Football playoff highlights: O-lineman saves day in 4-OT thriller, plus a No. 1 goes down

The Georgia High School Association football playoffs started Friday, and it was a crazy night across the state.

In games involving teams from the Greater Savannah area, Savannah Christian hung on to beat Peach County in four overtimes, while Jenkins went on the road to upset No. 1 seed Arabia Mountain.

Here's a look at the action from Friday night.

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Savannah Christian 48, Peach County 46

In what will go down as one of the wildest playoff games in state history, host Savannah Christian held off a second-half rally from Peach County as the Raiders came away with a 48-46 win in a battle that went to four overtimes.

"That was probably the best high school game I've ever been a part of," SCPS coach Baker Woodward said in a phone interview Saturday morning. "We had some of our best guys -- Logan Brooking, David Bucey, Kenry Wall and Jamari McIvory going both ways -- and Peach County came here with four buses and 90 something players. We have like 54, but we found a way to win."

Woodward said the play of the game wouldn't show up in a box score and came from an offensive lineman. Sophomore quarterback Blaise Thomas threw toward the end zone on the final play of regulation and the ball was picked off by Alex Willock, who nearly took it the distance for a pick-six that would have ended the game.

"Our lineman, Tyson Gross, stayed with him and managed to trip him up -- it had to be inside the 10-yard line," Woodward said. "And then McIvory was able to push him out of bounds. If they didn't do that, they would have scored and won -- that was the biggest play in my opinion."

SCPS looked to be in control early as Zo Smalls had a short touchdown run, while Blaise Thomas connected with Logan Brooking for a 53-yard score and Kenry Wall for a 19-yard touchdown in the first half. The Raiders led 20-0 at intermission.

But Peach County (4-7), a battle-tested squad out of the tough Region 2-3A, made a methodical second half comeback -- scoring twice in the fourth quarter to tie things up.

In overtime, Smalls had another 4-yard scoring run on the first SCPS possession and Kenry Wall broke out for a 15-yard score, following by another short scoring plunge by Smalls. Thomas scored from a yard out on the fourth possession, with Wall converting the mandatory two-point try for the winning margin.

Peach County's DJ Hudson threw a pass that linebacker Jaden Miles got his hands on, but the ball popped up and was corralled by Dylan Johnson as the Trojans cut the lead to two, according to Nathan Dominitz, who covered the game for the Prep Sports Report.

But Miles broke up the pass on the 2-point conversion and SCPS walked away with the win.

The Raiders, the No. 2 seed out of Region 3-3A, and ranked No. 4 in Class 3A by the AJC, improved to 9-2 and will be on the road to face No. 7-ranked Morgan County (10-1), the No. 1 seed out of Region 4-3A on Friday.

Calvary Day 48, Jackson 0

Calvary Day, the No. 1 seed out of Region 3-3A and the No. 1 ranked team in Class 3A, rolled to a dominating win over visiting Jackson as Trevor Strowbridge showed his versatility by scoring four touchdowns.

The senior, whose offers include Minnesota and Austin Peay, had touchdown runs of 38 and 10 yards and a scoring catch of 20 yards from Jake Merklinger, while running back a fumble 17 yards for a score.

"We played great last night and it showed me we are even better than we think we are," Strowbridge said. "I think our biggest strength is our motor -- we can push through anything and keep going."

Merklinger, the senior quarterback headed to Tennessee, had three touchdown passes on the night. He connected with Caden Arnold for an 80-yard score and hit Doopah Coleman for a 17-yard touchdown. Freshman Ca'Den Jones added a short touchdown run for the Cavs.

Calvary Day improved to 11-0 and will host Thomasville (6-5) next Friday, Nov. 17.

Upson-Lee 46, Savannah Country Day 45

Savannah Country Day, the No. 3 seed out of Region 3-3A, went on the road and lost a wild one to Upson-Lee (9-2).

SCD (7-4) trailed 14-0 early, but scored 28 points in the second quarter to take a 28-22 lead at the half.

Josh Washington got things going by blocking a punt he recovered for a touchdown, and Ray Ray Jackson had a 60-yard scoop-and-score, breaking several tackles along the way, SCD coach John Mohring said Saturday morning.

Morhing said junior quarterback Barton Mixon had a couple touchdown runs and a scoring pass to KJ James, and Hyers Holland also ran well.

"It was a wild game with a lot of ups and downs," Mohring said. "We struggled to move the ball early against a good front seven, but then started hitting some big plays."

Mohring said Upson-Lee's kicker was hurt last week, so the Knights were going for 2-point conversions after every score, converting on five of six attempts.

"Kudos to Upson-Lee on those two-pointers -- they used some trick plays like a reverse pass that we hadn't seen film and those two-pointers ended up being the difference in the game," Mohring said. "But we battled, We did a good job containing their running back (Ja'Quan Bentley) who's going to Georgia Southern. (Senior) Rooster Bing went both ways on the line all night like he always does and Andrew Nicholson was at right guard and nose guard all night after being sick all week and missing practice.

"We limped out there, but our guys played their hearts out and I'm really proud of them,"

Jenkins 14, Arabia Mountain 13

Jenkins, the No. 4 seed out of Region 1-5A, went to Lithonia and upset the No. 1-seeded Rams 14-13.

Jeremiah James caught a 45-yard pass from Demetrius Holloway to the one-yard line and James took it in on a 1-yard run on the next play for the first scores and senior Sylvester Harris had a 65-yard pick six for the Warriors (4-7).

Lorenzo Cowan, the senior who has committed to Kentucky, had four sacks and James had three, while Reico Collins led the defense with 11 tackles. Joshua Woodley connected on both of his extra points, which were the difference in the game. Arabia Mountain finished the season at 9-2.

"It was a great game, we made the plays when we had to," Jenkins coach Tony Welch said in a phone interview Saturday morning. "I tell the guys we split the year into three seasons -- non-region, region play and the playoffs. They understand it's a new season now, and we're 1-0."

Jenkins, which has been playing up in Class 5A, will be back down to 3A next season.

"We've had a tough region the last two years and still made the playoffs," Welch said. "All four teams from our region made the Sweet 16. That tough scheduled prepared us for the playoffs -- there's nothing our guys haven't already seen."

Jenkins (4-7) will next be at Dutchtown (6-5), the No. 3 seed out of Region 2-5A.

Grayson 35, Richmond Hill 24

Richmond Hill, a No. 4 seed out of the rugged Region 1-7A, gave Grayson a great fight but saw its season come to an end. Grayson, which entered the game ranked No. 8 in Class 7A by the AJC, improved to 9-2 and will host North Paulding (9-2) in the second round.

Richmond Hill (5-6) got another excellent performance by Nick Bliss. In his final high school game, the senior rushed for 81 yards and a pair of scores on 10 carries and caught 11 passes for 91 yards.

Kirk Scott was 15-for-24 passing for 168 yards with a scoring pass to Brandon McDonald, who had four catches for 80 yards. Joshua Troupe added 51 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Gabe Bauman led the Wildcat defense with 10 tackles and a pair of sacks and Lee Johnson had nine stops with two for losses. Kicker Blake Williams made all three of his PAT attempts and connected on a 27-yard field goal.

Bethesda 32, Northside Christian 6

Bethesda punched its ticket to the SCISA Class A state final as the Blazers had another impressive showing at Daffin Park.

Senior Noah Jenkins ran for 144 yards on 12 carries and scored on runs of 65, 42 and 7 yards for the Blazers (12-0).

Quarterback Triston Randall was 9-for-13 passing for 162 yards. Raleigh Wesley had six tackles, an interception and a touchdown run and Kamerion Lanigan had five tackles and a sack, while Keshaun Wright added five tackles.

Now Bethesda is in a state football final for the third time in school history, looking for its first title. It faces Williamsburg Academy (12-0) at Charleston Southern on Saturday, Nov. 17, with kickoff set for noon.

"We had a great game against Northside and the kids are really excited to reach the championship game," Blazer coach Antwain Turner said in a phone interview Saturday. "We had four goals coming into the season -- to win a region title, to host in the first two rounds of the playoffs, to make it to the state finals and to win the state championship. We've checked off three of those boxes, and there's one more left to check."

Memorial Day 34, Harvester Christian 6

Memorial Day advanced to the second round of the GIAA Class A playoffs with a win at Memorial Stadium.

It was the first playoff win for head coach Jaha Taylor, in his second year leading the Matador program. Memorial won one game last season.

Junior running back Assir Best ran for 196 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, caught a scoring pass and had seven tackles on defense, where Craig Harris led the unit with 11 solo stops. Charles Chappell had a scoring catch and Alex Blackmon had a touchdown run for the Matadors.

Senior quarterback Tyler Kindle was 12-for-27 passing for 234 yards with a pair of touchdowns and an interception.

Defensive lineman Tyler Snipes had five tackles, including one for a loss and Joe Barnes had three stops and a sack.

"This was an exciting win for our guys," Taylor said. "There were a lot of emotions in the locker room. We're trying to change the culture of the program and this is a step in the right direction. Winning a playoff game is the first step."

Memorial Day (5-6) advances to the state semifinals and will be on the road next Friday to face Robert Toombs Christian (6-4).

Tiftarea Academy 49, St. Andrew's 27

The Lions saw their season come to an end in a loss at Tiftarea Academy.

Charles Strain had a big game for St. Andrew's as the sophomore rushed for 138 yards and a score on 13 carries. He added one reception for 18 yards and converted all three of his extra point attempts while making 18 tackles on defense.

Richaard Williams had a 95-yard kickoff return for a score in his final high school game and Cullen Conner threw a 35-yard scoring pass to Rakari Harrison. St. Andrew's finished the season with a 5-6 record.

Other Scores

Class 6A: Lovejoy 47, Effingham County 14

GIAA: Tiftarea Academy 49, St. Andrew's 27

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Christian wins in 4 OTs, while Jenkins upsets No.1 seed