Southwest Georgia Academy struggles to build momentum, falls 28-6 to No. 2 Brentwood in championship game

STATESBORO – After a dominant season, the South Georgia Academy Warriors did something they’d only truly done once all year — they struggled for all four quarters.

The Warriors looked a bit sluggish in comparison to the Brentwood War Eagles, who used some flashy plays and aggressive rushes to topple to No. 1-seed SGA 28-6 in the GIAA 2A State Championship game at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro Saturday night.

The loss in the title game brought the Warriors to 9-2 for the year, the only other loss a 38-0 blowout at the hands of Brookstone. Head coach Kerry Morris was not happy after the game, but already had his sights set on next season.

“We just gotta get better. The difference between us and them is we don’t recruit, but we played hard. They were just better tonight,” Morris said.

The War Eagles’ running game was the star, with Tristan Anderson leading the way with some electric plays. Fellow running back Zach Denton chipped in a good deal as well, reflecting Brentwood’s strengths on offense all year.

“(Anderson) is a really good player, and (Denton) has been their horse this year,” Morris said. “He did everything right. They were prepared, and they beat us. We just gotta get better.”

SGA had some rushing success of its own, but were often set back by penalties and short-yardage situations. For example, the Warriors could often gain chunks of 5, 6 or 7 yards on first down but routinely failed to convert short third and fourth down distances.

The only touchdown SGA scored tied the game in the opening quarter. Brentwood’s defense owned the game from that point forth, playing with some ferocity.

“Our defense, man, they will get after your tail,” said War Eagles head coach Adam Lord. “They had something to prove tonight, after this season we’ve been told our offense was better than our defense. I’m real proud of them.”

Both teams had only one loss coming into the game and seemed on a collision course for a title clash all year.

“They’ve got a good team. There’s a reason they’ve been ranked number one all year, they’re very physical,” Lord said of SGA. “I just thought my guys had a point to prove regarding physicality. We have some weapons, my offensive line just got after it. We kind of jumped on them early, that gave us a little confidence. What a night, man, what a night.”

A battle of physical rushing attacks

SGA had trouble settling in from the start, sputtering on its first drive before punting it away. Brentwood made noise on its first drive on the ground to move the ball a bit, then used a stellar hook-and-ladder play from receiver Abe Williams to Robinson that got the War Eagles on the board despite a missed point after.

The Warriors answered on the next drive, continuing to chew clock with the run-heavy offense as Williams helped drive down the field and eventually cash in from the 1-yardline to tie the game at 6-6.

Brentwood had a long drive as well, holding the ball from near the beginning of the second quarter until about the six-minute mark when they finished off the drive on another great Robinson run. Baylor Cobb then made an amazing dive into the endzone on the two-point try to give the War Eagles a 14-6 lead.

SGA started right back up again when it got the ball back, calling run after run until a critical fourth-and-1 play inside the Brentwood 20-yardline. Williams took a designed draw to the right side, finding the edge and taking the Warriors inside the 5.

From there, though, time evaporated on SGA — the Warriors tried three times to get the last three yards for the touchdown but could not do it. With 15 seconds left in the half, SGA had fourth and goal from the 5-yardline.

After a timeout, the Warriors could not punch it in when Williams rolled right and threw a wobbly incompletion. Brentwood gladly took its 14-6 lead into the locker room at the half.

SGA’s run defense looked improved for a moment to start the second half, but Robinson quickly shattered that notion with an explosive 60-yard run all the way to the 3-yardline, setting up Zach Denton to secure the score and put Brentwood up 21-6 with 10:22 left in the third quarter.

The Warriors built some steam on their ensuing drive, including a pivotal fourth-down conversion to keep things moving inside War Eagles territory, but things looked bleak after SGA came up just inches short on another fourth down try just moments later.

Brentwood took full advantage, eating up the rest of the third quarter with plenty more solid run plays to set themselves up in the red zone at the beginning of the fourth. Robinson finished the job and made it a 28-6 War Eagles lead, taking all the wind out of SGA’s sails.

The Warriors managed a solid drive, but the clock kept running as they moved and a fourth-down pass to the endzone fell incomplete to seal the loss with about five minutes left to play.

Jason Vorhees
Special to the Herald