GHSA Football Playoffs Round 2 Game of the Week: Blessed Trinity At Woodward Academy
1. In his first season as head coach of the Blessed Trinity Titans, Tom Hall has found himself leading the Titans into a Georgia High School Association Class 5A football second round playoff match up when they face Woodward Academy on Friday. Post-season success is something the Titans have been accustom to over the years having reached at least the third round of the playoffs in the last eight seasons, with three state titles from 2017 to 2019. Although this is Hall’s first season as head coach of Blessed Trinity, his no stranger to the success they have had in the past as he has served as the team’s offensive coordinator in their first state championship appearance in 2015 and their first state title win in 2017.
And although though goal is to keep playing every week, with the hopes of winning another state title, it is still a good feeling for Hall to have his guys reach this point. “Anytime that you get into the playoffs and can win your first round game and try to extend it, you know it’s a one and done atmosphere once you hit the playoffs, so we’re excited,” Hall said speaking with Daminon Lewis of Prep Sports Nation. As for Friday’s match up with the War Eagles, the Titans will more than have their hands full as Woodward has yet to drop a game this season and have a solid ground game with running back Damari Alston leading the charge.
“They’re a complete football team, that’s a really good football team we’re going to see on Friday night and they’re strong in all three phases of the game, there’s no glaring weaknesses anywhere, they’ve got an outstanding running back,” Hall said of the War Eagles. But for the Titans, who closed out the regular season with two straight 20 plus points wins, they too have a solid run game with Justice Haynes in the back field. “We have a pretty good running back ourselves and I think both teams’ approach is going to be that you have to have a strong ground game and obviously, we’d like to continue to strike that balance of being able to throw the ball as well,” Hall said adding that taking care of the ball and eliminating turnovers, something they dealt with early in the season, will be key for them in getting a win on Friday
2. After dropping their season opener, the North Cobb Warriors have been rolling, winners of 10 straight and they will look to keep their streak going and season alive when they host Roswell in the second round of the 7A playoffs. The Warriors defense has turned up the heat the last four games allowing a total of 22 points with Marietta scoring the most with nine points. On the other side, the Hornets have held their last two opponents to eight or less points and offensively, have put up 50 plus points including 62 in their win over Woodstock to end the regular season.
3. The Pebblebrook Falcons , who had only one loss this season, will be facing another Gwinnett County program when they take on the Collins Hill Eagles, who is ranked the No. 1 team in the state and boast an 11-0 record. The Falcons bounced back from their 33-20 loss to McEachern to close out the regular season with a thrilling 44-41 win over Parkview to open up the playoffs. The Falcons have only faced one team to hold them under 30 points this season, back when their match up with Riverdale ended in a 14 all tie, but the Eagles defense has only given up more than 13 points once this season, when Greenville Christian (MS) hit them up for 22 points. The Eagles have held five opponents scoreless this season.
4. Although they head into their match up as the No. 2 seed, the Westlake Lions are considered the favorite when they travel to face the Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs, who ended the regular season capturing their first region championship in program history. The Lions offense has proven to be a force to reckon with, scoring 30 plus points in their last five games and have a balanced offensive attack with quarterback RJ Johnson and running backs Zina Mulbah, Jai’den Thomas and Joshua Taylor. Defensively, the Lions held three of the last five opponents to three points or less. The Mustangs wrapped the regular season with three straight wins after suffering their first loss of the season, in what was considered an upset, at the hands of South Cobb. The Mustangs rebounded averaging 38 ppg over the last four contest, including a 49-21 win over Lanier in the opening round of the GHSA 6A playoffs.
5. The Hapeville Hornets are coming off what many are considering the upset of the week as they knocked off 2022 GHSA 4A runner-up Jefferson 12-10 in the opening round of the playoffs. The Hornets got off to a rocky start in the first of the season, losing five of their first six games. Although three of the losses were to higher classification teams, including two 7A teams in Pebblebrook and Milton, two of the losses were region losses to Mays and Marist. The Hornets were able to right the ship after the Marist loss, winning four straight, including three region games, to close out the regular season. The Hornets will take on a tough Carver-Columbus this week as the Tigers have won nine straight games after dropping their season opener to Lee County. The Tigers’ defense has made it tough for opponents offensively most of the season as they have held six of their last seven opponents to seven points of less, so Hapeville will not be the only team coming into the match up with some momentum behind them.
