The Skinny
The Dublin Fighting Irish and the Brooks County Trojans will meet for the second time this season. The Fighting Irish won the first matchup by two touchdowns. Dublin will be playing for their fifth state title while Brooks County will be playing for their seconds state title.
The Dublin Fighting Irish have advanced to the finals for the first time since 2006. After being upset in the final game of the regular season, Dublin has now won four straight games. On their way to the finals, the Fighting Irish have defeated a No. 4 seed, a No. 2 seed, and two No. 1 seeds. Last week, Senior Jaques Evans rushed for 380 yards and scored 5-TDs while Zion Kemp added 142 yards and 2-TDs to help lead the Fighting Irish to victory. In their playoff run, the Irish are averaging 41.7 points per game while the defense is allowing 23 points per game. Evans has now rushed for over 2,200 yards and 38-TDs while Kemp has rushed for 1,424 yards and 19-TDs and Marcus Adams has rushed for 1,426 yards and 13-TDs to help power the Irish. As a team, Dublin has rushed for 5,787 yards on the seasoned has only attempted 27 passes this year. A win this week would earn the Irish their first title since 2006.
The Brooks County Trojans have advanced to the finals for the first time since 1994. Brooks has now won seven consecutive games and has bounced back from a 1-3 start to the season. On their road to the finals, the Trojans have defeated a No. 3 seed and three No. 1 seeds. They’ve defeated two teams that we thought had a chance to win the title…and they beat them on the road (Rockmart and Callaway). The Trojans got up early and then had to come from behind to get past Callaway last week. Quarterback Ni’tavion Burrusthrew for 211 yards and 2-TDs and rushed for 113 yards and another TD while running back Omari Arnold rushed for 157 yards and 2-TDs and also threw for a touchdown-helped lead the way for Brooks County on offense. Willie Brown had a big game receiving with 122 yards and a touchdown. Burris has now thrown for 1,970 yards and 21-TDs while Arnold has rushed for 1,697 yards and 21-TDs. Camron Priest leads the team in total tackles with 102. In their four-playoff games, the Trojans are averaging 39.2 points per game while the defense is allowing 14.5 points per game. A win this week will earn the Trojans their second state title in school history and first since 1994.
We said it would be tough to pick against the team that has three 1,000-yard rushers and we will stand by that this week. We expect Brooks County to hang around until the end, but we like the Dublin ground machine to churn out another state title this week. Irish by 8.