting for 35 yards and a touchdown off of 12 carries. Burgess finished the half 14-of-23 passing for 141 yards and Lewis led Carrollton with 14-of-19 passing for 174 yards.

Grayson forced Carrollton into a 3-and-out to start the third quarter and faced a fourth-and-1 at midfield when Miller took it 45 yards to the 2-yard line after bouncing outside and finding space behind great perimeter blocking from Jonathan Stafford to set up a touchdown run by Ashton Turner. The Rams’ quick, six-play, 55-yard scoring drive gave Grayson its first lead since the opening quarter at 24-17.

Carrollton used a flea flicker that Lewis completed to AJ McNeil for a 39-yard gain and continued the trickery on third and goal with a pop pass with 6:54 left that Kamari Farmer to No. 0 Zion Cooley to tie it at 24-24.

Grayson went three-and-out and punted to Zachary—who set up Carrollton at midfield with 5:30 left in the third quarter. Atkinson came up with a crucial stop on third down and Carrollton attempted a 43-yard field goal that hit the middle of the cross bar and gave the ball back to Grayson with 4:15 left in the third quarter still tied 24-24.

Burgess found Joel Bradford for a 33-yard gain to set up Miller for a 3-yard touchdown to give Grayson a 31-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Carrollton’s Lewis was intercepted by Vaughn Mitchom in back-to-back drives and Grayson got the ball back with 5:43 left near the Carrollton 35-yard line after the big return. Grayson was forced into a 4th and 1 with 3:41 left and Miller cashed it in for his third touchdown on a 25-yard carry to ice the game.

Class 3A – Calhoun 20, Jefferson 7

Calhoun head coach Clay Stephenson took over the job in 2019 trying to fill some pretty big shoes. Hal Lamb retired after the 2018 season when the Yellow Jackets finished 13-1 and fell in the semifinals. But Lamb was a three-time state championship winning coach and led Calhoun to a region championship in every season from 2001, his second year at the helm, until 2018.

A living legend, of sorts.

Continuing Lamb’s legacy of a championship-caliber program and somehow appeasing a fanbase that was, to put it simply, very used to winning, was not the easiest job to walk into.

When Stephenson failed to secure the region title in 2019 and lost in the second round of the playoffs, the program’s earliest exit since 2007’s second round appearance, whispers might’ve started. But quarterfinals appearances in 2020 and 2022 bracketed a Class 5A finals loss in 2021 and quelled those murmurs.

Last season, when the Yellow Jackets finished 6-4 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1999, Lamb’s first season at Calhoun, the noise was loud.

But after the Yellow Jackets outlasted Jefferson 20-7 in the Class 3A championship game – fueled by a freshman quarterback and a steadfast defense that forced three interceptions in the fourth quarter — Stephenson will carry the program’s fifth title and his first back to Calhoun.

“It’s awesome,” Stephenson said. “I am so proud of these guys in black and gold down here, they did all the work. But our Calhoun community supported us for a long time. Our cheerleaders, our band. Our administration and the fans showed up.”

Trace Hawkins, Calhoun’s freshman quarterback, was 16-of-25 passing for 184 yards and rushed for 47 yards and a 21-yard touchdown run. The Yellow Jackets went ahead on the first drive of the game, a 5-play, 65-yarder capped by a 23-yard run from Hudson Chadwick.

Hawkins’ 21-yard run pushed the lead to 14-0 with 5:11 left in the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, Jefferson quarterback Gavin Markey, who was fighting injuries throughout the game which dampened his impact, scored on a 3-yard run to cut into the lead.

Carlos Lopez kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired to send Calhoun into the locker room nursing a 17-7 advantage. Lopez kicked a 48-yard field goal to cap scoring with 3:15 left in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Jake Jordan and Hunter White made key interceptions to secure the victory. One of Jordan’s interceptions was a self-tipped effort in the end zone to help thwart any comeback from Jefferson.

“We want to make sure those guys understand that their purpose is far greater than what we do on a Wednesday afternoon or a Friday night,” Stephenson said. “And our purpose tonight was to come here and win this and that’s what we did.”

The Yellow Jackets won their first state championship in 1952 under head coach Lindy McGhee. Lamb secured his first in 2011, the program’s second, and won championships in 2014 and 2017. If the Stephenson-era at Calhoun wasn’t solidified entering the season.

It is now.

“A lot of blood, sweat and tears go into Game 15,” Stephenson said. “And to come out on top, just proud of those guys.”

Division 4 Flag Football Championship – McEachern 26, Lambert 6

It was really McEachern’s championship to lose all season. And in the Division 4 championship game – led by Miss Georgia Football Chelsea Njoku, the state’s passing leader – the Indians had little issues in winning the program’s first-ever championship.

“It’s been amazing,” Njoku told GPB’s Jon Nelson after the game. “We have worked so hard throughout the whole season and offseason. We have a great coaching staff and players, and everyone is so dedicated and eager to win.”

McEachern finished off its undefeated season (28-0) with the 26-6 victory against Lambert and finally earned the elusive state championship after losing in the quarterfinals in each of the past four seasons.

“It feels so good,” said McEachern head coach Jake Burgdorf. “We have been working since June for this moment. The goal was never to be undefeated, it was to take it game-by-game and play-by-play and the results took care of themselves.”

In 2020-21, the Indians lost to eventual champion West Forsyth 35-0 in the quarterfinals of what was then the Class 6A-7A playoffs. In 2021-22, McEachern fell again in the quarterfinals, this time to runner-up Marietta 19-7. In 2022-23, the Indians made another quarterfinals appearance before losing to runner-up Milton 26-20. Sequoyah upended the Indians 14-12 in the Division 3 quarterfinals last season.

Against Lambert in the Division 4 final, Njoku – who entered the game 376-of-641 passing for 4,539 yards and 75 touchdowns – was 17-of-21 passing for 211 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way.

“It was a little different,” Njoku said of Lambert’s defense. “We had never seen a Cover 2 defense, so I was a little nervous at first. We didn’t score on the first drive and my coach pulled me over and told me what to look for and what I needed to see. So, on the second drive we went out there and scored. He kind of told me to get out of my head.”

She was named the Player of the Game for her performance. Njoku leads a senior class that will be hard to replace, but the championship experience for the juniors and underclassmen will be paramount when the Indians rebuild or reload in the offseason.

“This group of seniors, most of them started as sophomores and quite frankly, they’ve only lost one regular season game in three years,” Burgdorf said. “They are used to the success and they just had to get over the hump and be here. And we did it.”

The Indians led 6-0 at the half after a 12-yard pass from Njoku to Cayley Windham put McEachern ahead with six minutes left in the second quarter. Showing a bit of offensive flair with the play-calling, the Indians pushed the lead on a short touchdown pass from Tami Chatwood to Milka Feleke with 4:35 in the third quarter to lead 13-0.

“The support at the school has just been phenomenal,” Burgdorf said of the crowd presence and administrative support.

Lambert got on the board with a 24-yard pass from Abby Flynt to Parker Whipple with 9:35 left in the game. But Njoku put the Indians ahead 19-6 on a 59-yard pass to Desirae Holley with 6:40 left and Chatwood added a short touchdown run with 2:46 remaining to put the game out of reach.

“Coming down to the ‘Benz today, we had a pep rally coming out and we just felt the love,” Burgdorf said. “And we fed off that energy and found a way to get it done today.”

Class 1A-3A Private – Hebron Christian 56, Prince Avenue Christian 28

Hebron Christian Head Coach Jonathan Gess has built another powerhouse in Dacula, claiming his seventh title and his first since winning five straight championships from 2015-2019 at Eagles Landing Christian.

That run of championships is the only one of its kind in state history.

The Lions got revenge over Prince Avenue Christian in dominant fashion, winning  56-28, to claim their first state title in program history after losing to the Wolverines in the final game of the regular season, 34-31.

“I brought in a vision and work ethic,” Gess said. “I brought some amazing coaches who came alongside me and built this program with me. I then had this group of seniors who bought into the process.”

Through half of the first quarter, the game looked like it was going to be a defensive battle, with the teams trading punts on both of their first possessions. Prince Avenue’s second drive looked much like the first, with the Wolverines going three-and-out. However, a bad snap on the punt gave the Lions the ball on the Wolverines’ 40-yard line.

On the ensuing play, Hebron running back Devon Caldwell took the handoff 40 yards for the touchdown. On the next play from scrimmage, in his first snap of the game, Prince Avenue quarterback Ben Musser kept the ball and scored from 80 yards out to tie the game.

In the first long drive of the game, Hebron drove 53 yards in 12 plays, taking up nearly seven minutes to regain the lead on a seven-yard Thomas Stallworth touchdown with 1:33 left in the first quarter, a lead the Lions never relinquished.

The Wolverines once again went three-and-out on their next drive, taking only 1:16 off the clock and putting their defense back on the field. On the first play of the drive, Stallworth found Jarvis Mathurin for a 41-yard pass, getting the Lions down to the Prince Avenue 12 yard line. Two plays later, Caldwell found the end zone for the second time, extending the lead to 21-7.

After another short Prince Avenue drive, Jarvis Mathurin found the end zone on a 50-yard run. Soon after, Devon Caldwell scored his third touchdown of the half from 30 yards out, extending the lead to 35-7. On the ensuing Wolverines drive, Musser started the team’s first extended drive. He found C.J. Dockery from eight yards out to cap off the 80-yard drive and cut the lead to 35-14.

After halftime, the two teams traded touchdown drives. The Lions started scoring with a two-play, 50-yard drive capped off by a Stallworth three-yard rushing touchdown. The Wolverines then answered with a five-play, 59-yard drive capped off by a 38-yard Musser touchdown run, cutting the lead to 42-21. The Lions added another touchdown of the third quarter on another Stallworth quarterback sneak.

To start the fourth, Musser cut the lead to 21 with his third rushing touchdown of the day. Though the Lions did not score on their next drive, the nine-play, nearly five-minute drive all but sealed the game. One final touchdown with less than a minute remaining to put a final exclamation on the Lions championship.

Caldwell was named the player of the game, rushing for 180 yards and scoring three touchdowns. Alongside him, quarterback Stallworth threw for 172 yards and rushed for 84 yards, scoring four rushing touchdowns. On the Prince Avenue side, Musser accounted for nearly the entire Wolverines’ offensive production, throwing for 159 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 176 yards and three touchdowns.

“This is a culmination of all the work that has gone on in year one and year two,” Gess said. “And now we are state champions in year three.”

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