Fellowship Christian Falls In State Semifinals On Home Field

Editor's note: Written by Mike Blum.

ROSWELL, GA — What had been an exceptional season for the Fellowship Christian football team ended on a dismal note, as the previously undefeated Paladins were handed a 56-20 thumping by the Wesleyan Wolves on Fellowship’s home field Friday night.

The loss in the Class A private division ended the Paladins’ season in the semifinals, and denied them the chance to play for a state title for the second time in four years.

Fellowship lost 34-27 in overtime to Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in the 2016 title game, and Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy will go for a fourth straight state championship Friday at Georgia State’s stadium against Wesleyan.

Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy reached the finals with a 21-7 victory over Holy Innocents, which finished first in Region 5-A ahead of runner-up Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy and third place Wesleyan. The only losses this season for Wesleyan came against Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy and Holy Innocents, and the Wolves will take a 12-2 record into Friday’s championship game against 12-1 Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy.

Fellowship finishes 12-1, winning all 10 regular season games by at least 22 points and averaging more than 45 points a game. The Paladins shut out North Cobb Christian 14-0 in their playoff opener before holding off Hebron Christian 35-28 the following week.

But the Paladins were no match Friday for Wesleyan, which overwhelmed the FCS defense with a quartet of skill position standouts - three of them sophomores - and an offensive line that controlled play up front.

The Wolves only attempted a dozen passes, but hurt the Paladins badly with the deep ball. Strong-armed sophomore quarterback J.C. French completed 7 of 10 passes for 219 yards, including down-the-field throws of 40, 48 and 48 yards, each of which led to a touchdown. Three other completions covered 17, 18 and 24 yards and all led to scores, with French connecting on a 24-yard TD strike to cap his impressive performance.

Speedy senior Micah Smith got behind the FCS secondary for completions of 40 and 48 yards, finishing with four catches for 129 yards. He also forced an interference call and picked up 32 yards on an end around. Sophomore Cooper Blauser, the son of former Braves’ shortstop Jeff Blauser, also caught a 48-yard bomb from French, survived a punishing hit to make a key 18-yard reception. He scored touchdowns of 5 and 17 yards on his only two carries of the game, and came up with what was likely the key play of the night.

Fellowship Christian is a predominantly running team, averaging 340 yards on the ground with its wing-T attack, but the Paladins throw the ball sparingly and not especially effectively averaging just 67 yards per game through the air.

The Paladins hoped to surprise Wesleyan with a pass on the first play of the game, but Eli Hildebrandt’s attempt was deflected at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Blauser at the Fellowship 27. It took the Wolves only four plays to get on the scoreboard, and with the aid of four penalties against the Paladins, Wesleyan led 14-0 before the quarter was half over.

Three penalties, two of which nullified first downs, halted Fellowship’s next offensive series, and a highly suspect pass interference call in the end zone handed the Wolves their second TD.

The Paladins responded with a 12-play drive, all runs, that covered 80 yards and produced six first downs, with sophomore Josh Cole scoring from the six.

But that was close as Fellowship got, as the Wolves scored touchdowns on all four first half possessions and eight of nine times total before ending the game inside the FCS 25.

An incompletion and a third down sack ended the next Fellowship series near midfield, and a stop by the Wolves inside their 10 sent Wesleyan into halftime ahead 28-7.

Blauser’s 48-yard catch on the first play of the second half led to a touchdown and a 35-7 Wesleyan lead before the Paladins managed a brief surge that looked like it might get them back in the game.

Freshman Jayven Hall broke loose for 51 yards and a touchdown, and the Paladins forced Wesleyan to punt for the only time in the game as two deep shots from Caldwell fell incomplete. Hall also scored the next FCS touchdown on an 8-yard run, capping a short drive that began in Wesleyan territory, as the Paladins closed within 35-20.

But Smith produced 56 yards on consecutive plays and the Wolves coasted down the field to increase their lead to 42-20 and dash what little hope Fellowship had left.

Fellowship, which had held every opponent in check until the previous week’s 35-28 win over Hebron Christian, yielded 458 yards against the Wolves, 239 on the ground. Hard-running sophomore Griffin Caldwell carried 24 times for 124 yards and two touchdowns, with French adding three short scoring runs.

The Paladins had a respectable 265 yards rushing, averaging 5 yards per attempt, but other than Hall’s 51-yard score, did not gain more than 14 yards on the other 52 running plays. Hall went over 100 yards and Cole added 65, but leading rusher Reeves was not 100 percent and was limited to 33 yards on nine carries.

Fellowship has gone 42-9 the past four seasons, also winning playoff games in 2017 and ’18 before raising their 4-year playoff record to 7-4. The Paladins are likely to go into next season as one of the top teams in the Class A private division, losing just a handful of defensive starters and some offensive linemen.

But if the team is going to challenge for a state title, they will need to be less one dimensional on offense, while finding a way to defend against opponents with quarterbacks able to throw the ball down the field and speedy receivers to run under the deep throws.