The North Cobb Christian Eagles are headed to their first semifinals in program history after beating No. 1 ranked Savannah Christian 30-27 on the road Friday in the 3A-A private quarterfinals.
The eighth-seeded Eagles (11-1), ranked No. 7, beat the tournament’s top seed in the Raiders, who were undefeated coming in, and featured AJC Super 11 defensive tackle Elijah Griffin, one of two 5-stars on the team, along with sophomore defensive end Ladamion Guyton. Raiders senior tight end Logan Brooking is a 3-star committed to Clemson.
“I challenged them,” Eagles coach Matt Jones said. “I showed them a picture of a horse with blinders on. I told them, ‘Hey, we’ve got to put those blinders on, focus only on your job and nothing else. The players did a good job of not worrying about anything other than the team, and it was just incredible. (Savannah Christian) had 4- and 5-stars all up and down that team, and we don’t. We were able to basically block all of that out and play our best football.”
The Raiders pulled to within the game’s final margin with five minutes left, and the Eagles melted the clock their next possession and punted back with 1:30 remaining. With 30 seconds left, Eagles sophomore safety Brody Archie pulled in a game-clinching interception at the 50 yard line.
The Eagles won solely through the passing game, rushing for just minus-2 yards as a team. Quarterback Teddy Jarrard was 31 of 51 passing for 327 yards and three touchdowns to an interception. His leading receivers were D.J. Huggins (10 catches 119 yards, touchdown), Archie (5-119-1) and Carson Bruce (12-94-1). All four are sophomores.
“There’s not one senior on offense,” Jones said. “Seeing them learn the intangibles, with character, with love for their teammates, cheering each other on, just seeing that unfold is one of the greatest joys of being a coach.”
Coming in, the Eagles had been to the quarterfinals just once since their 2007 debut, and that was in 2018, in Class A.
Up next the Eagles travel to the No. 2 Prince Avenue Christian Wolverines (9-3), the tournament’s No. 5 seed and two-time defending champs of the defunct Class A Private. They’ve scored more than 60 points in their first two playoff wins, outscoring 21 seed Providence Christian and 4 seed and sixth-ranked Calvary Day 123-53.
“They’re unreal,” Jones said. “Just like Savannah Christian, they’ve got all the pieces. When you get to this point of the year, not a lot of teams have any weaknesses. It’s going to be tough.”
Sources: Georgia High School Football Historians Association, MaxPreps, GHSF Daily
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