Toombs County defeated Northeast-Macon 38-18 in the Class A Division I championship, securing its first-ever state title after opening a 24-12 halftime lead and outscoring the Raiders 14-0 in the fourth quarter.
“What an unbelievable feeling,” said Toombs County head coach Buddy Martin. “To God be the glory. This is a special group of young men, a special group with a lot of character, a lot of fight and a lot of heart in this group. I’m proud to be their coach.”
Northeast forced the Bulldogs to punt on their opening possession and then took their first—and only—lead of the game on a quick six-play 69-yard drive that was capped by a 35-yard touchdown pass from Reginald Glover to running back Nick Woodford—his fifth touchdown catch of the season and longest reception of the year.
Toombs County answered on its following drive and finished it with a 29-yard touchdown pass from TJ Stanley to Lagonza Hayward to take a 7-6 lead. In the second quarter, Toombs County added a 47-yard touchdown pass from Stanly to Mike Polke—who would make his impact felt in all three phases of the game.
Northeast recovered its own fumble in the redzone and capped a scoring drive with a 3-yard touchdown reception from Glover to Isiah Stubbs, but the Raiders failed their second PAT attempt and remained in a 14-12 deficit. Polke returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and grew the lead to 21-12 with 6:54 left in the half. Polke also had an interception in the second half and earned player of the game.
“It was always 0-0 from the start of the game to the end,” said Polke after earning player of the game. “At halftime, we went into the locker room with a 0-0 mindset so if they make plays, we are going to make plays right back.”
Northeast punted on back-to-back possessions to close the first half and Toombs County was able to capitalize on the field position in its final drive with a 25-yard field goal by Alex Otero at the buzzer to expand the lead to 24-12.
Toombs County out-gained Northeast 264-to-147 in first half yardage and had 12 total first downs to Northeast’s four. Stanley was 11-of-15 passing for 196 yards and two touchdowns in the first half but struggled early in the second half with five-straight incompletions and an interception. Northeast opened the third quarter with a 10-play 77-yard scoring drive that was capped by a Glover touchdown run, but a third failed PAT that was blocked left the Raiders trailing 24-18.
Stanley converted a crucial fourth down with a rush up the middle and Justin Powell increased the lead with a 12-yard touchdown run with 4:09 left to make it a 31-18 lead. Stanley padded the lead with a 28-yard touchdown run just over a minute later to give Toombs County a 38-18 lead before they closed out the victory.
Stanley finished the game 14-of-23 passing for 217 yards and two touchdowns and also had a team-high 83 rushing yards and a score. Glover finished the game 9-of-20 passing for 92 yards and two scores and also added 73 yards rushing and a score. Northeast’s Woodford was the only other Raider that took a carry and had 155 yards off 19 carries to go with his 41 receiving yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Tailen Sampson led Northeast with a game-high 17 total tackles.
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