By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          The first half went about as expected, with Ware County taking the lead and some control, and Warner Robins struggling to get into much of a rhythm.

          The result was an 18-point Ware County lead, but the Gators were facing the defending champs, who were back in their sixth title game after dealing with a chunk of adversity.

GHSA Class 5A championship: Ware County vs. Warner Robins overview, scouting report, and predictions

          Just like that, an interception early in the third quarter turned into a Warner Robins touchdown, bring the sound of footsteps to Center Parc Stadium.

          Ware County didn’t hear them.

          The Gators answered with a sharp drive and a perfect 35-yard touchdown pass to regain control en route to a 38-13 win over the Demons in the GHSA Class 5A state championship in Atlanta.

          The Gators finished a perfect season with their program’s first state title, while the Demons ended up 10-5 with their fourth runner-up in six years, Ware County making sure there was no three-peat.

Full stats and play-by-play gamebook

          Warner Robins learned what it felt like to play the Demons in big games in recent years. Just when the door opened to a comeback, it was slammed shut.

          And then locked.

          On the third play of the third quarter, Warner Robins’ Emanuel Brown took advantage of one of the rare Niko Smith mistakes, and picked off the Ware County quarterback, giving the Demons the ball on the Gators’ 32.

Numbers to note
4
Each quarterback threw two interceptions

4:26
The difference in time of possession, Ware County running six more plays for 474 yards to the Demons’ 320

18
Both teams had 18 first downs

18.2
Warner Robins converted on only two of 11 third-down tries, to 5 of 15 for Ware County

90
Warner Robins running back Malcolm Brown battled for 90 yards to finish with 909 for the season and 3,343 for his career

132
Ware County’s RJ Boyd ran for 132 yards on 19 carries, outgaining the Demons by 11 on one less carry

171
The Gators’ Jarvis Hayes caught six passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns

195
Warner Robins QB Isiah Canion passed for his second-most yards, and ends the season with 779 yards passing, having started only four games, an average of 182.8 yards a game

          Isiah Canion, who was 10 of 15 for 60 yards and a pick in the first half, connected with Aamir Quick for a touchdown on the first play, pulling the Demons within 24-13 with 10:34 left.

          But Ware County shrugged it off and answered with a superb 6-play, 56-yard drive that covered 1:33. It ended with another sweet pass from Smith, this time to Brandon Washington for a 35-yard score, and a 30-13 lead less than two minutes later.

          That tied the most points given up by Warner Robins this season, matching Jones County in the Demons’ 54-30 win in late October.

          The Demons’ next drive ended with a punt that was down on the one. On the first play, Dae’Jeaun Dennis was hit in the end zone, fell forward on top of bodies and reached the ball out. As his elbow hit the ground – rendering him down – the ball popped out and Warner Robins recovered and took it into the end zone.

          But Dennis was ruled down.

          Smith pulled the dagger out of its sheath and hit Jarvis Hayes for 36 yards down the right sideline, another Gator getting open. Six plays later, they hooked up for a 39-yard touchdown.

          And in the process, Warner Robins had given up the most points since beating Camden County 77-34 in October of 2021, and the most since losing 47-41 to Bainbridge in three overtimes in the 2018 championship game.

          Warner Robins failed to convert on a fourth and goal at Ware County’s 5 with almost nine minutes left in the game, and the large contingent of Gator fans – who had at least a 2-1 advantage in the stands – realized it was pretty much over.

          The margin was the biggest in a Warner Robins loss since Rome’s 38-0 win in the Class 2017 state championship game, played at McConnell-Talbert.

Of those who started on Saturday, Warner Robins loses seniors RJ Adair, Vic Burley, Jarvis Lamar, Emanuel Brown, Dominick Faircloth, Elijah Antonio, and Khebrion Puchoon on defense, and EJ Carter, Jakobi Johnson, Caden Pollack, Malcolm Brown, and Aamir Quick, and two-way starter Chaz Sturn.

          Ware County scored on its first two possessions, on a 19-yard pass on a slant from Smith to Hayes, followed two minutes later – after the Demons’ second straight three-and-out and a partially blocked punt – by Dennis’ 41-yard run.

          That put Ware County up 14-0 at the 6:06 mark of the first.

          Canion caught a 4-yard pass on a trick play – the snap went to Malcolm Brown while Canion wandered toward the sideline acting confused, and Brown pitched to Flowers who passed to Canion - with 2:22 left, the Demons missing the PAT.

          But a Dennis 3-yard run at the 10:28 mark and William Bates 37-yard field goal with 4:50 left put the Gators in control with a 24-6 lead.

          The Demons teased with a comeback early in the third, but the Gators – who scored 35 or more points for the eighth time in 14 games – had none of it.