Class 3A Blog: Three championship-winning programs and an outsider wanting in are all that remain

LaGrange will host Sandy Creek while Jefferson will travel to West Laurens to determine the state championship contenders Friday evening in the first weekend of football in December.

Welcome to the Class 3A football semifinals.

Top-ranked Sandy Creek (13-0) has moved past Cedar Grove 42-9, Monroe Area 42-13 and Douglass-Atlanta 34-0 on the way to the penultimate game. LaGrange (11-2) is ranked No. 8 in the class and has beaten North Clayton 48-27, No. 3-ranked North Hall 52-28 and No. 9-ranked Stephenson on the way to the semifinals.

West Laurens (13-0) entered the playoffs ranked No. 7 and moved past Beach 45-6, Oconee County 32-7 and Jenkins 21-16. Jefferson (12-1) is ranked No. 5 and beat Dougherty 55-13, Harlem 49-13 and No. 10 Cairo 47-28 in the quarterfinals.

Sandy Creek is looking for the team’s fifth state championship after winning in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2022. LaGrange wants the team’s seventh title after winning in 1955, 1958, 1991, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Jefferson is in the hunt for the Dragons’ second title and first since 2012. West Laurens is the lone team left alive that has never won a state title.

The Class 3A state championship game will take place at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, December 17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

With the football season winding down and the basketball season ramping up, we will transition this blog to cover the boys and girls basketball seasons in the upcoming editions. To get started, below are the most-recent Score Atlanta boys and girls basketball rankings.

Class 3A Basketball Rankings

Boys

1. Cross Creek

2. Sandy Creek

3. Cedar Grove

4. Cherokee Bluff

5. Calhoun

6. Baldwin

7. Harlem

8. Douglass

9. Westover

10. Troup

Girls

1. Cherokee Bluff

2. Monroe

3. Jenkins

4. Sandy Creek

5. Oconee County

6. Luella

7. White County

8. Heritage-Catoosa

9. Dawson County

10. Pickens

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