Sammy Brown, Zay Minish help Jefferson football halt state playoff first-round losing streak
JEFFERSON — Jefferson football has advanced out of the first round of the Georgia High School Association state playoffs after failing to do so the past two years.
The Dragons defeated Jackson, Atlanta, 48-14 thanks to stellar performances by seniors Sammy Brown and Zay Minish. Brown scored four touchdowns, three in the third quarter alone, and Minish added two scoring catches in the first and third quarters to keep the blue and red steamrolling.
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"This is my first playoff win at Jefferson," Brown said. "It's special for me and my family and I feel really good about it. We started slow at first, but I thought we really pulled through in the second half and played like Jefferson football (should)."
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The Dragons were stunned by Hapeville Charter in the first round in 2021 after current UGA starting safety Malaki Starks led them to a 9-1 regular-season record. Last season Jefferson was upset by Cass in the first round after claiming another region title.
Friday night played out differently.
The first quarter was scoreless for both teams before Jackson's Ricky Dorn got things cooking. He scored both of the Jaguars' touchdowns.
Jefferson junior quarterback Gavin Markey had a 62-yard scramble that set up one of Minish's touchdowns. Markey said the run happened because he forgot a detail of the play call, so he took off.
"It feels amazing. Just the vibe of this team, we've been talking about it all week," Minish said. "We did not want to, three years in a row, be knocked out in the first round. We struggled a little bit first half, but we kicked it into gear and we just played our game and we were comfortable. ... (The message at halftime) was to go out there and kick their a--."
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Jefferson's Skyler Zimmerman did not suit up in the game due to a lower leg injury suffered Sept. 29 against Winder-Barrow. Coach Travis Noland said Zimmerman has the green light to practice and the linebacker could return next Friday.
No. 1 Jefferson will advance to play 2-seed Hiram on Nov. 17. Jefferson will host as the higher seed but a kickoff time is still to be determined.
"We've got a lot of work to do before next week," Noland said.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Jefferson football advances to second round of GHSA state playoffs
