Creekside overcomes early deficit to defeat Jefferson, advancing to the GHSA 5A championship game
It has been 10 years since the Creekside Seminoles football program won their first Georgia High School Association state championship and on Friday, the Seminoles defeated the Jefferson Dragons by a final score of 28-17 to advance to the Class 5A title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. And while Creekside’s season continues, they found themselves having to battle from behind early in order to keep their hunt for title number two alive.
The Dragons would strike first as they took a 7-0 lead following a Gavin Markey touchdown pass to Christopher Law and on their next possession, Jefferson would extend their lead to 14-0 after Clemson commit, Sammy Brown would break away for a 58 yard rushing touchdown. However, Creekside would quickly settle in and on the ensuing Seminoles’ possession, defensive pass interference would set Creekside up in Jefferson territory, in which they would take advantage of the new set of downs and field position as quarterback Vinson Berry would throw a dart of a touchdown pass to Dylan Vickerson.
With momentum at their back, the Seminoles would find the end zone two more times courtesy of rushing touchdowns by Roderick McCrary and Travis Terrell Jr., which would lead them to a 21-14 lead before the Dragons would respond with a field goal and Creekside would lead 21-17 at the break. Once the second half resumed, the third quarter would go scoreless, but at the start of the fourth quarter, on the first play of the period, a driving Creekside would extend their lead as Berry would throw his second touchdown of the night, this time connecting with Shane Kelly.
Down 28-17, the Dragons once again found themselves deep in Seminoles’ territory bit would suffer a huge loss as Brown would get injured and not return to the game after being tackled on a play in which he was rushing towards the Jefferson sideline and trying to turn up field. On the very next play, Markey would be picked off in the end zone by Creekside’s Kevon Gray with just under eight minutes to go in the quarter. The Dragons’ defense would eventually stop the ensuing Creekside drive and have another chance to cut the Seminoles lead down, but Markey would throw his second interception of the night, as Terrell Jr. would pick off his pass, pretty much sealing the win for Creekside.
“It’s phenomenal,” Creekside head coach, Maurice Dixon said after the Seminoles 28-17 win, as he described the feeling of the Seminoles back in the state title game for the first time since 2013, when they captured their first state championship in program history. “Just to see the way the program has grown and the culture that we’ve built, it just affirms that we’re doing things the right way,” Dixon said as he gave thanks to his players for their efforts as well as staff, administration and the Creekside community for their support of the Seminoles.
“We’re just happy to be here,” Dixon added as the Seminoles will now turn their attention to Coffee, who they will face in the GHSA 5A championship game on December 13th at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
