The Carver-Columbus Tigers jumped on Burke County early and never let up on the way to a 52-14 victory Tuesday in the Class 2A championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The top-ranked, two-seeded Tigers (14-1), closed the season on a 12-game win streak thanks to a dominant defense that never surrendered more than 15 points in a game this season, and an explosive offense that averaged nearly 40 points. Both units were on display Tuesday.
Tigers junior receiver Braylon James took the opening kickoff 63 yards to the Burke County 18, and three plays later Kelton Tarver’s 3-yard rush gave them a lead in a game they’d never trail. Senior linebacker Zay Billingsley had an 18-yard pick-six made it 17-7 and was part of a 21-0 second quarter run that put them up 31-7 at halftime.
Billingsley jumped in front of a quick screen pass and had no one in front of him. He finished with the team’s only interception and sack. As a unit, the defense held Burke County to 145 yards of offense, forcing six punts and a turnover on downs. Burke County was 0-for-9 on third down conversions.
“The standard is no rushing touchdowns, no nothing,” Billingsley said. “If they don’t score, we can’t lose. It’s as simple as that.”
The Tigers’ offense produced 466 yards and was led by quarterback Matthew Mungin and receiver Kei’Maurii Miles, both juniors. Mungin was 19 of 20 passing for 327 yards and four touchdowns to no interceptions. Miles had 179 yards and three touchdowns on seven catches and 51-yard touchdown reception with 8:36 left brought the score to its final margin.
“It’s like a dream,” said Miles when asked of his performance.
The Bears opened the second half scoring with a 71-yard touchdown pass from Sean Vandiver to Joshua Arroyo to make it 31-14. The scoring drive was set up by Bears defensive end Darius Jordan, who forced a Carver fumble, recovered by teammate Kelston Tarver.
Any hope for the Bears to build momentum was dashed on the Tigers’ next drive, where they used 11 plays and 5:41 of clock to go 75 yards, closing on Mungin’s 30-yard pass to Braylon Jakes ot amke it 38-14 with 3:50 left in the third quarter, part of second 21-0 Tigers run.
Tuesday’s win marked the second Tigers championship in program history, the other coming in 2007, when they won 3A. The effort and results were business as usual, the way third-year coach Pierre Coffey saw it.
“We’ve just kind of done that all year long,” Coffey said. “Our guys have taken great pride in executing at a high level. Defensively, we’ve been lights out all year. Those guys have played amazing assignment football. Matthew Mungin and those receivers, and (running back) Kobe Caselin. Kei’Maruii Miles had three touchdowns. These guys played a phenomenal game. And I just have to tip my cap to them, because regardless of the adversity we faced, regardless of what was going on, we’ve just been resilient. I thank those young men for their work, and I thank God for this opportunity.”
The No. 3 Bears (13-2), a 4-seed, were trying to win their first championship since taking 3A in 2011 in coach Franklin Stephens’ second season. Stephens also won a championship in 2011, in 4A with Tucker, where he won two titles.
“I couldn’t be more excited about what our guys have accomplished this year,” Stephens said. “My hats off to (Carver) that group over there. As far as my group, I tell them after every Friday night, that I love them, and nothing is going to change about that. Things didn’t go the way we wanted today, and don’t get me wrong, when you make it to the championship you want to win it. But we got to beat by a better team.”
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