Friday’s Class 4A Championship game between Region 6 mates and longtime DeKalb County rivals Marist and Tucker will mark their second meeting of the season. Marist (13-1) gave Tucker its only loss, 38-0, back on Sept. 26, but the Tigers are looking at this game as more than just an opportunity for revenge. A win would give the Tigers their first-ever state football championship and would make Tucker the first DeKalb public school football team to win a state championship since Southwest DeKalb in 1995. “It’s not about revenge. For us, it’s about winning a state championship,” said Tucker head coach Franklin Stephens. “That’s what this program has worked for. That’s what this community has worked for. That’s what this administration has worked for. It’s not about Marist, it just so happens that we have to play them.”
Tigers quarterback Chris Beck, who helped key Tucker’s 34-0 semifinal win over Griffin with touchdown runs of 66 and 34 yards, recognizes the opportunity to play the War Eagles once more, but is not harping on it. “We have a second chance that a lot of people don’t get,” Beck said. “But it doesn’t matter that it’s Marist, we’ve got to play hard.”
Tucker (13-1) also got touchdown runs from Jonathan Davis, Drayton Allen-Calhoun and Devin Scott in its win over the Bears. The Tigers have been on a roll throughout the playoffs, beating Whitewater by 26, Hillgrove by 33, and Westside-Macon by 11 before facing Griffin. Stephens is happy that his team has earned the opportunity to play for the state title. “Our kids have worked hard. They fought through injuries, they fought through inexperience and they deserve to be here,” he said. “They’ve worked their butts off, the coaches have worked their butts off. We have one more game to play and we’re going to see what happens.”
While Tucker was spending a good part of its Friday night semifinal matchup counting down the minutes until a berth in the title game was official, Marist was not sure if its season would extend to next week’s final game at the Georgia Dome. The War Eagles fell behind visiting Rome 14-0 and needed a 4-yard wide receiver reverse from Kevin Allman to score the game’s final points and get the win 19-7 as time expired. “It’s just a credit to our kids for hanging tough. We had more adversity against us in one ball game than I have ever seen before,” said War Eagle head coach Alan Chadwick. “Three fumbles, two blocked punts, long runs for touchdowns against us, overthrown passes and penalties, a number of times we could have just closed the tent and said the heck with it, and we didn’t. We just kept fighting and clawing and found a way in the end.”
Marist, which will be looking for its third state title, will come into the matchup ranked higher than Tucker and has the 38-point victory from the two team’s first meeting in hand. But the War Eagles have not been as dominant in their playoff run. After beating Northgate 42-0 and Sequoyah 28-12, the DeKalb private school had to hang on to beat Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 34-33 before coming from behind to beat Rome. “We have not played as well these last few weeks, particularly on the offensive side of the ball,” Chadwick said. “We’ve turned the ball over and it’s just that kind of year where when you do that, you’re going to get beat or you’re going to have a real close ball game.”
As for whether or not Marist’s earlier victory over Tucker is a positive or negative for the War Eagles, Chadwick says only time will tell. “I think that remains to be seen,” he said. “It depends on how we approach this game. This is not the same Tucker team we played earlier in the year.”
The Marist coach has noticed the Tigers’ improvement over the course of the season. “They got some people back (from injury) and they’re playing healthier now. They’re playing better and with a confidence and toughness,” Chadwick said. “Their defense is playing lights out right now and their offense has settled down and done a better job blocking.”
Likewise, Stephens speaks highly of the War Eagles. “Marist will have the upper hand. The kids have kind of been there before. They’ve been in big games and they beat us pretty soundly early in the year,” Stephens said. “So, we’ve got to go and look at some things and figure out what we’re going to do.”
With such a rich recent history between these two teams, Friday night’s championship game at the Dome is sure to be a memorable one.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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