Blessed Trinity, Fellowship Christian Play Friday In Quarterfinal

Editors note: Written by Mike Blum.

ROSWELL, GA — Blessed Trinity and Fellowship Christian advanced to the quarterfinals of the state football playoffs Friday with outstanding defensive efforts, and will play at home Friday night in Roswell.

In second round games last Friday, Blessed Trinity defeated Baldwin 35-3 in Class AAAA, while Fellowship Christian advanced with a 14-0 shutout over North Cobb Christian in the Class A private school division. Both teams won on their home fields.

The BT Titans, 11-1 on the season, are competing for a third straight state championship, while Fellowship is looking for its first state title after losing in overtime in the 2016 championship game.

Blessed Trinity has coasted to wins in its first two playoff games this season, rolling past Troup 40-14 in the first round. The Titans limited Baldwin to 172 yards of offense and scored a pair of touchdowns on defense. Ryan Dupont returned a fumble 35 yards and David Coltrane scored on an interception return from a similar distance as the Titans scored twice in the span of about a minute to take a 28-3 halftime lead.

Senior tailback Elijah Green scored the first two BT touchdowns on runs of 45 and 68 yards after the Titans opened the game with a long drive that ended in an Aaron Werkheiser field goal.

Green carried 18 times for 178 yards, giving him 1093 yards in eight games played this season. Freshman Justice Haynes gained 141 yards on 14 attempts and added his team’s final touchdown on a 9-yard run in the third quarter. He has 1458 yards and 16 TDs this season, with the duo combining for 319 yards against Baldwin.

Green and Haynes teamed up for 276 yards and three TDs against Troup, while the BT defense kept dangerous Troup quarterback Kobe Hudson in check.

Despite graduating an outstanding group of seniors that led the Titans to back-to-back state titles the last two years, BT has enjoyed another outstanding season under head coach Tim McFarlin, surviving a trio of close calls to claim a region title.

The Titans edged Denmark 20-19, got past Flowery Branch 20-17 in overtime the next week and won again in three overtimes two weeks later against rival Marist 33-30.

The standout tailback duo of Green and Haynes has enabled the Titans to overcome a somewhat limited passing game, while the defense has held strong despite heavy graduation losses. Dupont is among the returning starters from the 2018 championship squad and has helped lead the defense along with returning lineman Griffin Gilder and an excellent secondary that includes Jackson Hamilton, Quinton Reese, James Bryant, Carson Harof and Coltrane.

The Titans, who have advanced to the quarterfinals or beyond each of the last seven seasons, will face a West Laurens team that is 11-1 and was sixth in the state in AAAA in the final regular season rankings.

West Laurens won its region and scored non-region wins over a pair of state-ranked teams early in the season (Dodge County and Crisp), with the team’s only loss by one point to a 5A opponent that reached the state playoffs.

The Raiders sport a balanced offense with a senior quarterback who had passed for 2150 yards and 23 touchdowns prior to last week’s 34-17 win over North Oconee. They also have a senior receiver who ranks among the state’s statistical leaders along with a trio of senior running backs who average 7, 8 and 9 yards per carry. The Raiders average more than 200 yards rushing per game, but have likely not faced a defense as stout as the one they will go against Friday.

Fellowship Christian struggled on offense for the first time this season in its win over North Cobb Christian Friday night. The Paladins averaged more than 45 points a game as they roared through their regular season schedule unbeaten, scoring at least 42 points nine times with their previous season low 31.

After being held scoreless in the first half with less than 100 yards of offense, the Paladins put together a pair of lengthy drives to score touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters. The defense held North Cobb Christian to minus yards in the third quarter and preserved the shutout with the second of two interceptions by Bryce Paul, one of a relative handful of senior starters on a team with a talented group of underclassmen.

The trio of junior Murphy Reeves, sophomore Josh Cole and freshman Jayven Hall have teamed up to give the Paladins an exceptional running attack, with Hall scoring the first touchdown against NCC and leading the team with 121 yards on 19 carries.

Reeves leads the team with 1425 yards and 15 touchdowns, and averages over nine yards per carry. Cole and Hall have combined for 1344 yards and 24 TDs, with Cole also averaging more than nine yards per attempt and Hall 7.5.

Cole and Hall are also among the team’s top defensive performers along with freshman Kyle Elphick, juniors Nathan Nardone, Brady Niblock, Lawson Haigler and Joey Archer, and seniors Blake Scott and Textron Lewis.

The Paladins are 41-8 over the past four seasons, going 13-1 in 2016 and 10-2 last year, when they lost in the second round for the second season in a row. Fellowship was a .500 team in its first three seasons under head coach Al Morrell, but made the leap to title contender in 2016 and is making another run this year.

Fellowship Christian finished the regular season as the No. 4 ranked team in the Class A private division, while Hebron Christian (8-4) was 11th in the final polls, with all four Lions’ losses coming against some of the top teams in Class A. The Lions won decisively against a higher seeded opponent last week, winning 35-6 over previously unbeaten Mt. de Sales.

Hebron Christian is led offensively by an outstanding pass-catch duo, while the Lions have also run the ball effectively.