Aaron Sterling and his Tucker Tiger defensive teammates held the Harrison Hoya offense to a minus-22 yards and just 14 plays in the second half on the way to a 23-7 Class 6A second round playoff victory at Adams Stadium on Friday night.

Sterling has the perfect name for his defensive performance as he went around and through the Harrison offensive line to get 6 ½ sacks, 2 tackles for a loss and batted down one pass. His performance along with Antonio Showers, Terrell Paxton and the rest of the Tigers defense combined for 14 negative plays against the high-powered Hoya offense.

Harrison (10-2) answered a 42-yard Adam Lippy field goal for the Tigers with a 62-yard touchdown run by Darius Clark with 3:59 left in the first quarter to take their one and only lead of the game at 7-3.

Tucker came right back with a 62-yard drive capped by Chris Broadwater’s first touchdown of the night, a two-yard plunge with 52 seconds left in the first quarter, to take a 9-7 lead as a two-point conversion was nullified by a penalty.

The Tiger defense would force a three and out to get the football back for the offense at its own 48 just after the start of the second quarter.

Xavier Shephard directed a scoring drive by hitting David Davis for 15 yards and Josh Vann for 17 to the Harrison 25. Taurean Taylor broke loose for 23 yards to the two to set up Broadwater’s second touchdown, another two-yard run, to give the Tigers a 16-7 lead as Lippy added the PAT.

Sterling would bat down a pass and get in on two sacks on Harrison’s next possession as the Hoyas had hit a 55-yard pass down to the Tiger 19. Sterling would get to Hoya quarterback Justin Fields for losses of four and three yards to go with a personal foul on Harrison to force a turnover on downs at the Tucker 33.

Tucker drove 65 yards on its second drive of the third quarter as Shephard again found Vann for 30 yards and a 10-yard toss to Cameron Richardson to get inside the 10. Broadwater bulled his way into the end zone on fourth and inches as the Tigers extended the lead to 23-7 with 1:30 left in the quarter.

Harrison would only cross the 50 once the rest of the night to the Tiger 43 in the fourth quarter. Sterling and Myles Gadson would start three consecutive negative plays for the Hoyas with a sack of Fields. Sterling added sacks for losses of 10 and 7 yards on the two following plays to force the Hoyas to punt from their own 35.

Broadwater finished the night with 85 yards rushing to go with his three touchdowns and Vann hauled in four passes for 94 yards, including his climbing the ladder 31-yard catch to set up the first quarter field goal.

No. 4 ranked Tucker (11-1) moves on to take on Mays (11-1) in the Elite 8 at 7:30 pm on Friday at Lakewood Stadium in Atlanta. Mays rallied to knock off Lee County 35-22.

Class 6A Stephenson 20, Dacula 6
In other Class 6A playoff action the Stephenson Jaguars (8-4) reached the Elite 8 for the first time since 2012 behind a dominating defensive performance of their own in a 20-6 win on the road over the Dacula Falcons.

Stephenson scored on its first two drives of the game as Jaylen Marson-Knight got the Jaguars rolling with a 26-yard run. Quarterback D’Vonn Gibbons would then hook up with Hassan Littles for 48-yards on a pass play to the Dacula 10. Knight would finish the drive going the final 10-yards for the 6-0 lead.

The Jaguar defense force the Falcons to punt and a return to the Dacula 25 set up the next score. Gibbons dropped back and found Khalil Newton for a 25-yard touchdown strike to make it 12-0 heading into the second quarter.

Dacula would trim the lead to 12-3 on a Phillip Hoke field goal only to have the Jaguars answer as Gibbons and Newton hooked up again, this time for 29 yards, on the touchdown pass for a 20-3 lead.

Hoke would add another field to make it 20-6 at the half.

Stephenson would have two touchdowns called back in the second half, but the defense held Dacula (7-5) scoreless to seal the win.

The Jaguars move on to face No. 1 ranked Valdosta (11-1) on the road on Friday in the Elie 8. Valdosta took care of Northgate 69-14.

Class 3A – Cedar Grove 28, Jenkins 3
The No. 6 ranked Cedar Grove Saints shook off a bad first half to score 28 second half points to defeat Jenkins of Savannah 28-3 on the road in the Class 3A state playoffs.

Jenkins took advantage of three Cedar Grove first half fumbles to stymie the Saints’ offense and take a 3-0 lead into the half on a Michael Greco 37-yard field goal.

Cedar Grove opened the second half by returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown only to have it nullified. After being forced to punt, Tre’ Shaw would intercept a Jenkins pass to set up the first of four Saints’ touchdowns in the second half.

Grant Walker would take the handoff on the third play and race 66 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Solee Fofana would at the point after try for the 7-3 lead.

Jelani Woods extended the lead to 14-3 heading into the fourth quarter with a seven-yard run and Fofana’s kick.

Walker, who rushed for 204 yards on 18 carries, pushed the lead to 21-3 with a nine-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

Demetrius Tharpe got away for a 16-yard touchdown run to wrap up the scoring as Fofana hit his fourth kick of the night for the final of 28-3.

The Saints (10-2) go on the road to Calhoun (10-2), a 41-20 winner of Jackson to advance, on Friday at 7:30 pm

Class 5A – Griffin 27, Arabia Mountain 20 OT
The Arabia Mountain Rams saw their amazing season come to an end with a 27-20 overtime loss to Griffin at Hallford Stadium on Friday night.

Arabia (9-3) jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Griffin before the Bears rallied for a 20-14 lead in the second half. The Rams knotted the game and held on to send it into overtime tied 20-20.

Griffin (11-1) scored on its first possession in overtime to take the 27-20 lead. The Bears’ defense held the Rams on a fourth and one at the six to secure the win.

Arabia finished the season with their best ever record (9-3), first playoff appearance and first playoff victory.

DCSD FOOTBALL STATE PLAYOFF RESULTS
FRIDAY, NOV. 18
CLASS 6A
ADAMS Stadium
Tucker (11-1) 23, Harrison (10-2) 7

AWAY GAME
Stephenson (8-4) 20, Dacula (7-5) 6

CLASS 5A
HALLFORD STADIUM
Griffin (11-1) 27, Arabia Mountain (9-3) 20 OT

CLASS 3A
Cedar Grove (10-2) 28, Jenkins-Savannah (10-2) 3

DCSD FOOTBALL STATE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, NOV. 25
CLASS 6A
Tucker (11-1) vs. Mays (11-1), Lakewood, 7:30 pm
Stephenson (8-4) at Valdosta (11-1), 7:30 pm

CLASS 3A
Cedar Grove (10-2) at Calhoun (10-2), 7:30 pm