The Warner Robins Demons had been there before and passed the test.
Needing a score late to take the lead against the state’s top-ranked team, the Demons came through again — this time in the Class 5A quarterfinals — with Ahmad Walker scoring a touchdown in the game’s final seconds to beat the Blessed Trinity Titans 35-28 on Friday in Roswell.
The No. 2 Demons (11-1), the top seed from Region 1, will host No. 10 Jones County, the top seed from Region 4, in the semifinals next week.
The Demons’ win over No. 1 Blessed Trinity reminded quarterback Jalen Addie of their win on Oct. 30, when they edged then-No. 1 Ware County 22-19. In that game, Walker‚ a senior 3-star linebacker with 12 mid-major offers, checked in on offense in the fourth quarter and scored on a 2-yard run with less than three minutes left.
On Friday, Walker made his only offensive appearance on the Demons’ final drive, punching it in from the Titans 1 on a direct snap with 16 seconds remaining.
“We had a game like this earlier and we held our heads up high and faced adversity,” said Addie, a senior who accounted for three of the Demons’ touchdowns. “We practice this stuff every week and we’re ready for all things, all the time. We don’t get caught slippin’.”
Walker’s score allowed the Demons to reclaim the lead for good, halting a Titans comeback that saw the home team rally to tie the game after trailing 28-14 with 9:22 left to play.
The Demons defense also did just enough to slow Titans sophomore sensation Justice Haynes, who carried the ball 31 times for 149 yards and three touchdowns. They managed to do so despite missing one of their best defensive players, sophomore defensive end Victor Burley, who suffered a horrific injury early in the second half.
Burley went down following a sack in which he made helmet-to-helmet contact and dropped to the ground face-first. He appeared unconscious and didn’t to move for several minutes as field medics placed him on a stretcher. An ambulance drove onto the track area and he was ushered offsite.
Warner Robins principal Chris McCook told a team volunteer videographer that later, Burley was alert and moving all extremities.
Demons coach Marquis Westbrook said Burley’s status moving forward has yet to be determined.
The Demons appeared to take control of the game when senior running back Jahlen Rutherford sprinted 60 yards to the end zone on the drive’s first play to give them the 28-14 lead.
However, the Titans would quickly respond with a seven-play drive capped by Jackson Hamilton’s 38-yard touchdown reception from JC French on third-and-9 to make it 28-21 with 6:21 remaining. The Titans then forced a Demons three-and-out, receiving the ball on the 29 after a punt and Warner Robins 15-yard penalty. On the Titans’ first play from scrimmage, Haynes scored to tie the game with 4:12 remaining.
The Demons took over on their own 20 with 4:05 left and used nine plays to get to the Titans 1. On the drive, Malcolm Brown broke a 39-yard run to get the Demons into Titans territory at the 31, and from there they nickle-and-dimed to a first-and-goal situation with under 1 minute to play.
“We knew that we had (all three) time outs,” Westbrook said. “We saved them for the end, so when we got the first down (inside the Titans 10), I knew if we didn’t (score), we’d have to get situated again and try to see how they were going to line up defensively, and then call a play based on what they did.”
That’s when the Demons turned to the 6-foot, 230-pound Walker, who on second-and-goal from the 3, took a direct snap to the 1. On the next play —another direct snap — he scored.
“When we get down on the goal line, he’s our go-to guy and he does a good job of punching it in for us,” Westbrook said of Walker.
Now the Demons are in the semifinals for a fourth year in a row and have reached the 5A title game in the previous three seasons. Last year, they lost to Buford 17-14 in overtime in the title game, and in the 2018 championship they lost to Bainbridge 47-41 in triple overtime.
After coming so close the previous two seasons, Addie said the Demons are poised to get over the title hump.
“I think this is the year we break the trend,” he said. “We’ll stay focused and give every play the effort like it’s our last.”
Addie, who holds an offer from Akron, was 12-for-16 passing for 220 yards and two touchdowns and added an additional 74 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. His go-to receiver, Daveon Walker, had 126 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches. Rutherford had 96 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, and Brown had 83 yards on 14 carries.
For the Titans (8-1), champions of Region 7, their quest for a fourth consecutive state title ended after they won 4A the previous three seasons. It was also their eighth consecutive season reaching the quarterfinals.
Warner Robins 7 7 7 14 — 35
Blessed Trinity 7 0 7 14 — 28
B — Justice Haynes 24 run (Bryson Hosea kick)
W — Daveon Walker 46 pass from Jalen Addie (Cary Payne kick)
W — Kaleb Howard 37 pass from Addie (Payne kick)
B — Haynes 1 run (Hosea kick)
W — Addie 13 run (Payne kick)
W — Rutherford 60 run (Daniel Barber kick)
B — Jackson Hamilton 38 pass from JC French (Hosea kick)
B — Haynes 29 run (Hosea kick)
W — Ahmad Walker 1 run (Barber kick)
