Sophomore quarterback Jamar Graham’s three second-half touchdown passes propelled No. 6 Cedar Grove (11-3) to a 27-6 victory over No. 5 Appling County (12-2) in the Class 3A semifinals at Buck Godfrey Stadium on Friday night.
The momentum shifted early in the second quarter when Appling County, leading 3-0, fumbled on the goal line, which resulted in a touchback after Dawson Griffis reached for the pylon and lost control of the ball.
“I told them when it happened it was an opportunity that we didn’t plan for, but we are going to make the best of it,” Cedar Grove coach John Adams said. “I think that is what we did.”
Cedar Grove would score on the ensuing drive on a 5-yard touchdown run from Rashod Dubinion and held a 6-3 lead at the half. Dubinion, who is committed to Arkansas, finished with 56 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown, below his average of 120 yards per game. but the quarterback Graham picked up the slack.
In the first drive of the second half, Graham heated up with two completions of 20-plus yards on a four-play, 64-yard drive that took just 72 seconds off the clock. Graham passed 23 yards to Trevon Ferrell for a score and a 13-3 lead.
After Appling County scored a field goal to get within 13-6, Graham and Cedar Grove answered midway through the third quarter with a five-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Janiran Bonner.
Graham finished 14-of 17 passing for 270 yards and three touchdowns, and Bonner, who is committed to Georgia Tech, had seven catches for 133 yards.
“Jamar Graham is really talented,” Adams said. “He has a really big arm. It’s really impressive because he hadn’t been starting. Just to come in the fourth round of the playoffs and do what he did tonight was excellent.”
Cedar Grove’s defense, which has several major Division I recruits, stiffened multiple times in the red zone, forcing field goals instead of touchdowns. While the offense struggled in the first half, the defense didn’t allow the game to Appling to take advantage.
“Our defensive line, d-backs and linebackers did a really good job,” Adams said. “They (Appling) kept getting the edge on us. We saw it in film and made a few adjustments to hold the edge down a little bit better. I thought we did a good job with it.”
Appling County’s passing attack amassed less than 30 yards. Griffis was 5-of-12 passing for 24 yards and an interception.
Cedar Grove, the preseason No. 1 team, will play Carver-Atlanta for the title next week in a rematch of a regular-season game that Cedar Grove won 17-0.
Cedar Grove 0-6-7-14 - 27
Appling 3-0-3-0 - 6
A - Alex Garcia 32 FG
C - Rashod Dubinion 5 run (kick failed)
C - Trevon Ferrell 23 pass from Jamar Graham (Amari Forte kick)
A - Garcia 22 FG
C - Janiran Bonner 40 pass from Graham (Forte kick)
C - Ferrell 35 pass from Graham (Forte kick)
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