2015 Trail to the Title Middle School Football Champions — Cedar Grove Saints

The Cedar Grove Saints shutout the Tucker Tigers 22-0 to become the first back-to-back Trail to the Title middle school football champions since Stephenson in the first two years (2004-05) of the championship series.

Leading 6-0 at the half on an Isaiah Ratcliff touchdown run, the Saints continued to dominate on defense holding Tucker to a minus-14 yards of offense in the second half.

Tucker opened the second half with the football, but following a sack of 10 yards by Cedar Grove’s Alvin Williams was forced to punt the ball away from its own 15.

Cedar Grove’s Alvin Williams (right) gets a big sack early in the third quarter against Tucker. (Photo by Mark Brock)

The Tigers got a big break on the Saints first play at the Saints’ 36 as Tucker defensive lineman Promise Vita recovered a fumble at the Cedar Grove 43.

Cedar Grove’s defense took advantage of a bad snap on Tucker’s first play and Williams again made the play recovering the football at the Tiger 44.

Nicholas Brannon opened the drive with a 13 yard run and Ratcliff followed with runs of 14 and 15 yards as the Saints moved to the Tiger three-yard line. An illegal procedure penalty backed the Saints up to the eight, but Ratcliff got the call straight up the middle and into the end zone for the touchdown. Earl Graham scrambled and found Williams all alone on the opposite side of the field for the two point conversion pass and a 14-0 Saints’ lead with 3:08 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers got the ball back and looked to have a drive started with a 14-yard run by Quarius Smith. The drive quickly began to stall as three consecutive penalties and a loss of 7 yards put the Tigers in a third down and 31 situation to start the fourth quarter.

Tucker’s Randy Britt (3) comes up to make the tackle on Cedar Grove quarterback Earl Graham. (Photo by Mark Brock)

Tucker went to the air and Brannon made them pay by picking off the pass at the Tiger 26 and returning it for a touchdown. Graham hooked up with Brannon on the two-point conversion pass to make it 22-0 with 7:50 to play in the game.

The Saints’ defense continued its strong play as Williams got another sack to force a punt and then forced Tucker to turn the ball over on downs with 1:14 to play.

Tucker’s defense kept the score at 22-0 by stopping Cedar Grove at the Tiger 34 on downs and then recovering a fumble at their own one-yard line before running out the clock.

Ratcliff earned Overall Game Most Valuable Player while Graham was Offensive Player of the Game and Brannon was named Defensive Player of the Game.

Cedar Grove is on an 18-game winning streak with their back-to-back championships (2014, 2015) under Head Coach Rickey Wright. The Saints also became just the third school to win two titles joining Stephenson (2004, 2005, 2009, 2011) and Miller Grove (2006, 2008, 2010). Wright was also named the 2015 Coach of the Year for guiding his team to a second consecutive undefeated season.