Cedar Grove defeated top-ranked Calvary Day 49-42, and Savannah Christian outlasted No. 9 Carver-Columbus 51-26 in the semifinals and now the two will meet for the first time to determine the Class 3A high school football championship Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The storied programs, which somewhat mimic each other, have combined for 12 championships, and each team has done it in a streaky fashion. Cedar Grove is in the midst of its run; Savannah Christian’s prowess in the 1970s and 1980s marked some of the best football success in Savannah history.
The Raiders won seven of their eight championships from 1975 to 1984 under coaches Bubba Attwood (5) and Doyle Kelley (2), including three consecutive from 1977-1979. Donald Chumley won the Class A title in 2011. Since that championship 12 seasons ago, the Raiders lost in the semifinals in 2018 – in head coach Baker Woodward’s first season – and advanced to the quarterfinals several times.
Savannah Christian sophomore quarterback Blaise Thomas is 109-of-164 passing for 1,897 yards and 14 touchdowns and has run for four touchdowns. Junior running backs Zo Smalls and Kenry Wall are formidable. Smalls has 245 carries for 1,808 yards and 30 touchdowns; Wall has 99 carries for 1,036 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Cedar Grove’s success has come in the past decade. The Saints are making their third consecutive championship appearance and have won four state championships since the first in 2016. Cedar Grove lost to Sandy Creek in last season’s title game.
The Saints, who have been playing football since 1972, made the 1976 Class A semifinals under head coach Clint Flanagan, but the team enjoyed little playoff success after that. In 1991, Harry Newberry coached the Saints to the program’s first finals appearance, which was bracketed by first-round exits in 1990 and 1992. Cedar Grove did not make the playoffs from 1999 to 2010.
Jimmy Smith became coach at Cedar Grove in 2013 and led the team to the second round in each of his first two seasons before advancing to the semifinals in 2015. Smith led the team to its first title in 2016, when the Saints beat Davis Mills-led Greater Atlanta Christian 30-19 in a game where Mills was injured in the championship game.
In 2018, Smith led the team to another championship before leaving to take a job at Georgia State. First-year coach Miguel Patrick defended the title in 2019 and in 2021, John Adams won a championship in his first season.
Last season, Adams and Cedar Grove were on the receiving end of one of the worse missed calls in playoff history when a Sandy Creek player was stopped well short of the end zone on a play which was ruled a touchdown. The missed call was the catalyst for the GHSA to enact instant replay in championship games.
About the Author
