Today, we preview the Class A-Private GHSA Football semifinals. Only two of the top-4 seeded teams still remain. Wesleyan, the No. 9 seed is the highest seeded team to advance. Meanwhile, Region 5 has three teams in the semifinals. Holy Innocents will host ELCA in a rematch of a 1-point nail biter that Holy Innocents won in the regular season. Meanwhile Fellowship Christian will host Wesleyan, (the third Region-5 team) in Roswell on Friday night. Best of luck to all teams competing this weekend. As always, please let us know if there are any corrections. Thanks as always for reading and sharing!!!
The Skinny
The Holy Innocents Golden Bears are in the semifinals for the first time in school history. The Bears have also won a school record 12 games and are 12-0 for the first time in school history. Four different Golden Bears scored touchdowns last Friday to help propel them through their quarterfinal matchup. Michael Cox and Matt Davis have been stalwarts for the Golden Bears on offense. But don’t forget about the Holy Innocents’ defense, which pitched their sixth shutout of the season last week. In the playoffs, the Bears defense has been downright dominating, allowing only a field goal in two playoff games, while the offense is averaging 35 points per game in the postseason. A win this week would put the Golden Bears in the finals for the first time in school history.
The Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (ELCA) Chargers are in the semifinals for the ninth season in a row. The Chargers have now won 8 consecutive games. Quarterback Gabe Wright threw for 137 yards and 1-TD and also rushed for another and Josh Rogers rushed for 2-TDs while Keaton Mitchell led the way on the ground with 81 yards to help propel the Chargers to victory. ELCA’s defense tallied five sacks last week against Athens Academy. Wright has now thrown for 1,873 yards and 23-TDs while Mitchell leads the ground game with 1,647 yards and 38-TDs. The Chargers have knocked off two of the top teams in the state, both from Region-8 in the playoffs. In their two-playoff games, ELCA has outscored their opponents 90-67. A win this week would put the Chargers in the finals for the sixth year in a row. Holy Innocents won the first game by 1 and we don’t believe the margin of victory will be much greater than that this week, but we like ELCA in the rematch by a field goal.
The Skinny
The Fellowship Christian Paladins advanced to the semifinals for the second time in in four years. The Paladins are also 12-0 for the first time since 2016. Last week, the Paladins churned out 282 rushing yards and 5-TDs on their way to the quarterfinal victory. Murphy Reeves led the way with 129 yards and 2-TDs while Jayven Hall added two more scores. Reeves is over 1,500 yards on the season with 17 rushing TDs. Backs Jayven Hall, Josh Cole and quarterback Eli Hildebrandt have combined to rush for 38-TDs this season. The 28 points that Hebron Christian scored was the most against the Paladins in a game all season. In two playoff games, the offense is averaging 24.5 points per game while the defense is allowing 14 points per game. A win this week would put the Paladins is the finals for the second time in four years.
The Wesleyan Wolves have advanced to the finals for the first time since 2010. The Wolves have now won seven consecutive games. Their only losses were two Holy Innocents and ELCA…two of the top teams in A-Private. Quarterback J.C. French threw for 126 yards and 1-TD and rushed for 78 and another TD, but it was Griffin Caldwell who had 188 yards on 27 carries and found the end zone four times in the victory. French has thrown for 2,408 yards and 28-TDs on the season while Caldwell is closing in on the 1,000-yard mark and has rushed for 11-TDs on the year. In three playoff games, the Wolves are averaging 37 points per game while the defense is allowing 19 points per game. A win this week would put Wesleyan in the finals for the first time since 2008. Wesleyan looks to have the hot hand this week, but we will take the Paladins ground game at home. Fellowship Christian by 6.