Columbia Eagle Lamaze Williams (left) ran for 100 yards and a touchdown on offense and had six tackles (1 for a loss) on defense in the Eagles win over Elbert County. Columbia’s Elijah Morgan (right) threw for one touchdown and ran for another in the Eagles’ win. (File photos by Mark Brock)
A 26-15 road victory over Elbert County gave the Columbia Eagles their first playoff victory since 1997 and propelled them into the sweet 16 of the Class 2A high school football playoffs.
Columbia (8-3) jumped out 6-0 early as Elijah Morgan connected with Aveon Jackson on a 19-yard touchdown pass but trailed 7-6 at half as Elbert County (5-5) got a touchdown pass as well to take the lead.
Lamaze Williams pushed his way into the endzone on a one-yard run to put the Eagles back up 12-7 early in the third quarter.
The Eagles defense had a pair of big stops in the third quarter including Marquez Harris stuffing a run play on fourth and one at the Eagles one with 2:52 left in the third quarter to force Elbert County to turn the ball over on downs.
Columbia responded with a 91-yard drive concluded with a two-yard touchdown run by Morgan with 10:12 to play to put the Eagles up 18-7.
Elbert County was driving to close the gap when Royce Tolbert turned an interception into an 83-yard pick-six with 8:42 to play in the game. The two-point conversion was good to make it 26-7.
A late touchdown pass by Elbert County with about three minutes to play made the final of 26-14.
Lamaze Williams had a big game for the Eagles on both sides of the football rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries while contributing six tackles (1 for a loss) and a pass defended on defense. Morgan finished with 132 yards passing and a touchdown as he hit on 10 of 15 attempts and had 10 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown as well.
Marquez Harris finished with nine tackles (2 for loss, 1 sack) to lead the defense. Kenyon Partridge had 7 tackles (2 for loss, 1 sack), two passes defended and caused a fumble and Jaden Baugh added seven tackles, two passes defended and recovered a fumble.
Columbia moves into the second round of the Class 2A state playoffs going on the road once again as they travel to Swainsboro to take on the No. 10 ranked Tigers (9-2) who defeated Laney 48-6 in first round action.
Cedar Grove’s Barry Jackson (left) had two receiving touchdowns in the Saints playoff win over White County. Defensive lineman Adonijah Green (right) had an interception and a sack for the Saints in the playoff win. (File photos by Mark Brock)
Class 3A: Cedar Grove 79, White County 0
The No. 5 ranked Cedar Grove Saints bounced back from their season finale loss to Sandy Creek by shutting out White County 79-0 in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs at “Buck” Godfrey Stadium on Friday night.
Cedar Grove (8-3) jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Rashad Dubinion scored via a seven-yard run to get the Saints rolling.
Elliot Colson followed with a one-yard touchdown run and then connected with Trevon Ferrell touchdown pass and 54-yards to Barry Jackson for another touchdown catch. Amari Forte hit all four PATs as the lead went to 28-0 heading into the second quarter.
Adonijah Green had an interception at the White County 19 and Bo Walker quickly went 19 yards on the first play early in the second quarter. Forte made it 5-5 with PAT for a 35-0 Cedar Grove lead.
Green came up with a sack to cause a turnover on downs by White County and a few plays later DeMarcus Smith went in from four yards out. Forte improved to 6-6 on PATs to make it 42-0.
Ventrilo Dunlap came up with another big defensive play with a safety and Jakyre Horton returned the kick following the safety 45 yards for a touchdown as the lead ballooned to 51-0.
Janiran Bonner’s 21-yard touchdown catch put a cap to a 58-0 halftime lead. Forte finished 8-8 on PATs in the first half.
Jackson caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Jamar Graham to open the second half, Boden Walker added a 35-yard touchdown run and Zsuewuan Smith scored on a four-yard run to finish out the scoring. Forte added all three PATs in the second half to finish 11-11.
Graham had three touchdown passes on 5-5 of passing and Colson was 6-6 for 104 yards and two touchdowns
Cedar Grove (8-3) plays host to the Southeast Bulloch Yellowjackets (10-1) on Friday at “Buck” Godfrey Stadium with kickoff set for 7:30 pm. The Yellowjackets advanced to the second round with a 42-16 win over Long County.
Class 5A
Southwest DeKalb and Lithonia both fell in their first round Class 5A state playoff games.
The Panthers fell behind early in dropping a 41-20 decision to No. 10 ranked Blessed Trinity at Hallford Stadium on Friday night. Southwest DeKalb finishes 6-5 on the season.
Lithonia took a 51-0 road loss to No. 1 ranked Cartersville to finish 4-6 on the years.
Class 4A
The Miller Grove Wolverines concluded a 6-4 campaign on Friday with a Class 4A first round 56-21 loss on the road at North Oconee.
Class 6A
A 60-26 loss to Brunswick ended the Tucker Tigers season at 2-9 in the Class 6A state playoffs at Brunswick on Saturday night.
DEKALB FOOTBALL – PLAYOFF RESULTS
Friday, Nov. 12
“BUCK” GODFREY STADIUM
CLASS 3A
Cedar Grove (8-3) 79, White County (4-7) 0
HALLFORD STADIUM
CLASS 5A
Blessed Trinity (7-4) 41, SW DeKalb (6-5) 20
AWAY GAMES
CLASS 2A
Columbia (8-3) 26, Elbert County (5-5) 14
CLASS 4A
North Oconee (8-3) 56, Miller Grove (6-4) 21
Class 5A
Cartersville (10-0) 51, Lithonia (4-7) 0
Saturday, Nov. 13
CLASS 6A
Brunswick (11-0) 60, Tucker (2-9) 26
DEKALB FOOTBALL – PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 19
“BUCK” GODFREY STADIUM
CLASS 3A
Southeast Bulloch (10-1) vs. Cedar Grove (8-3), 7:30 pm
AWAY GAME
CLASS 2A
Columbia (8-3) at Swainsboro (9-2), 7:30 pm