Class 4A Blog: Kell, Creekside, Benedictine and Marist battle for a chance at a state championship berth

The Class 4A GHSA football semifinals kickoff this Friday night with a pair of high-profile matchups highlighting an extraordinary night of high school football across the state.

Both matchups begin at 7 p.m. with the Kell Longhorns traveling to face off against the undefeated, 13-0 Creekside Seminoles. On the opposite side of the bracket, the Benedictine Cadets will travel to Marist to face off against the War Eagles for a chance at playing for a state championship in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in two weeks.

In the Kell vs Creekside matchup, both teams will have their hands full with a surplus of talent on both sides of the ball, especially in the ground game. The talented Creekside running back tandem of senior Ced Kelley and Gary Walker have been explosive and true difference makers in the run game for the Seminoles. Walker leads the team in rushing with 1,432 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns with eight games over 100 rushing yards while Kelley has totaled 914 yards and 21 rushing touchdowns, rushing for impeccable numbers throughout the season. Senior quarterback Cayden Benson has added another dimension to the offense when he uses his legs, rushing for 300 yards and 10 touchdowns so far this season, while throwing for over 2,500 yards and 34 touchdowns as well.

For Kell, junior four-star running back Moonie Gipson has continued to impress all season long as he has rushed for 1,915 yards and 25 touchdowns including a total of 273 all-purpose yards in the Longhorns quarterfinal-victory over Cartersville.

Both defenses have been stellar this season as Creekside has only allowed 80 points all season long while the Kell defense features plenty of star-power including four-star linebacker and Tennessee-commit Brayden Rouse along with a trio of Power 4-commits in their defensive back room including Tennessee-commit Jowell Combay, Pittsburgh-commit Tony Forney Jr. and Arizona State-commit Jalen Williams.

On the other side of the bracket, it's hard to talk about Benedictine without starting off with a pair of talented future Texas Tech Red Raiders in quarterback Stephen Cannon and five-star edge rusher LaDamion Guyton.

Cannon has led the Cadets to a 10-2 record while throwing for 1,908 yards and 22 touchdowns while adding 537 yards and seven touchdowns using his legs. Cannon is a three-star, committed to Texas Tech considered by many as one of the more underrated quarterback talents in the state. The connection between him and Notre Dame-commit, wideout Bubba Frazier has totaled 631 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.

On defense, Guyton is considered to be one of the best defensive players in not only the state but his recruiting class after reclassifying from the Class of 2027 to this year's class. The five-star edge rusher has totaled 66 total tackles and 14 tackles for loss making his presence felt all over the field.

For Marist, the offense will have its hands full with Guyton but are coming off of a big victory against the reigning Class 4A champions, the North Oconee Titans.

Senior quarterback James Lasco leads the Marist offense as he accounted for 82 passing yards and 76 rushing yards in the War Eagles win over North Oconee.

The War Eagles defense has a tall task at hand as they have slow down a potent Benedictine offense led by Cannon and Frazier. The War Eagles defensive unit has been exceptional this season, only allowing 119 points, just over nine points per game.

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