Douglas County tops North Cobb 31-10, advances to GHSA 6A quarterfinals

The Douglas County Tigers are back in the quarterfinals of the Georgia High School Association football state championship tournament after they picked up a 31-10 win over North Cobb on Friday night. Having to play on the road against a North Cobb team, who had yet to lose a game this season, the Tigers looked to set the tone early and would march down field in nine plays, capping the 6:05 drive with a DJ Bordeaux touchdown pass to Aaron Gregory.

"That was big. That set the tone because we wanted them to play behind the sticks and try to come back on us," Douglas County head coach, Johnny White said of the Tigers' game plan in which they looked to keep the Warriors having to play from behind through out the night. And while North Cobb was able to respond on the ensuing possession, they would have to settle for a field goal as the Douglas County defense came up with a big third down stop after the Warriors reached the red zone.

In the second quarter, the Tigers would increase their lead as USC commit, James Johnson, would leap over the pile to cross the goal line, helping Douglas county take a 14-3 lead and keeping their plan to have the Warriors chase from behind throughout the night in tact. On their first possession of the third quarter, Bordeaux would pick up his second touchdown of the game on a 16-yard scramble, making it a three score game for the Warriors as they now trailed 21-3. And while North Cobb would finally reach the end zone on a Nick Grimstead quarterback keeper, the Tigers would respond with 10 unanswered points in route to the 31-10 win.

"We thought they were a great running team and we wanted to make sure that we tried to make them pass the ball. We felt if they passed the ball, we had a better shot so I'm real happy with how things went," White explained of the Tigers' defensive strategy to take away the North Cobb passing attack. Now with their attention set on West Forsyth next week, White said the biggest area he believes the Tigers need to clean up will be penalties however overall, he was satisfied with his team's performance. "I'm good right now," White said.