How a star-studded Savannah Christian football squad earned a spot in state semifinals

Savannah Christian is loaded with top-notch football talent as the Raiders have three current players with Power 5 commitments or offers in 5-star junior defensive lineman Elijah Griffin, his classmate Logan Brooking, who has committed to Clemson and senior David Bucey, who is headed to South Carolina.

And the list goes on from there as SCPS is one of the most stacked teams in the state of Georgia. The Raiders have proven it in the playoffs. After an epic win over visiting Peach County in four overtimes in its playoff opener, SCPS has gone on the road to beat Morgan County (33-10), before knocking off previously undefeated Lumpkin County on the road in a 42-21 win Friday.

Next up is a road trip to Columbus as the Raiders (11-2) are set to take on Carver (10-3) in a Class 3A state semifinal Friday night with kickoff set for 7 p.m. at Odis Spencer Stadium.

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It seems absurd to call a player like running back Zo Smalls underrated, but he somehow seems overlooked. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound junior rushed for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win at Lumpkin County and leads the Raiders with 1,594 yards rushing and 28 total touchdowns on the year.

"Zo is a power back who works so had in the weight room. He has one of the highest squats on the team (at more than 500 pounds)," SCPS Coach Baker Woodward said. "He can make you miss, or run through you. We love to give him the ball when we need a first down. He's the guy who is going to go get it. He just loves the game of football."

His classmate Kenry Wall is another playmaker in the midset of a breakout season. Wall has rushed for 1,010 yards (11.6 YPC) and has 19 catches for 500 yards (26.3 PPC). The 5-foot-8, 160-pound speedster has run back three punts for scores among his 22 total touchdowns. He picked up his first offer from Shorter University this week.

"Kenry is just so explosive," Woodward said. "We've been trying to get the ball to him more, and it's been paying off."

Junior linebacker Jaden Miles is 5-10 and 180 pounds, but plays much bigger and leads the team with 134 tackles. He racked up a career-high 21 stops in the win over Lumpkin County, and added a 37-yard scoring run on his only touch of the game.

"Jaden is a very intelligent kid — he has like a 3.7 GPA and he has a high football IQ," Woodward said. "He's taken well to the coaching of Coach (Keith) Brooking (the former star linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons and father of Logan) and he's just getting better every week. He became a team captain last week, and I think he and Jamari (McIvory) are the fastest players on the team."

McIvory is a senior who won state Class 3A titles last spring in the 200 meters and 400 meters. He has 32 tackles and leads the team with six interceptions. McIvory has committed to play at Northern Illinois.

Sophomore Blaise Thomas, in his first season as the starting quarterback, has also been solid — completing 66% of his throws for 1,728 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The team is full of confidence after two playoff road wins and will face a Carver squad known for its ground game. Senior De'Ante Childs ran for 1,522 yards and 12 touchdowns in his first 10 games and sophomore JaKobe Caslin had 867 yards and six rushing touchdowns in the regular season.

Woodward said the SCPS defense will be focused on slowing down the run game, while the offense goes up against the fastest defense it has faced all season.

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 football star power readies for state semifinals