JEFFERSON, Ga. – Riding a great performance from their defense, the Jefferson Dragons are headed back to the Class 3A state championship game.
The top-seeded Dragons won a defensive battle, beating No. 4 seed West Laurens 17-13 in the state semifinals at Memorial Stadium on Friday night.
“(The defense) played great, and the coaches had a great plan to take away their perimeter game, which they were really good at,” Jefferson Coach Travis Noland said. “I’m just very proud of how the whole team played, and for the opportunity they get to go back to Atlanta.”
Since falling to Calhoun in last year’s Class 3-A state championship, the Dragons (13-1) have worked for a return trip.
“It was an awful feeling going there and losing last year,” Jefferson senior defensive back Mack Gaddis said. “But I believe we got what it takes to win it this year, and I’m forever grateful and thankful for my Lord and Savior to give me the opportunity to go back there again this year.”
Jefferson will face Sandy Creek in the state championship game on Dec. 17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“Last year means nothing to this year’s game,” Noland said. “We know that Sandy Creek is an unbelievable team, and we’ll be outmanned, so we just have to try to find a way to give ourselves a chance.”
Jefferson held the Raiders to 131 yards in total offense. The Dragons sacked West Lauren’s quarterbacks six times and forced seven three-and-outs.
The Dragons’ defense capped the night, stopping the Raiders (13-1) on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 with three minutes left in the game. Linebacker Dylan Berardinelli tackled West Lauren running back Braylen Robinson for no gain on consecutive plays.
“We’ve been practicing hard all week,” Gaddis said. “(The Raiders), they run the ball, they’re physical, and we had to match their physicality and do what we know we can do. We played as physical as we could, and we knew what was coming. Our coaches do a great job preparing us for what’s coming, and it really helped tonight.”
West Laurens senior running back Ty Cummings, who entered the game with 2,557 yards rushing, did not play much, but when he did, the Dragons bottled him up. He ran four times for 0 yards and caught one pass for three yards.
Jefferson kicker Taylor McCall kicked a 39-yard field goal with 3:50 left in the third quarter for the only points of the second half.
The Dragons, who were playing in the state semifinals for the third straight season and the fourth time since 2020, won their 10th straight home playoff game over the last three seasons.
The Dragons took a 14-13 lead at the half. They used a short field twice for their two first-half touchdowns, scoring on drives of 32 and 19 yards. Darren Pinkard scored on a 19-yard run with 1:32 left in the first quarter, and Colton Grant scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak midway through the second quarter.
Jefferson shut down the Raiders’ offense in the first half, but the Raiders used two big plays to stay in the game. The Dragons held West Laurens to 100 yards in the first half, with 81 coming on one play.
The Raiders’ touchdown came on J.D. Hogan, who scored on an 81-yard run on a broken play, and Shannon Adkins returned an interception 45 yards for the other score. The interception deflected off a Jefferson receiver.
The post Football: Dragons hold off West Laurens to advance to 3A title game appeared first on AccessWdun.
