GHSA Flag and Tackle Football State Championship Updates - Day Three

The final day of the GHSA Flag and Tackle Football State Championships featured the Division 5 flag title matchup as well as the Class 3A and Class 5A title games.

See the results below.

Thomas County Central 62, Gainesville 21

Deuce Lawrence’s all-white Thomas County Central uniform was covered in red scuffs at the end of the Class 5A state championship game. It wasn’t blood, his or anyone else’s. Nor were the splotches from the various hues of red paint on the turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The bright red markings were remnants of the dye left over from his rushing by, past and through the Gainesville defense, clad in their bright red jerseys, during Thomas County Central’s 62-21 victory against the Red Elephants to close out the GHSA football season.

Lawrence finished with 39 carries for 380 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 15-0 undefeated season and the program’s seventh state championship and second under fourth-year head coach Justin Rogers.

His 380 yards set the GHSA championship game rushing record.

Lawrence scored on runs of 8, 71, 45, 20, and 6 in the victory, helping Thomas County Central to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter and a 21-7 lead at the half. The Yellow Jackets outscored Gainesville 41-14 in the second half.

Quarterback Jaylen Johnson and Gray Pringle had big games with Johnson finishing 165 passing yards and four total touchdowns, and Pringle catching both of Johnson’s passing touchdowns to go along with 89 yards.

The Yellow Jackets out-gained Gainesville 667 yards to 291 and 457 to 178 on the ground. While passing was pretty equal with TCC having only 50 more yards passing than Gainesville.

For Gainesville, Kharim Hughley was the only bright spot on the offense, throwing for 113 yards and rushing for 129 more while having two total touchdowns.

This may be yet another step into a new golden age for the Yellow Jackets program that it has not seen since the 1990s under coach Ed Pilcher. Over the past four years, TCC has gone 53-3 and won two championships, which puts this senior class in very rare air and is the winningest in school history.

Class 3A - Sandy Creek 27, Jefferson 7

If Sandy Creek’s fourth state championship – a 21-17 victory against Cedar Grove in 2022 – was controversial, its fifth was anything but after moving past Jefferson 27-7 in the penultimate game of the GHSA football season.

The Patriots – who had been ranked at the top of the Class 3A standings all season -- held Jefferson scoreless in the second half to win the title for head coach Darius Smiley, his first.

“It has been incredible,” said Smiley. “Hats off to these young men and this coaching staff. This community. I am just so proud of these guys. That’s 15-0, second time in school history. Fifth state championship. How about them Patriots.”

The seniors of the 2025 team entered the program on the heels of the 2022 championship victory with high hopes. But the class then exited in the first round in 2023 and the second round last season against LaGrange in a upset after winning the Region 2-3A title, Smiley’s first league crown.

After last year’s playoff loss, Smiley knew his senior class was special and the preparation began immediately as the team watched LaGrange’s buses leave the Sandy Creek campus following the 38-22 loss.

“The same thing we talked about at the beginning of the offseason last year was sending (our seniors) out the way they came in,” Smiley said.

The game was scoreless in the first quarter and Sandy Creek struck first, on a 15-yard run from senior West Virginia-commit running back Amari Latimer with eight minutes left in the first half. Sandy Creek expanded the lead on a short run from quarterback Caleb Hill with 2:53 left.

Jefferson got on the board from an 82-yard kickoff return from Chance Payne with 2:39 before halftime but the Dragons – which were held to 96 rushing and 86 passing yards – could not find a rhythm on offense.

Hill scored on a short run with 9:41 left in the third quarter to put the Patriots ahead 21-7. Latimer’s final touchdown of his high school career came on a 25-yard run with 6:55 left in the game to put the final touches on Sandy Creek’s special senior class.

“The seniors, and the team, did everything that we asked them to do,” Smiley said. “And here they are, leaving out with a state championship.”

Latimer had 22 carries for 98 yards and two touchdowns and Hill – who was 14-of-19 passing for 167 yards -- rushed 15 times for 78 yards and a score to lead the Patriots.

Class 1A-3A Private - Hebron Christian 28, Calvary Day 21

The Private classification crown will stay in Dacula, as the Lions of Hebron Christian defeated Calvary Day 28-21 to win back-to-back state titles and its first under first-year head coach Kenny Dallas.

And Dallas can thank a stout defense and potent offense for the state title victory, punctuated by a game-winning interception from three-star Georgia Southern-signee Jarvis Mathurin while Hebron nursed a 28-21 lead with 1:41 left in the game.

The story of the day was the Hebron Christian defense. While the offense is often what has been talked about when Hebron Christian has played this year, today, the defense thwarted any chance of a comeback from Calvary Day.

The Lions did not give up a first down until the 7:03 mark in the second quarter and only four in the first half. While they were not as stout in the second half, they did more than enough to win the game.

Hebron scored on its first drive. A bad snap on Calvary Day's first punt gave the Lions the ball on the yard line, which star running back Devon Caldwell punched in one play later, and Max Steve converted a two-point conversion to give the Lions an 8-0 lead. lead.

The two traded punts on their next drives, but on Hebron's third drive, a poor Cavalier punt gave the Lions the ball at the 25-yard line. On the first play of the second half, Jordan Greene found Steve for a 11-yard touchdown.

The Cavs looked to had momentum after Emerson Lewis intercepted a Greene pass and got possession at the 45. However, they once again were unable to capitalize on the field position, going three and out. The Lion then hit a big play to Mathurin. He took a handoff 58 yards to the endzone, giving Hebron Christian a 21-0 lead.

Midway through the second quarter, the Cavs finally got a drive going. Two big pass plays and a one-yard touchdown run by James Mobley cut the Hebron lead to 21-7 with 5:41 left in the second quarter. The Lions went three and out on the next possession, giving the Cavs the ball back with 3:55 left to play in the half at the Hebron 39-yard line after a face mask on the return. But Mobley threw an interception on the ensuing drive. The Lions were unable to do anything with the possession. Calvary had one more possession that looked like it might have momentum; however, a Mathurin interception with 19 seconds left ended the drive and the half.

The defenses dominated the first half, giving up only 169 yards of offense and holding the offense to 3 of 15 on third down. Surprisingly, James Mobley was the most productive player of the first half, throwing for 76 yards and rushing for a touchdown.

Hebron opened the second half with a three-and-out, giving Calvary Day the ball back with 10:34 left in the quarter. Two long pass plays from Mobley to MJ Knight set up a three-yard rushing touchdown from Ca’Den Jones to cut the Hebron lead to 21-14.

Hebron had a promising drive going on its next possession, but two sacks and a delay of game knocked the Lions out of field goal range, forcing them to punt. Calvary was unable to produce a drive on the next possession, going three-and-out. Hebron drove down and scored on a 29-yard Gray Costello pass to Austen Kitchings to extend the lead back to two scores with 10:49 left in the game.

The Cavs were unable to get their next drive going, getting two first downs and punting the ball to Hebron with 8:30 left in the game. Penalties plagued the next Hebron drive, negating multiple big plays and forcing the Lions to punt, giving the Cavs the ball back with just over 6:00 left. With 4:11 left in the game, Mobley found Ty Pickney for an 11-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 28-21. On the ensuing kickoff, Calvary Day onside kicked the ball, and initially it was ruled they received it; however, after review, it was determined it did not go 10 yards before being touched.

Hebron proceeded to go three and out and was forced to punt with 2:56 to go in the fourth. Mobley, however, was intercepted by Mathurin with 1:41 to go in the game to seal the victory for the Lions.

Steve and Mathurin were the top players for the Lions; Steve had eight tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss. On offense, he had a big 11-yard touchdown catch that helped the Lions win the game. Mathurin had four rushes for 61 yards and a touchdown to go along with two interceptions.

Division 5 Flag Football Championship – Pope 14, McEachern 13

If upending the defending champion from the higher class was the plan for Pope when it entered the championship game of the newly-minted Division 5, the Greyhounds looked like they were failing on that goal with four minutes left in the fourth quarter against McEachern.

Pope was trailing 13-0 entering the fourth quarter after McEachern went ahead on a 38-yard pass from Ava George to Jaedalyn Hull and a short run from Michala Butler. But with 3:47 left, Abbey Bensman passed to Elizabeth Kelly to cut into the lead 13-7 after the extra-point from Bensman to Kourtney Kalman.

The Greyhounds forced a three-and-out and on the ensuing drive, Pope ate 1:52 of the clock and tied the game with five seconds remaining on a short run from Kalman. Bensman’s pass to Lily Joswick secured the go-ahead, state championship-winning point.

McEachern won the Division 4 title last season, the state’s highest Division at the time, and was trying for the program’s second championship. Pope won the Division 3 championship in each of the past two seasons before reclassifying to Division 5 this year.

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