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Sandy Creek completes undefeated season, wins second straight region title

By MICHAEL BOYLAN

mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

• Region 4-AAAA: Creekside hosted Sandy Creek Friday night in a batte between two undefeated teams for the region championship. It was a game that the coaches, players and fans had circled as quite possibly the biggest game of the season and it lived up to the hype.

The Patriots took an early lead when running back Reggie Ellington scored in the first quarter. Ellington scored again for Sandy Creek with a 70-yard run just under five minutes in to the second quarter. Creekside answered three minutes later but got stopped on the two point conversion by Michael Lockett. Sandy Creek drove down the field and Michael Jones kicked a 40 yard field goal to put the Patriots up 17-6 but Creekside was not done. they drove down the field and were thwarted by a huge goal line stand from Sandy Creek.

Creekside scored again five minutes in to the thrid quarter but Ellington, running like a man possessed, answered with his third touchdown of the night three minutes later. Creekside scored two minutes after that, thanks to wild running from their quarterback and tailbacks. Jamal Rome burst for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to provide a 10 point lead for Sandy Creek and an interception from Brent Brewer and a key stop from Gerren Griffin helped Sandy creek maintain the lead. Those stops would figure in big as Creekside scored again with just under two minutes to go and got the ball back with just under a minute remaining. Creekside once again drove down the field. They threw a pass as time expired and it just fell incomplete, giving Sandy Creek the region title and the Creekside fans a little heartache. Both teams will host state playoff games this Friday.

Sandy Creek, which ran the table in the regular season and won the region championship for the second straight year, will host Jones County (5-5, 4-3 region).

In other region 4-AAAA games, McIntosh (4-6) lost to Chapel Hill (1-9) 33-0, while Whitewater (7-3) defeated North Oconee 53-7. McIntosh made a number of miscues early in the game and could not overcome them. The team will graduate 20 seniors from their roster but will return some valuable starters next season.

Whitewater played a non-region schedule and is not eligible for the playoffs this year, but they have shown that with an explosive offense and a strong defense they will be a force when they do play a region schedule. In their last game of the season, players who had made a name for themselves all season left fans with a taste of what’s to come in the next two seasons. Tavoris Dixon, Kevin Leewallen and Kurdice Neal each had two touchdowns in the win, while Lee Hardnett and quarterback Jay Bright each added one.

• Region 4-AAAAA: Starr’s Mill (9-1) defeated Fayette County 56-14 last Friday. The Panthers got huge games fro Antonio Scott, who scored two touchdowns and gained enough yards to go over the 1,000 yard mark, and quarterback Robby Davis, who scored two touchdowns himself. Other players scoring for Starr’s Mill were Kyle McCreary (2), Michael Buice and Trevor Dupont. Fayette’s scores came from Justin Woods, who scored off of a touchdown pass from Ri’Chard Davis and Matt Dyer, who recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown. The Panthers will host Riverdale (6-4).

• Region 5-A: Landmark Christian (6-4, 4-0) won its third consecutive region title by handing Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (8-2, 3-1) a 34-21 loss last Friday. Miles King returned from an injury to catch two Matt Moody touchdown passes, while Tyler Tidwell caught one and Zech Glaize blocked a punt and recovered the ball for a touchdown.

Landmark will host Aquinas (7-3) Friday night.

Our Lady of Mercy (1-9, 1-3) made the playoffs by oiutlasting Mt. Zion, Carroll (0-10, 0-4). The Bobcats got two touchdowns from Jason Bryant and held their breath as Mt. Zion missed a field goal in the closing seconds. It was a big win for Our Lady of Mercy and it gave them an extra week in their season. They will travel to take on Lincoln County (9-1) Friday.

All games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Visit www.gasports.com to see playoff brackets and pick up a copy of Friday’s citizen for in-depth playoff coverage.