By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

            A state championship win is a state championship win.

            It doesn’t always have to be smooth, and there are no style points.

            That’s fine with Dublin, which yet again put plenty of points on the board to top Brooks County 42-32 Friday in the GHSA Class AA state title game at Georgia State Stadium.

            The Irish tied Charlton County in Dublin in the 2006 title game, but the dominating offense and some clutch defense in the second half assured that there were no co-champions in 2019.  Dublin fell in the 2002 finale at Screven County.

             “I was joking with my coaches,” Dublin head coach Roger Holmes said. “Don’t get me wrong now. It’s been on my mind. ‘I might’ve just done something no other coach has ever done in the history of the state of Georgia: won one, lost one, tied one. That’s hard to do.’”

              The first half ended with Dublin on the Brooks County 1, no timeouts leading to no points and a 14-9 halftime deficit.

            “Obviously, I was (concerned),” Holmes said. “I think the kids were concerned. The big thing was trying to hold their confidence and not get shaken. ‘Just keep pounding the rock, keep on wearing ‘em down, and we’ll be OK.’”

The time-killing drive that came up empty did carry over a little bit to the second half, the Irish taking the opening possession all the way for a touchdown and a 15-14 lead.

            Dublin was ready to deliver a body blow only moments later, again reaching the red zone. But the ball popped out of Marcus Adams’ hand a hair before his knee touched, and Brooks County’s Tyrek Thomas took it 97 yards for a touchdown, for – after a conversion miss on a rough day for conversions – a 20-15 lead midway through the third quarter.

            Holmes argued with officials, thinking the GHSA had adopted replay for championship games. He thought Adams was down, but the back – who was injured and was thus slowed down – made a promise.

            “Marcus fought through it and played,” Holmes said. “He did a good job bouncing back. … Marcus looked at me and said, ‘Coach, I’ll make it back.’ They kick off and he fields their squib kick, breaks a couple tackles and runs the thing back into plus territory, and that kind of woke our kids back up.”

            And the Irish offense simply got back to work.

            Dublin went 41 yards in eight plays – starting with nice field position after another Brooks County squib kickoff – with quarterback Markelle Mitchell scoring from the 1. A failed conversion left the Dublin lead at 21-20 with 2:07 left in the third.

            A pitchout on Brooks County’s first play was late, and fumbled, recovered by Dublin’s Romello Height. Mitchell kept it from 5 yards for a score on the first place, and John Potter’s kick gave Dublin a 28-20 lead with 1:46 to go in the third.

            Not for long.

            Omari Arnold went off left tackle and bounced it outside for a 65-yard touchdown run on the Trojans’ second play, and they were back within two at 28-26.

            “We were giving up too many big plays defensively,” Holmes said. “Those are some things that have haunted us over the course of the year.”

            Mitchell again came up big from the quarterback spot for Dublin with the right read in the wing-T, keeping to the right and outrunning pursuit for a 55-yard touchdown run 21 seconds into the fourth quarter. Potter’s kick put the Irish up 35-26.

            And that lasted about four minutes.

            Brooks County again answered, Arnold scoring from the 9 to end a drive of 4:05. Gabriel Guyton blocked the PAT to keep the margin at three with 7:30 to go in the game.

            “I’ve said it every week,” Holmes said. “You play against Region 1-AA, you better be ready. The region breeds that success. They’re physical fast, and you play that way or get buried.”

            The Irish gobbled up 5:43, with Zion Kemp finally delivering the knockout punch with a 19-yard sprint around the left side, Potter’s kick making it a 10-point game with 1:51 left.

            Sophomore T.J. Wright officially sealed it with an interception seven seconds later. Dublin punted and Brooks County got the ball back one more time, and that was it.

            Dublin controlled the line of scrimmage more than the scoreboard, with three times as many first downs, 42 more offensive plays, 3.6 times as many rushing yards, and 23 more minutes of possession.

            The Irish were perfect on four fourth-down tries, and good on 6 of 15 third-down attempts, to 1 for 1 and 2 for 6 for the Trojans.

            Evans was a beast with 185 yards on a whopping 40 carries, with a score. Mitchell had a season-high 94 yards and two scores on nine carries.

            “We told him that going in,” Holmes said. “ ‘Hey, we’re putting the saddle on you, we’re gonna ride you.’”

            Kemp ran 13 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns, and Adams had 70 yards and a TD on 10 carries.

            In 73 carries, Dublin had only three negative yards.

            Arnold had 94 yards – after nine in losses – on 10 carries for the Trojans, who completed four passes for 117 yards.

            A celebration awaited the Irish at their gym, and Holmes rode the bus a happy and contented man, happy for many more than those on the buses riding down 75 and 16 toward home, from administrators to fund-raisers to nutritionists to parents.

            “There are a lot of people in Dublin who played a huge role in this that’s on the outside of our kids and our coaches,” said Holmes, noting the Irish were boosted by the crowd that weathered the weather. “There’s been a lot of people that have stepped up to help our football program. This is just huge.

            “At the end of the day, we got the win, and we got the trophy, so we’re happy.”