Yesterday at the Georgia Dome, three state championship games were played and each game had a little bit of everything. One team won by offense, another team won by defense and, the other team won by capitalizing on turnovers. Here's a look at the three high school state championship games that took place at the Dome on Saturday.
The first game of the day was the A game between Clinch County and Savannah Christian and Clinch was able to come away with a 24-14 win over the Raiders. This game did not have a whole lot of offense as both teams failed to total 200 yards. The was tied at seven going into halftime, but Clinch was able to pull away in the second half because they were able to capitalize in thee Savannah Christian turnovers which ultimately led to the win. Clinch wins their first title since 2004 and it's also their fifth title in school history. Savannah Christian loses the state title game for the second consecutive year.
The AAA game was up next and it featured two undefeated teams in Carrollton and Sandy Creek. It came down to the wire, but Sandy Creek was able to hold off the Trojans and win 14-7. Sandy Creek built a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter thanks to a Ronnie Bell 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and a Derrick Alexander 7-yard touchdown run in the second. Carrollton cut the Sandy Creek lead late in the second quarter when A.J. Barge threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to his brother Josh Barge. Carrollton looked to tie the game late in the fourth as they were on Sandy Creek's 5-yard line with less than 2:30 left in the fourth quarter. Carrollton running back Telvin Brown ran to the left and tried to stretch the ball into the end zone as he was inside the 1-yard line. But as he was stretching the ball, Sandy Creek's Jamal Ware forced the fumble and Sandy Creek recovered to ice the game. Sandy Creek becomes the third team in state history to win back-to-back titles in different classifications.
The last game was the AAAAA game between Colquitt County and Brookwood and this was the most interesting of the five games because before the season began very few thought Colquitt and Brookwood would reach the finals. But they did make it and both teams put on show as 90 points were scored in the game. Brookwood got over half of the 90 points, defeating Colquitt 52-38. But if you broke down the numbers of the game, you would have thought Colquitt would have won big because the totaled over 600 yards of total offense and gained 36 first downs. But Colquitt did turn the ball over quite a few times which led to Brookwood scoring on short fields. Brookwood's Nick Thompkins rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns while Jamal Cole rushed for 96 yards. Colquitt running back Telvin King rushed for 205 yards on 20 carries. For Brookwood, it's their first title since 1996 and first title for head coach Mark Crews.
So there you have it. Clinch County, Buford, Sandy Creek, Chattahoochee and Brookwood are you're 2010 Georgia high school football state champions. It was a great year and hats off to all the teams that won titles and all the teams that reach the playoffs. What's interesting is out of the five champions, four are from the metro Atlanta area. So does this mean South Georgia is not as strong as it was in year's past when it comes to high school football? We'll find out soon enough because the 2011 season is right around the corner.