Sunday Evening QB: Peach County, QB Gilbert avenge things with GAC; WR rolls again; Blessed Trinity too much for MP

          Atlanta, Chad Campbell said a few days earlier, has "been pretty good to us."

          And it was again on Friday, Peach County scoring first and getting a monster game from quarterback Antonio Gilbert and topping host Greater Atlanta Christian 28-23 in a Class AAA semifinal game.

          Place-kicker Mitchell Fineran was a difference-maker with field goals of 50 and 33 yards, and had to punt only twice. The defense held GAC to 52 offensive plays, 273 yards,  and only 12 first downs, Kyler McMichael managing 106 rushing yards and J Rose 167 passing yards

          A week earlier in handing Jenkins its first loss of the season, GAC ran 64 plays and had 423 yards in total offense. And it was only the Spartans third loss at home since the 2013 regular-season finale.

          “Offensively, we kept them out of gas,” Campbell said. “They kept rotating people in and out, in and out, in and out. We kept the pressure on ‘em, went tempo a little bit.”

          Gilbert was 28 of 36 (77.8 percent) for 326 yards and no interceptions, adding 46 yards on the ground. Eight Trojans caught passes, led by Trevon Woolfolk and Noah Whittington with six each.

          “The quarterback made good decisions all night,” Campbell said of Gilbert, who went over the 3,000-yard mark for the season on Friday. “We thought we could do some things throwing-wise and running-wise. They gave us a little more opportunity to throw than what we wanted.

          The 36 attempts were the second-most this season for Gilbert, a 5-11, 205-pound senior who has completed 69.7 percent of his passes this season.

          “He prepared well,” Campbell said. “We had a good plan for what they did.”

          Woolfolk had 67 yards rushing.

          “They did a great job in space,” GAC head coach Tim Hardy told the Gwinnett Daily Post. “Their running back is really pounding the ball and did a great job. He had a really nice game.

“But they did a great job in space. Their speed on the perimeter, their quarterback played an excellent game. His speed and ability to buy time and elude was critical.”  

          Linebacker and Georgia Tech commit Jaquez Jackson led the Trojan defense with 10 tackles, while Ethan Mann, who has missed some time because of injuries, and Sergio Allen added nine each.

          Sophomore Declan Smith filled in at corner for Mikel Aikens (concussion), who is also the Trojans’ long snapper. Campbell said Smith played well, for the most part, and that the snaps for two field goals, two punts and the PATs were uneventful.

          The Trojans haven’t really played that many games in metro Atlanta the past several years, but they’ve won four straight, dating back to a 42-35 win at Grady in 2010.

          Of course, Peach County won semifinal games in the Georgia Dome in 2005 and 2006, and then the state title in 2009 over Gainesville and future Alabama quarterback Blake Sims.

          This year’s Peach County team has blown past its highest scoring total under Campbell, the current 640 a program high – according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association – by 48 points, passing the 592 in the 13-1 season in 2010, a team that included running back Travis Richmond, wideout and current NFLer Demarcus Robinson, and quarterback Brett Montgomery and offensive lineman Randolph Williams.

          Campbell isn’t big into comparisons nor rankings, but knows this is among his best teams and is coming off a huge win.

          “I thought we controlled the game, for the most part, the whole night,” said Campbell, now 120-22 in his 11th season. “I thought we controlled the ball, kept the ball out of their hands, we sustained long drives.

          “We put guys where they needed to be. … And they did good.”

Warner Robins 31, Carver-Atlanta 7

          The Demons led 14-7 at halftime in an even game where neither offense could sustain much of anything.

          “The the things that stopped us in the first half was we hurt ourselves a little bit, made some mistakes,” Warner Robins head coach Mike Chastain said. “But we won the first half. We talked about at halftime that we gotta go out and win this half and make the half a memorable half.”

          And Warner Robins did, taking a two-touchdown lead with 7:34 left in the third quarter and then defensively not giving Carver’s offense a chance to do much more than get a first down or two on second-half drives.

          The Demons ended one threat with a C.J Harris interception at the Warner Robins’ 4, and then put in the dagger with Key’Shawn Duvall’s 53-yard pick-6 early in the fourth quarter for a 21-point lead.

          Warner Robins’ defense put pressure on quarterback Octavious Battle all night, recording seven negative plays on him. And the Demons blanked Auburn-bound receiver Quindarious Monday, who made a nice reaching catch for the Panthers’ 39-yard game-tying touchdown early.

          “We tried to isolate Monday one-on-one to the back side in our 3-by-1 set,” Carver head coach Darren Myles said. “They walked big No. 99 out (Bobby Kelly), put him over the top and then backed the cornerback off. I thought that was very creative.

          “So outside of that one pass we got him early in the game, they did a good job of finding him and bracketing him.”

          It was Carver’s lowest point total since losing 41-6 on Oct. 1, 2016 to Grady, which won the Region 6 title last year and went 10-2.

          “Our defensive coaches, they put a phenomenal plan together. Just mix it up and help out a little bit over the top when we could, and then kinda stay in the box and stop the run. You’ve gotta be balanced against them.”

Blessed Trinity 28, Mary Persons 7

          Sometimes the timing of halftime’s arrival is good.

          Sometimes it’s not.

          That was the case for Mary Persons, which trailed more-veteran Blessed Trinity by a touchdown in the Class AAAA semifinal at Dan Pitts Stadium, the Bulldogs pulling within seven late in the first half after converting a Bralen Harvey interception into a Deadrek Alford touchdown catch.

          And that’s where Mary Persons’ momentum stopped as the teams traded scoreless third quarters only for Blessed Trinity to ease away with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

          The Titans defense came ready to attack the Bulldogs’ balanced offense, and sacked quarterback J.T. Hartage five times. Blessed Trinity held Mary Persons to only 167 yards in total offense while putting up 393 yards.

          Mary Persons head coach Brian Nelson knew the Titans were at least as good this year as last year, if not better, when they suffered a 28-27 loss at the same point in the playoffs at the same location.

          Jake Smith passed for 137 yards, sophomore Elijah Green gained 149 yards on the ground and junior Steele Chambers added 88.

          It was the second straight semifinal loss for Mary Persons, which was less expected to reach that round this year after losing more starters on both sides than it returned.

          Next year’s team will bring back Hartage, leading rusher Quen Wilson, top two receivers Antoine Davis and Alford, four offensive line starters and six of the top 10 tacklers.

News ‘n Notes

          The last time Peach County was in the title game was 2011. Warner Robins went 11-3 that year, losing 7-6 to the Trojans in the season opener.

          The last time Warner Robins was in the final was in 2004. Peach County went 11-2 and lost in the quarterfinals. The teams didn’t play that season.

          Peach County head coach Chad Campbell was an assistant on the 2004 team, and took over two years later for Rance Gillespie.

          Warner Robins head coach Mike Chastain was at Northside as the ninth-grade head coach and varsity tight ends and tackles coach when the Demons won state in 2004. He joined the Peach County staff a few years later, after a stop a Bleckley County. …

          There will be new champions in Classes 7A, 6A, 4A, 3A, 2A, and A public.

          Six of the 16 teams left are undefeated. Colquitt County at 11-3 and Coffee at 10-3 have the most losses.