The Class 4A championship between No. 1 Marist and No. 3 North Oconee is the only GHSA title game that features two undefeated teams.
The two 14-0 clubs will determine the title on Monday at 7 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
A perfect season would be groundbreaking for North Oconee, which is playing in the championship game for the first time. It would be the third unbeaten season for Marist, which went 13-0 in 2020 and 15-0 in 1989. The War Eagles were 14-1 when they won it all in 2003.
“We’ve been saying all year how loaded 4A is, and now we’re at the point where you’ve got two good football teams that are going to battle it out on the field,” North Oconee coach Tyler Aurandt said. “It’s a great opportunity to see what we can do against one of the blue bloods of our state.”
That’s not just a hyperbolic statement. Marist has belonged in the conversation of the state’s elite football programs for the last 50 years. The War Eagles haven’t missed the playoffs since 1982.
Much of the success has come under coach Alan Chadwick, who took over in 1985 and has won 445 games – the second-most in Georgia history behind Lincoln County’s Larry Campbell with 477 – with three championships and four other trips to the final.
“The program that coach Chadwick has built, it’s special to watch,” Aurandt said. “What they’re able to do and the consistency that they’re able to do it. They don’t every seem to slow down or miss a beat. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge, but we also look at it as an opportunity to continue to push our program in the right direction.”
Aurandt took over the North Oconee program in 2017. After going 1-9 that first year, the Titans have never failed to miss the postseason. There have been five seasons of double-digit wins over the last six seasons and two trips to the semifinals. This year has been the breakthrough to the championship game.
“They’re a lot like us,” Chadwick said. “They don’t make mistakes. They don’t beat themselves. They’re very solid all-around in all phases of the game. There’s a lot of good things when you’re watching them. It seems like they have a lot of weapons.”
North Oconee’s offense is led by quarterback Harrison Faulkner, the Region 8 Player of the Year. He has thrown for 3,017 yards and 37 touchdowns and rushed for 713 yards and six touchdowns. He is aided by running back J.T. Doster (574 yards, nine TDs) and receivers Landon Roldan, a Georgia signee and region offensive player of the year who has 70 catches for 1,280 yards and 20 touchdowns, and junior tight end Khamari Brooks, a UGA commit who has 27 catches, eight for touchdowns. Roldan also starts in the secondary and Brooks starts at linebacker, where he’ has a team-leading 113 tackles and was named the region’s co-defensive player of the year.
Credit: Michael D Gonyea
Credit: Michael D Gonyea
Chadwick also pointed out middle linebacker A.J. Fick, a dogged defender who was a first-team all-region choice.
“(Fick) is just quick, aggressive and just tenacious,” Chadwick said. “He just never quits. It looks like he’s a wrestler, you know, just bite your ear off. They’ve got quite a few and he really stands out.”
While both teams get a lot of attention for their offensive production – Marist averages 42.5 points, North Oconee averages 40.9, their defenses are both outstanding. Both allow fewer than 10 points per game – North Oconee at 9.6 and Marist at 9.2.
The Marist defense’s top tackler is Max Mraz, who leads the team with 74 tackles and has five sacks. Jack Richerson leads the team with 17 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and 25 hurries; he’s also got four interceptions.
“We’ve given up some big plays, long passes, those types of things,” Chadwick said. “That’s been our shortcoming on defense, but we do have the tendency to get off the field sometimes when we need to.”
Both teams also have good kickers. Marist’s Drew Linnihan is 11-for-13 on field goals and North Oconee’s Ollie Buckley is 61-for-62 on extra points.
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