By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          The team that had never been this far, been on this stage, in front of this many people on its side, sure didn’t play like it.

          Fitzgerald – used to all of the aforementioned - came, and saw, but Northeast did all the conquering.

          The Raiders were in control on both sides of the ball and rolled to a 46-14 win Friday night over Fitzgerald in a GHSA Class A/Division I semifinal to earn Bibb County’s first public-school trip to a state championship in 49 years.

          Head coach, and alum, Jeremy Wiggins was happy, but had a sense of calm and confidence rather than abundant excitement, as if he knew all week what everybody would see.

          “I knew they were gonna play good,” he said. “I felt good coming into the game. Whatever they gave us, we just wanted to take it, kind of keep our composure, and just keep playing.”

          The Raiders will now face Toombs County at 1 p.m. on Dec. 17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Bulldogs took care of Northeast Region 2 rival Dublin 42-15 in the other semifinal.

          It’ll be a battle of championship-game first-timers.

          The Raiders should be fairly prepared for new air, considering that’s what Friday night was in all phases.

          The lines for an early-arriving crowd to get in for the home and visitors side were still long and stretching at kickoff, and by the end of a quarter, the home crowd overflowed onto the grass hill.

          “Before the game, one of the players walked out, and he was like, ‘Man, it’s packed, it’s packed during pregame,’” senior running back Nick Woodford said. “I love it, man, I love it.”

          A crowd of between 4,500 and 5,000 – unofficially the largest gathering for a Bibb County public school football game since the Robert Davis days at Westside – filled Thompson Stadium, braving – and no doubt cursing – temperatures in the upper 30s at kickoff and around freezing for the ride home.

          “I was shocked,” linebacker Tailen Sampson said. “I couldn’t believe it. Everybody (dressed) out in all black. Loved it.”

          The home stands were more full 30 minutes before the game than for almost any home game this season. And the Raiders noticed.

          “I told the boys to keep their composure,” Woodford said. “They’re here to support us. We gotta put on a show.”

          The Raiders noticed, calmed down, and proceeded to show the majority of the audience what it’s missed all season.

          They put on a show.

          Woodford turned in astounding second straight 300-yard game, racking up 315 yards on 23 carries. Comically, his worst run of the night was his last one, a 4-yard loss, before being pulled with a little more than nine minutes left to get an ovation.

          He’ll enter his high school finale with 2,483 yards and 37 touchdowns for the season, and a career total of 6,155 yards and 88 touchdowns.

          Woodford has 18 more career yards than Herschel Walker, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association record-keeping website.

          Quarterback Reginald Glover was able to stretch his legs to the tune of 107 rushing yards to go with an efficient 122-yard passing night.

          “We knew we could run the ball,” Wiggins said. “When you’ve got 6 (Woodford) back there, it makes a whole lot of things easier.”

          But the often-overshadowed defense again turned in a solid night, one of its best of the year, against an offense that cracked the 40-point mark four times this year, including twice in the playoffs. The Purple Hurricane were held to their third-lowest point total of the year, behind eight against Thomasville and 13 against Irwin County.

          “We’re physical,” Sampson said. “We studied real hard. We played them last year and won by one point. And we came out again, and we started.”

* GHSA semifinals: Toombs County at Dublin, Fitzgerald at Northeast, scouting reports and predictions

* Column: This is a huge weekend for football in Macon and Bibb County. Will Macon and Bibb County show up for it?

* Humility, confidence, persistence, curiosity,  and instinct have put Northeast star running back and honor student Nick Woodford on an elite level

          Fitzgerald was held to single-digit first downs, and only 40 snaps. Almost 35 percent of their yardage for the night came on an 80-burst by Victor Copeland four minutes into the third quarter, to answer a Northeast score.

          The Purple Hurricane version of the Wing-T managed only 10 carries of five yards or more.

          “The defense did a great job preparing (for) tonight all week, and playing hard,” Wiggins said. “That was the bottom line. They played hard on defense all night.”

          Sampson is part of one of the state’s top linebacking units, with Santana Balkcom, and he came out firing.

“We just dominated,” he said. “My D-line, they eat. Every day. I love them boys, man. We work hard every week. We work, watch film, and come dominate like this.”

          The Raiders’ good start – a 48-yard blast from Woodford on their first snap – slowed, and they settled for a 26-yard field goal from Demontae Dunn four minutes into the game.

          Woodford went for 27 yards on the first snap of the next possession, which ended by air. Glover rolled right, drew in some coverage, and floated a strike to Keandre Jackson, who cruised in for the 51-yard touchdown, and a 10-0 lead at the 3:49 mark of the first quarter.

          Fitzgerald punted, again, and Northeast’s seven-play trip went 23 yards. The teams exchanged punts, then Fitzgerald fumbled it away on its own 27, and Woodford made the visitors pay on first down, taking in Glover’s touch jump pass and getting to the end zone.

          A sign it was clearly Northeast’s night followed: The PAT snap was high and bobbled, but kicker Dunn grabbed it, rolled out a little bit, and hit Jackson for the unintentional 2-point conversion.

          With a full 5:18 left in the half, Northeast had more points – 18 - against Fitzgerald than six opponents this season.

          The Purple Hurricane gave it back on a run near the end zone six plays later, putting Northeast on the 9. The Raiders marched to the 10, and Glover took it to just short of the goal line before fumbling, Fitzgerald avoiding knockout punch in the final seconds of the half.

          What appeared to be that knockout punch came on the sixth play of the third quarter when Woodford went 20 yards around the right side for another score. But that was immediately answered by Copeland’s burst just off the left side.

          Momentum appeared to don purple and white temporarily, when the visitors got it back on downs and marched 58 yards on six plays, to pull within 25-14 with 4:21 left in the third.

          Momentum changed clothes pretty quickly.

          Woodford was initially slowed more by blockers than defenders on a 37-yard run, setting up a 16-yard touchdown run that started up the middle and bounced outside. And the lead grew back to 18 points at 32-14 with 2:53 left in the third quarter.

          Decorian Brundage picked off a pass on Fitzgerald’s second play, and two plays after Glover went off for 18, Woodford scored easily from the 4.

          Fitzgerald’s attempt at a jump pass didn’t work on fourth and 3 at its own 38. And there went Woodford again, off tackle on the first play to go over 300 yards.

          He put up 375 yards on 34 carries last week when Northeast went to near the North Carolina border to dump top seed Fannin County 48-39 on a colder night.

          “This is the atmosphere I play in,” he said. “I love the cold.”

          Indeed, but now he’ll have to prepare for the exquisite conditions of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“We didn’t win tonight, the better team won,” Fitzgerald head coach Tucker Pruitt said, as per CBS-44 TV. “Football’s like life. You can’t win all the time, and tonight, it wasn’t our night. You’ve just got to tip your hat to Northeast-Macon and what a good football team they have.”

          The last time a Bibb County public school team got such an honor was way back when semifinals were played in the old Georgia Dome, and championships at school sites. It was in 2003 – before any current Raider was born – when Westside lost 21-6 to Valdosta.

          Northeast’s 12-win season is the best among Bibb County public schools since Westside went 12-1 in 2008, losing in the quarterfinals in Davis’s final year as head coach.

          That, in fact, is the only other 12-win season among the current group of six public-school teams.

          Northeast, Central, and Southwest all played their first season in 1970, joined by Westside in 1997, Rutland in 2003, and Howard in 2008. The Chargers went 11-1 when they won the Class AAA title in 1975.

          The current Raiders are aware of some of the history, but were still enjoying setting their own.

          In his final home game as a Raider, Woodford got to be Woodford in front of more people by far than on any other Friday night in his stellar career.

          No biggie.

          “I’m me, I’m me,” he said. “None of that phased me. I was so tuned into the game, I wasn’t worried about the crowd, but I appreciate the support.”

          And his offensive line, Woodford reeling off the names of Zantavius Towles, Machylan Marshall, Carlos Daniel, Tykerio Parks, and Jared Cooper.

          “They open ‘em up for me,” Woodford said. “The cutting back, they give to me something to work with. I’m proud of them boys tonight. I got to feed them.”

          Wiggins wasn’t the only former Raider wearing his old-school letterman jacket. He felt something special coming.

          “The past two days, you saw ‘Northeast’ and ‘Raiders’ and ‘coming to the game and supporting Northeast,” he said. “Everybody was excited. They showed up. Traffic was bad, the concession line was long, getting in with two gates was long.

          “Now we get to travel to Atlanta and play for a state championship.”

Semifinal scores

Class 6A
Grayson 35, Douglas County 28
Carrollton 30, Buford 17

Class 5A
Hughes 49, Coffee 26
Milton 56, Lee County 28

Class 4A
Marist 27, Creekside 21
North Oconee 27, Blessed Trinity 7

Class 3A
Jefferson 21, LaGrange 13
Calhoun 35, Stephenson 13

Class 2A
Burke County 35, Rockmart 22
Carver-Columbus 49, Appling County 6

Class A/Division I
Northeast 46, Fitzgerald 14
Toombs County 42, Dublin 15

Class A/Division II
Bowdon 42, Irwin County 28
Brooks County 17, Manchester 14

Class 3A-A private
Prince Avenue Christian 43, North Cobb Christian 0
Hebron Christian 24, Fellowship Christian 17

Toombs County 42, Dublin 15

          The two teams ranked in the top three all season met, and the higher-ranked visitor had the versatility on offense and steady play on defense to end Dublin’s perfect season.

          Toombs County took a 14-0 lead, and stymied Dublin’s rally to pull away in a Class A/Division I semifinal, breaking a nine-game losing streak to the Irish.

          The Bulldogs scored the most points, by nine, against Dublin this year, and the Irish were held to their lowest points output.

          Dublin outgained Toombs County by only 30 yards on the ground, but the Bulldogs’ ability to pass made the difference. They were 10 of 12 for 150 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, while the Irish completed one of six passes. Toombs County ran 12 fewer plays but racked up 104 more yards.

          Willie Batts’ 2-ayrd run and the conversion pass pulled Dublin within six midway through the second quarter, but Toombs County got a 5-yard TD pass from TJ Stanley to Lagonza Hayward a little more than two minutes later en route to a 21-8 halftime lead.

          Dublin kept Toombs County quiet the final 4:36 of the second quarter and first 6:32 of the third quarter, but couldn’t get anything going. The Bulldogs gained stronger control on Stanley’s 1-yard run with 5:38 left in the third quarter, and sealed it early in the fourth with a 39-yard TD pass.

          The Irish’s final score came with 7;43 left on Micah O’Neal’s 4-yard run to cut the deficit to 20.

          Dublin, only 4 for 11 on third down to 3 for 5 for Toombs County, got 144 yards rushing from quarterback O’Neal, while the Bulldog defense turned in epic night, holding Batts and Trav Bostic to only 40 yards total, and Xavier Bostic to 74 yards on 12 carries.

          Stanley led Toombs County, which will play Northeast in the championship, with 97 yards on nine carries.