Savannah-area football roundup: Who joined Calvary Day in the semifinals?

It was the final home game for Calvary Day senior Jake Merklinger and his classmates on Friday as the Cavaliers hosted Wesleyan in a state football quarterfinal matchup, and the Cavaliers made it count with an impressive victory to advance to the Class 3A semifinals.

Calvary rallied from a seven-point deficit at the half to dominate after intermission in the 42-21 victory. The Cavs (13-0) will try to get a bit of revenge next week at Cedar Grove (8-5), which ended Calvary's season in the quarterfinals last year.

The game ended an amazing run for Merklinger at Calvary's Specialty Sports Complex. He has been the starter for the Cavs since his freshman year and has posted a career record of 45-7, with a 30-2 mark at home.

The University of Tennessee commit had another memorable showing in front of the home fans as he completed 18 of 26 passes for 311 yards and touchdown tosses to classmates Caden Arnold and Michael Smith, who has committed to South Carolina. Merklinger added three touchdowns on the ground to go along with 73 yards rushing.

Britt's speech spurs BC to playoff win Danny Britt reveals key for Benedictine football's approach to 'threepeat' state title bid

Quarterfinal playoff football matchups Savannah-area football quarterfinal matchups include epic Benedictine-North Oconee showdown

Cinderella run continues for Jenkins How Jenkins' Cinderella run continued as 5 Savannah teams advance to state quarterfinals

"We fell behind early, but nobody panicked," Merklinger said. "Our coaches tell us to be calm in the chaos, and we knew if we just kept playing hard and stuck together we would come back to win it."

Arnold had eight catches for 101 yards, while Smith reeled in five receptions for 95 yards. The highly-recruited junior Doopah Coleman, who has been slowed by injuries this year, showed he is all the way back with five catches for 125 yards. Senior Trevor Strowbridge added a 13-yard rushing touchdown for the Cavs.

Now Calvary, which reached the Class A Private state semis in Merklinger's freshman season, is back in the Final Four after being knocked out in the quarterfinals the last two years. Cedar Grove beat the visiting Cavs 30-0 last season.

Merklinger said it was hard to believe that it was his last home appearance, but he tries not to get caught up in that kind of hype -- instead focusing on what he needs to do to help his team succeed.

"Now we need to go on the road to beat Cedar Grove, who beat us last year," said Merklinger, who was named the winner of the Finocchiaro Award, along with New Hampstead's RaShawn Truell, as the top prep football player in Savannah last week. "We're looking forward for the opportunity to face a great team, and we're going to play hard and show what we can do."

Savannah Christian 42, Lumpkin County 21

Savannah Christian went on the road and handed Lumpkin County its first loss of the season on the other side of the 3A bracket.

It's the first trip to the state semis for SCPS since 2018, when head coach Baker Woodward led the Raiders to the Class A Private Final Four in his first season.

SCPS (10-3) will be on the road to face Carver-Columbus (10-3) on Friday, and with a win there could set up a possible meeting with cross-town rival Calvary Day in the Class 3A state finals.

The Raiders got another huge game from junior running back Zo Smalls, who ran for three touchdowns in his third straight playoff game, and fourth game overall. It was the eighth time this season Smalls has scored three touchdowns in a game. He entered the matchup with Lumpkin County with 1,394 rushing touchdowns and now has 29 total touchdowns.

Kenry Wall continued to excel as the big-play man scored on runs of 41 and 2 yards. The standout junior entered the game with 843 yards rushing and 462 yards receiving and now has 21 touchdowns on the year. Junior Jaden Miles, the team's leading tackler at linebacker, showed he can do the job on offense too with a 32-yard scoring run.

Bryan County 24, Commerce 16

Bryan County's magical run continued, advancing to the Class A Division I semifinals for the first time in school history.

Bryan County (12-1) will be at top-ranked Prince Avenue Christian (12-1) on Friday.

It's been a special year under coach Cherard Freeman, in his fourth season. Bryan County went 0-7 in his first season, and now has won the first region title and won the first (and second, and third) playoff games in school history, while setting the school mark for wins in a season.

Bryan County was led by a trio of two-way stars. Austin Clemons ran for a 20-yard touchdown, while Tanner Ennis ran for a score and caught a touchdown pass from Sean Kelly Hill. All three were also standouts defensively.

"Those three guys were lights out last night," Freeman said. "After the game, I told them we're a week of good practices and four quarters away from playing for a state championship. I've been so impressed by this senior class. They could have quit when we didn't win a game when they were freshmen and getting their heads beat in every Friday night.

"But they never quit -- they stuck with the plan in the weight room and believed in their coaches and themselves. I think bringing ROTC instructors in over the summer to work with them each week also helped with our team building and toughness. That's something big we've incorporated with our program that has led to our success."

Cartersville 35, Jenkins 0

Jenkins' impressive run came to an end as the Warriors lost at a strong Cartersville squad that improved to 13-0 on the season.

Jenkins (5-8) was the only team left with a record under .500 in the playoff across all classifications. But that record is misleading as the Warriors played the toughest schedule in the state among Class 5A teams.

The Warriors went on the road as a No. 4 seed and beat Arabia Mountain 14-13 in the opening round, before edging host Dutchtown 28-27 last week to advance to the quarterfinals.

It was the final game for standout senior linebacker Lorenzo Cowan, who is headed to Kentucky, and for Jeremiah James, the versatile senior who has been a leader on and off the field during an incredible playoff run.

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: GHSA football playoffs: Which Savannah teams won in the quarterfinals?