Class AAAA Blessed Trinity vs. Oconee County Saturday, December 14 | 4:30 PM

By Craig Sager II Class AAAA Blessed Trinity vs. Oconee County Saturday, December 14 | 4:30 PM

Two-time defending state champion Blessed Trinity is sending a resounding message to those that doubted whether the Titans would be back on the championship stage after graduating a loaded group of seniors this past spring. The Titans avenged their lone loss this season last Friday, by cruising past Woodward Academy 46-21, and that 25-point win is the closest game that the team has seen during this current postseason run. Senior running back Elijah Green missed Blessed Trinity’s first matchup with Woodward Academy, but his presence was felt in last Friday’s matchup as he racked up 195 yards and three touchdowns in tandem with freshman Justice Haynes, who added 158 yards off 20 carries and a 53-yard score in the winning effort. The same defensive fortitude that fueled the last two championship runs has also shined this postseason and the unit has allowed just 9.5 ppg through the first four rounds. BLESSED TRINITY 13-1, REGION 7 NO. 1 SEED

2019 RESULTS ST. PIUS.....................................................28-10 W SOUTH FORSYTH........................................34-31 W WOODWARD ACADEMY...............................13-10 L BENEDICTINE...............................................28-7 W WEST HALL..................................................38-6 W DENMARK..................................................20-19 W FLOWERY BRANCH ....................................20-17 W CHESTATEE.................................................59-15 W MARIST......................................................33-30 W WHITE COUNTY............................................35-6 W TROUP COUNTY..........................................40-14 W BALDWIN.....................................................35-3 W WEST LAURENS...........................................31-0 W WOODWARD ACADEMY..............................46-21 W

Oconee County has been eliminated in the first round each of the past three seasons, but this year’s Warriors team has strung together an impressive postseason run that has them in the championship for the first time since 1999. The Warriors’ latest playoff victory was a 35-28 triumph over Sandy Creek, the classification’s highest-scoring offense. Senior quarterback and LSU commit Max Johnson was huge for the Warriors, with two touchdown passes and two rushing scores. This performance came after Johnson’s 18-of-24 outing and two touchdown passes led Oconee County to a 17-7 win over Marist in the quarterfinals. In Oconee County’s 39-7 win over Perry in the second round, Johnson went 19-of-23 passing for 253 yards and five touchdowns through the air. This postseason, Johnson has accounted for 10 passing touchdowns and three rushing scores. The Warriors’ passing attack also features 6-foot-2 senior Ben Noland and 6-foot-6 sophomore Jake Johnson. OCONEE COUNTY 13-1, REGION 8 NO. 1 SEED

JEFFERSON................................................21-20 W CLARKE CENTRAL.......................................28-21 L SPALDING..................................................35-13 W MORGAN COUNTY........................................34-6 W CEDAR SHOALS............................................34-0 W WINDER-BARROW.....................................21-13 W ST. PIUS.......................................................21-7 W STEPHENS COUNTY....................................41-14 W NORTH OCONEE ...........................................35-7 W MADISON COUNTY.....................................42-14 W NORTHWEST WHITFIELD............................41-14 W PERRY..........................................................39-7 W MARIST........................................................17-7 W SANDY CREEK............................................35-28 W 2019 RESULTS

BLESSED TRINITY VS. OCONEE CO.

CLASS AAAA SKINNY

Blessed Trinity has a knack for limiting opponents with talented quarterbacks and Saturday will put the Titans to the test as red-hot Oconee County quarterback Max Johnson takes the field. The Titans have already tallied 41 total sacks this season heading into the matchup. The Oconee County defense enters the matchup allowing just 12.7 ppg, but the Blessed Trinity running attack is going to be a big test for the Warriors. Leading the Titans’ backfield is 3-star senior and UNC commit Elijah Green, a physical playmaker and the son of former NFL safety Victor Green. The younger Green carried the ball 23 times in the semifinals as he racked up 195 yards and three touchdowns.

BLESSED TRINITY TITANS (Roswell, GA) • Green & Gold # Name Gr. Pos. 1 Jackson Hamilton 11 RB, DB 2 Carson Harof 11 WR, DB 3 Banks Atkins 10 QB 4 Matthew Turner 11 RB, LB 5 Duncan Reavis 11 QB, DB 6 Ashton Abrew 10 WR, DB 7 Nolan Tully 10 DB, RB 8 Owen Bagwell 12 WR/DB 9 Sam Koelsch 12 TE, DE 10 Matt McCaffrey 10 WR, DB 11 David Coltrane 11 WR, DB 13 John Collier 9 QB, DB 14 Walker Berryman 10 QB 15 Danny Muir 11 WR 16 Caleb Moran 9 TE, DE 17 Quinton Reese 12 WR, DB 18 Michael Mitchler 11 TE, LB 19 Zach Bolden 10 RB, DB 20 Matthew Franke 12 DB 21 Elijah Green 12 RB 22 Justice Haynes 9 RB 23 Luke Elliott 12 RB, LB 24 Englan Williams 11 RB, LB 25 Nic Mitchell 11 WR, DB 26 Charlie McCoy 11 WR, DB 27 Trent Schweizer 12 RB 28 Carsten Dowdy 12 WR, DB 29 Jordan McCants 10 RB, DB 30 Andrew Polakowski 12 DB 31 Claude Silfani 11 WR, DB 32 Henry Carlton 12 RB, DB 33 Ryan Dupont 11 RB, LB 34 Alex Palughi 11 RB, LB 36 Ryan Attaway 12 RB, LB 37 Matt Rish 11 RB, LB 38 Nick Pereboom 12 RB, LB 40 Noah Grillo 12 RB, LB 41 Cole Cantu 12 WR, DB 42 Nate Matthews 12 RB, LB 43 William Mitchell 10 RB, LB 45 Michael Wright 12 LS 50 Austin Burns 12 OL, DL 51 Johnny Ryan 11 OL 52 Jack Pirinelli 10 OL, DL 53 Jackson Filipowicz 12 OL, DL 54 Regan Smith 12 DL 55 Myles Exeanii 11 DE 57 Donnie Roch 12 DL 63 Connor McGarigle 11 OL, LB 64 Christopher Turner 11 OL 65 Piers Dudar 11 OL, DL 68 Landen Byars 11 OL, DL 70 Skye Richardson 9 OL, DL 72 Ryan Scott 10 OL, DL 73 Peter Griffin 11 OL, DL 74 Nick Pirinelli 11 OL, DL 75 JT Carney 12 OL 76 Will Beebe 11 OL, DL 78 Ty Furnish 11 OL 80 David Aranda 12 P, K 81 James Bryant 12 TE, DB 82 Justin Cellilli 12 WR 83 John Allen Riordan 12 WR 85 Bryce Hughes 11 TE 86 Joe McCoy 11 WR, DB 87 Grayson Gilder 12 TE, DL 88 Patrick Riordan 12 WR, DB 89 Aaron Werkheiser 12 P, K

Head Coach: Tim McFarlin Assistant Coaches: Chuck Goddard, Richard Barden, Tom Ryan, Mike Davidson, Leo Barker, Ryan O’Sullivan, Jermale Ransby, Alli Abrew, Chuck Price, Joe Miller, John O’Hara, Gordon Dudley, Brad Slaten, Kenny Cook, Davis Turnbull

OCONEE COUNTY WARRIORS (Watkinsville, GA) • Blue & White # Name Gr. Pos. 1 Tyler Dean 12 CB, WR 2 Elliott Martin 12 WR, FS 3 Ben Noland 12 WR, SS 4 Taylor Dean 12 CB, WR 5 Zach Smith 11 WR, CB 6 Liam Lewis 11 WR, CB 7 West Weeks 11 SS, QB 8 Elijah Hamm 11 SS, WR 9 Jake Johnson 10 WR 10 Camden Lewis 12 OLB, MLB 11 Nate Murphy 12 WR, FS 12 Tate Yancey 11 QB, FS 13 Wyatt Shelnutt 12 WR, CB 14 Max Johnson 12 QB 15 Grady Bartlett 10 QB 16 Dylan Manders 9 QB 17 Jack Hayes 11 SS 18 Ben Johnson 12 P, K 19 Carson Litvin 11 CB 20 Landon Tate 9 QB 21 Darius Norman 12 RB 22 Darius Johnson jr. 10 CB 23 Grant Williamson 10 WR, CB 24 Peyton Broadnax 10 RB 25 Rayle Luna 11 RB, OLB 26 Bo Scarborough 10 WR 27 Dawson Houseman 11 WR, CB, LS 28 Da’shawn Elder 12 CB, WR 29 Mikey Massicot 10 WR 30 Will Fuller 10 WR 31 Jack Ward 9 WR 32 Harrison Padgett 11 FB, OLB 33 Justin Coleman 11 RB, MLB 34 Jimmy Boswell 12 RB, SS 36 Whit Weeks 9 FS, LS 37 Cam Eldridge 9 DE, OLB 38 Gabe Valdez 10 K 39 Brooks Kilzi 9 FB, MLB 40 Dylan Babcock 12 FB, G 41 Samson Stearns 9 MLB 42 Max Brown 12 OLB, FB 43 Anderson Pitts 10 OLB 45 Drew Mitchell 10 OLB 46 Billy Lewis 9 FS 48 Nicholas Silva 9 K 51 Jake Long 12 DE 52 Landon Hagwood 10 G 53 Banks Arnold 9 G 54 Tre Rittenberry 10 G, DT 55 Jaquette Lester 10 DT, DE 56 Piers Dudar 12 T, DT 57 Landon Kuykendall 9 G 59 Nick Saunders 12 G, DT 61 Frank Hailey 9 C 62 Alex Bowden 11 T, DT 64 Carsen Stocklinski 11 DE, G 66 Rob Boswell 11 G, DT 71 Thomas Waters 10 T, DT 77 Cooper Bringolf 10 TE 78 Brandon Gaona 10 T, G 88 Seth Caldwell 12 TE, DE

Head Coach: Travis Noland Assistant Coaches: Andrew Stamey, Tom Gooch, Matt Cates, Erik Kreibel, Rob Farriba, Brad Johnson, Kyle Harrison, Jon Wilson, David Weeks, Ventrail Hunter, Chad McClanahan