Class AAA Cedar Grove vs. Crisp County Saturday, December 14 | 1:00 PM

By Seth Ellerbee Class AAA Cedar Grove vs. Crisp County Saturday, December 14 | 1:00 PM

Cedar Grove has continued where it left off after Jimmy Smith’s departure and, with the promotion of Miguel Patrick to head coach, the Saints are in good hands. Patrick led the Saints to another region title this year after Smith won 5-AAA in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Cedar Grove’s path to the final went through Fannin County 36-7 and Benedictine 49-13 before it won a rematch of last year’s title game against Peach County in the quarterfinals 36-3. In its 28-18 semifinal victory over GAC, Cedar Grove never trailed but relied on a touchdown run from running back Chavon Wright late in the fourth quarter to extend its lead and secure the championship berth. Against GAC, quarterback Austin Smith was 8-of-10 passing for 138 yards and a touchdown pass to Langston White. Backs Chavon Wright and Rashod Dubinion will prove a test for Crisp County’s defense. Linebacker Isaiah Ratcliff and defensive end Alvin Williams anchor the Saints defense. Sophomore Janiran Bonner and senior Coreyon Cone have been productive wideouts. CEDAR GROVE 12-2, REGION 5 NO. 1 SEED

HAPEVILLE CHARTER.................................26-16 W CENTRAL PHENIX (AL)................................24-20 L VALOR CHRISTIAN (CO) .............................27-17 W MCEACHERN.................................................29-7 L LOVETT.......................................................41-17 W REDAN .........................................................57-0 W TOWERS.......................................................60-0 W WESTMINSTER.............................................21-0 W PACE ACADEMY.........................................40-10 W STONE MOUNTAIN........................................31-0 W FANNIN COUNTY..........................................36-7 W BENEDICTINE.............................................49-13 W PEACH COUNTY............................................36-3 W GAC............................................................28-18 W 2019 RESULTS

The Cougars are in the championship game for the first time in school history, dating to 1957; however, Crisp County’s predecessor school, Cordele, did win the Class B championship in 1951. Crisp advanced to the finals after a smothering defensive effort against Jenkins in the semis. Jenkins entered the game averaging 40 points per game and the Cougars managed a 14-6 victory. Brad Harber is the 17th coach in Crisp County history and the first to find a path to the championship game. Crisp is relatively balanced but favors the run, averaging 207 rushing and 116 passing yards per game. Sophomore running back Marquise Palmer anchors the run game and has 233 carries for 1,512 yards and 16 touchdowns. Junior quarterback A.J. Lofton is 66-of-103 passing for 861 yards and six touchdowns. Lofton adds 169 carries for 1,043 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. CRISP COUNTY 11-3, REGION 1 NO. 1 SEED

AMERICUS-SUMTER..................................29-14 W WEST LAURENS..........................................16-13 L DUTCHTOWN...............................................19-17 L TIFT COUNTY..............................................27-14 W SOUTH GWINNETT......................................24-21 W BAINBRIDGE .................................................14-9 L THOMASVILLE............................................32-14 W MONROE......................................................33-6 W WORTH COUNTY...........................................43-0 W COOK...........................................................35-7 W SOUTHEAST BULLOCH .................................46-0 W NORTH HALL................................................41-3 W JEFFERSON................................................22-20 W JENKINS ......................................................14-6 W 2019 RESULTS

Cedar Grove is competing for a state championship for the third time in four years and is looking to defend its title after Jadon Haselwood’s game-winning touchdown reception last season, which handed Peach County its second title loss in a row. Crisp County, on the other hand, is in the championship game for the first time since the program’s first season in 1957 and is looking to make history for the city of Cordele. Cedar Grove enters the title game with a first-year coach, Miguel Patrick, after Jimmy Smith accepted a job on Georgia State’s staff. Brad Harber has been at Crisp County since 2017, after Shelton Felton left for the college ranks. Crisp and Cedar Grove have met once, in the semifinals in 2016 when a Felton-led Crisp program lost to Cedar Grove 55-0. CEDAR GROVE VS. CRISP COUNTY CLASS AAA SKINNY

CEDAR GROVE SAINTS (Ellenwood, GA) • Navy Blue & Columbia Blue # Name Gr. Pos. 1 Isaiah Ratcliff 12 OLB, RB 2 Alvin Williams 12 DE, DT 4 Austin Smith 11 QB 5 Chavon Wright 12 RB 6 Travis Rivers 12 SS 7 Rashod Dubinion 10 RB 9 Jordan Grier 11 SS, CB 10 Coreyon Cone 12 WR 12 Eric Harper 12 QB 13 Janiran Bonner 10 WR 14 Latrelvin Blackamore 12 CB, FS 15 Langston White 11 RB 16 Bernard Mack 9 WR 17 Sam Pittman 11 WR 18 Barry Jackson 9 WR, QB 19 Justin Minnitee 12 OLB 20 A.J. Stafford 11 WR 21 Tee Denson 12 CB 22 Timothy Newman 11 RB, OLB 23 David Blackmon 11 DE 24 Nick Brannon 12 FS 25 Johnny Fells 11 FS, WR 26 N’Korian Newsom 12 MLB 27 James Moye 12 RB, CB 28 Mateen Smith 11 WR 29 Antonio Taylor 11 FS 30 Louis Dominguez 11 P, K 31 Zaire Prioleau 11 FS, SS 32 Domonique Davis II 11 SS,FS 33 Kayin Lee 9 CB 34 Sean Otoo 12 OLB, MLB 35 Jarvarius Sims 11 DB 36 WIlliam Flounory 11 LB 37 Brinson Modest 11 DB 38 Montego Johnson 11 DB 40 Ventrilo Dunlap 9 RB 44 Everett Roussaw Jr. 9 DE 45 Naeshawn Parsons 9 RB 46 Jared Holiday 10 MLB 50 Demarius Jackson 11 DT, NG 51 Chris Stinson 12 T, FB 52 Christen Miller 10 DE 53 Adonijah Green 9 DE 54 David Carter 11 DE 55 Gregory Slaton 12 C, G 61 Joseph Reed 11 DT 62 Jeremiah Smith 12 C 64 Amarhi Summers 10 DT, G 66 Johnnathan Stofer 12 OLB 67 Michael Turner 12 OL 70 Jalen McCoy 11 G, C 72 Spencer Yeaton 11 G 74 Keon Watson 12 OL 75 KenDell Brown 9 T 77 Brandon Hall 12 G, DT 80 Omari Walker 11 WR 82 Koby Taylor 12 WR 90 Tyoderick Justice 12 DE, MLB 99 Rodjel Caine 12 K

Head Coach: Miguel Patrick Assistant Coaches: Michael Martin, Lawrence Smith, John Adams, Craig Kyros, Henry Mabry, Patrick Prioleau, Kendrick Callier, TJ Hill, Frederick Sippial, Matt Dry

CRISP COUNTY COUGARS (Cordele, GA) • Royal Blue & Gold # Name Gr. Pos. 1 AJ Lofton 11 QB, FS 2 Marquise Palmer 10 RB, FS, SS 3 Jynick Mainor 12 WR, FS 4 Jack Carter 10 QB 5 Eddie Reese 12 WR, SS 6 Damion Cross 12 CB, WR 7 Nick Mercer 11 DE, OLB, T 8 Kamron Moate 12 NG, DE 9 Preston Lavant 11 OLB, TE 10 J’kobe Harris 11 WR, CB 11 Latrelvin Blackamore 11 MLB, FB 12 Ahmad Brown 9 QB, FS 13 Jj Deriso 11 RB, CB, WR 14 Fredrick Royal 12 CB, WR 15 Sirad Bryant 11 ATH, DB, WR 16 Cortez Thomas 11 QB/LB 17 Katorian Raines 12 WR 18 Trae Shiloh 11 WR, CB 20 Connor Richmond 12 K 21 Dakevian Taylor 11 WR, CB 22 Kanye Spivey 10 MLB, FB 23 Latravious Walker 10 WR, FS, CB 24 Jaylin Epps 11 CB, RB 25 Jayren Fox 12 OLB 27 Julian Fox 9 RB, LB 28 Semaj Chatfield 9 WR 29 DJ Lewis 11 WR 30 Carltae Butler 10 MLB, RB 31 Antorio Morgan 11 RB 32 Dj Smith 10 MLB 33 Jeremiah Bolden 11 CB, SB 34 Ian Kleckley 9 RB, OLB 35 Javan Hardemon 11 OLB, TE 36 Dylan Davis 9 QB, MLB 37 Adrion Holton 9 CB, WR 39 Calvarious Armstrong 9 WR, SS 42 David Mitchell. 9 P, K 43 Ethan Pollock 10 OLB, TE, T 44 Trenton Richey 12 MLB, DE 45 Wesley Blunt 11 DE 46 Demarion Williams 10 MLB 51 Courtney Griffin 11 T 52 Perici Gaines 11 NG 54 Aaron Walker 9 DE, G 55 Pete Bass 12 DE, DT 55 Jh’quan Bass 12 DT, DE 56 Mekih Hill 11 T, DE 57 Colton Oliver 12 G, NG 58 Ajailyn Johnson 12 C, G 59 Jaylyn Weitman 9 LS 60 Kalzayvian Ray 11 DE 61 Amarion Mckensey 10 C, NG 62 Hunter Swearingen 9 C, DT 65 Edward Staley 11 T, DE 66 Ryan Clark 11 G, DE 70 AJ Duncan 12 G, C 75 Kevion Barron 9 NG, T 77 Dalton Yarbrough 11 P, K 78 Daveon Williams 9 NG 79 Terrance Jackson 11 NG, C 80 Kamareon Tyson 9 G, C 81 Jalin Jackson 9 SS, WR 83 Michael Waters 9 CB, WR 85 Da’jailyn Taylor 9 WR 88 Jaylen Smith 10 WR, CB 89 Jamarion Troutman 9 CB, WR

Head Coach: Brad Harber Assistant Coaches: Jeff Wilson, Jim Avera, Donald Vandygriff, Brett Hall, Jim Hughes, Semeric McCurdy, Robert Houston, Horace Clark, Scott McCarty