This is the second of two championship previews for Class 2A. Earlier this week, Burke County was profiled.
The Carver-Columbus Tigers are back in the state title game for the first time since 2021 after making easy work of No. 4-ranked Appling County, beating the Pirates 49-6 at home in last Friday’s Class 2A semifinal game. The Tigers (13-1), ranked No. 1 and tournament’s 2-seed, will play the No. 3 ranked, 4-seeded Burke County Bears (13-1) 4 p.m. Tue., Dec. 17 at Mercedes-Benz for the championship.
The Tigers reached the 4A title game four years ago, in Corey Joyner’s final season as coach, when the current seniors were freshman. They won their only other title game appearance in 2007, edging Cairo 16-13 in 3A.
“We’re extremely excited and we thank God for this opportunity,” said Tigers coach Pierre Coffey, who succeeded Joyner in 2022 and got them to the 3A quarterfinals that year, then the 3A semifinals last year. “Several of our seniors played in this game when it was at Georgia State, and now they get the opportunity to go to The Benz.”
The Tigers dominated Region 3′s best teams to reach the championship, knocking off No. 5 ranked, defending 2A champions Pierce County 44-7 in the quarterfinals, before toppling the 3-2A champion Appling last week. For the Pirates, it was their lowest point total and most points allowed all season. They came in averaging 23.71 points while allowing 17.5.
The Tigers defense and special teams units had two turnovers and a blocked punt.
“It was a collective effort by all 11 guys,” Coffey said. “Justin Newman, our defensive coordinator, along with the staff on that side of the ball, did a good job of scouting and getting our guys prepared. They like to go into that spread, Wildcat formation with (4-star Tavion Wallace, an Arkansas commit), and we were prepared for that. Our guys tackled well, and played hard.”
The Tigers let up two first quarter field goals and shut out the Pirates the rest of the way. Tigers safety Antavius Watts recovered a Pirates fumble and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 in the first quarter. After leading 28-6 at halftime, the Tigers slammed the door shut with a 21-0 third quarter.
The Tigers’ run to the playoffs has no doubt been impressive. They are outscoring opponents 38-7 on average with four regular season shutouts. Their playoff games have been just as lopsided. Against Therrell, Ringgold, Pierce County and Appling County, only Ringgold was able to score more than a touchdown but the Tigers won 35-14. The Tigers are winning by an average of 46-8.5 in the playoffs.
Their last competitive game was Aug. 30, their only loss of the season, which came 15-6 to 4A’s Harris County. They beat then-No. 8 Sumter County 31-0 on Oct. 17 to clinch the 1-2A title.
“During this run, the scores haven’t been reflective of how close the games were,” Coffey said. “Pierce County and Appling County played very physical, and we had to play our best for four quarters. We’ve played some tough competition. We’re a gritty-type team, so we’re going to continue going out there and trying to execute at a high level. We may have pulled away late in some games, but I consider this a tough run against some high-quality teams that are very well coached.”
The Bears will be the final high-quality, well-coached team they’ll play this year. Their coach, Franklin Stephens, and the Bears program both won titles last in 2011, the Bears winning 3A and Stephens winning 4A with Tucker. Their only loss, 43-14 to 4A’s No. 4 Benedictine, also came on Aug. 30. They beat 1-seed Rockmart 35-22 on the road in the semifinals.
“First, they’re very-well coached,” Coffey said. “I’ve been knowing coach Stephens for a long time, and everywhere he goes, his players are coached up. They’re fast, and they don’t make a lot of mistakes. I’ll be preaching all week about mistake-free, assignment football. One thing that sticks out to me is how fast they are, and just looking at film you can tell they play for one another.”
Playing as one is a trait Coffey sees in his own team.
“The juniors and seniors, they’re extremely close,” he said. “They hold each other accountable, and they work hard. We have a lot of hard workers on this team, great character guys who push each other and love the game. A lot of them have been playing together their entire life, and they expect to come and play hard and rally around each other. That’s what makes this group so special. They’re blue collar, and they’re close.”
Tigers quarterback Matthew Mungin is 124 of 155 passing for 2,363 yards and 28 touchdowns to six interceptions. They have a two-headed monster at running back in Kobe Caslin (127 carries, 1,343 yards, 12 touchdowns) and Kelston Tarver (127-1,268-11). Braylon Jakes is their leading receiver with 880 yards and 15 touchdowns on 46 catches.
Anthony Wilson has 113 tackles, and he and Watts each have four interceptions and two defensive touchdowns. Tristian Givens has 12 sacks, 29 tackles for loss and two safeties. As a team, the Tigers have 10 defensive touchdowns.
Sources: Georgia High School Football Historians Association, MaxPreps, GHSF Daily
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