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Savannah Christian picked the wrong time to have a subpar performance on Friday night at Pooler Stadium. Or, put another way, the Raiders were too early for gift-giving season.

North Cobb Christian took advantage of the host’s self-inflicted mistakes in eliminating previously unbeaten and top seeded Savannah Christian 30-27 in the GHSA Class A-3A Private School quarterfinal playoffs.

The Eagles (11-1), who traveled from Kennesaw, made the long round trip pay off with a berth in the state semifinals against Prince Avenue Christian.

The Raiders (10-1) ended their season shy of their goal of a run to the state championship, having reached the Class 3A final in 2023 and coming up short against Cedar Grove.

Those juniors in 2023 became a lauded senior group this season, led by five-star Georgia commit Elijah Griffin on the defensive line, Clemson commit Logan Brooking at tight end and defensive end, Charleston Southern commit Zo Smalls at running back, Kenry Wall at cornerback and slotback and Jaden Miles at linebacker and running back.

Raiders head coach Baker Woodward noted that all but one member of the Class of 2025 had been in the Savannah Christian program since at least middle school.

“Those guys did a great job leading us,” Woodward said. “I really wanted to get to the state championship for them. But it just wasn’t in the cards tonight. For some reason, we were just off. North Cobb Christian played as good as they could play. Hats off to them.”

Woodward then listed several plays when “we shot ourselves in the foot,” including a snap over the punter’s head, fumbles and penalties, including when Brooking’s long interception return for a touchdown was brought back because of an illegal block in the back well away from the play with SCPS trailing 17-13 with 7:24 left in the second quarter.

“It’s our fault,” Woodward said. “We had a pick-6, which really would have sealed the deal for us at a key time. We blocked people in the back. We did things we don’t normally do and weren’t smart. It cost us. We didn’t have to be perfect, but we needed to be really close to perfect to win tonight.”

He felt the team was still rusty after playing just once since Nov. 1 – last week’s 31-3 home win over cross-town rival Savannah Country Day in the second round. Star running back Smalls, a workhorse for several seasons, was extremely limited in that contest because of a knee injury sustained in the Nov. 1 win at Toombs County – the lone team to play the Raiders tight this season (14-7).

Smalls showed his toughness in grinding through five first-half carries against North Cobb Christian for 26 yards. He took even more of the load in the second half (15 carries for 66 yards), including when he bulled his way 10 yards to the end zone in the third quarter.

Smalls wasn’t on the field for the Raiders’ first snap from scrimmage, when Wall took a handoff around left end, got to the sideline and outraced the defense 70 yards to the end zone.

“We actually blocked it the wrong way and just kind of got lucky the first play,” Woodward said.

The Raiders were up 7-0 with 11:47 left in the first quarter, but they weren’t too lucky the rest of the game.

The Eagles’ offense runs through star sophomore quarterback Teddy Jarrard, but runs is ironic in this usage. North Cobb Christian only occasionally had a running back in the backfield on Friday night, rushing the ball just enough to keep a defense honest. Jarrard handed the ball off a half-dozen times for 14 total yards against the stout SCPS defense line.

Jarrard threw the ball a lot – stretching the field on occasion against the Raiders but mainly short, quick routes and intermediate throws over the middle, with junior Carson Bruce a favorite target.

High volume works for the Eagles, as Jarrard completed 27 of 47 passes for 302 yards, including first-half touchdowns of 18 yards to DJ Huggins, 12 yards to Bruce and, on the first drive of the second half, a 61-yard TD bomb to Brody Archie. 

The 30-point total was the most points given up by the Raiders defense, which allowed just 106 points in 11 games.

“Obviously, they’ve got a good quarterback,” Woodward said. “He’s got 10 (college) offers. He’s a good player. They’ve got really fast receivers. But we just didn’t play well enough tonight to beat them. We didn’t play our best game.”

After a three-and-out on the Eagles’ first possession, Jarrard guided the team 85 yards to set up the first of Daniel Rivera’s three 23-yard field goals on the night. Those makeable kicks, while not touchdowns in the red zone, proved critical to North Cobb Christian gaining a lead and the eventual margin of victory.

Savannah Christian responded quickly to North Cobb’s first score when Miles found a hole at the line and burst 56 yards to the end zone for the first of his two rushing touchdowns. The Eagles blocked the extra point, leaving the host squad’s edge at 13-3.

The Eagles scored their first TD on their next drive, with Jarrard lobbing a pass high to the end zone, where Huggins caught it in double coverage and the deficit was narrowed to 13-10.

Jarrard was 11 of 20 for 120 yards just in the first quarter, and he got the ball back at the SCPS 12 after the Raiders snapped it over the punter’s head with 5.4 seconds left.

While Jarrard, listed at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, primarily stayed in the pocket, he did scramble to elude a heavy rush and found Bruce in the back of the end zone for a 12-yard TD and 17-13 lead two plays into the second quarter.

Savannah Christian pressured Jarrard with a stellar defensive line featuring Griffin, who had multiple sacks, Brooking, junior Isaiah Redmond and blue-chip sophomore LaDamion Guyton, who also hurried and sacked the QB. Other players regularly blitzed, too, but Jarrard avoided trouble with quick releases or just throwing passes away.

“A lot of plays, a lot of reps,” Woodward said of the burden on the SCPS pass defense. “The quarterback did a great job getting the ball out of his hands.”

Jarrard was under a heavy rush when Brooking was in coverage and picked him off, only to see six valuable points taken off the board. The Raiders got possession but eventually punted.

The Eagles were ahead 24-13 on Archie’s TD catch when on a later drive they converted a fourth-and-6 at the SCPS 30. They went up 27-13 on Rivera’s second field goal. 

The Raiders answered with Smalls’ 10-yard TD run for a seven-point deficit with 37 seconds left in the third quarter. SCPS recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff but had a turnover on downs.

The Raiders made a defensive stop but fumbled away the punt return at their 49. That led to Rivera’s third field goal for 30-20 with 5:02 left in regulation.

SCPS closed to 30-27 on Miles’ 2-yard TD run and Christian Johns’ extra point with 2:36 remaining.

North Cobb Christian went backward in trying to eat up clock, and SCPS got the ball back at its 16-yard line down three points with 1:22 on the clock. 

The Eagles defense allowed Wall’s 19-yard catch on fourth-and-16, but then sacked quarterback Blaise Thomas and intercepted a desperation heave that deflected off the intended receiver with 7 seconds left.

 

NORTH COBB CHRISTIAN 30, SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN 27

NORTH COBB CHRISTIAN	10	7	10	3	30
SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN	13	0	7	7	27

 

First Quarter
SCPS—Kenry Wall 70 run (Christian Johns kick)
NCC—Daniel Rivera 23 FG
SCPS—Jaden Miles 56 run (kick blocked)
NCC—DJ Huggins 18 pass from Teddy Jarrard (Rivera kick)
Second Quarter
NCC—Carson Bruce 12 pass from Jarrard (Rivera kick)
Third Quarter
NCC—Brody Archie 61 pass from Jarrard (Rivera kick)
NCC—Rivera 23 FG
SCPS—Zo Smalls 10 run (Johns kick)
Fourth Quarter
NCC—Rivera 23 FG
SCPS—Miles 2 run (Johns kick)
Records—North Cobb Christian 11-1, Savannah Christian 10-1

 

GHSA QUARTERFINAL FINAL SCORES

CLASS 4A

Blessed Trinity 24, Benedictine 10

 

Class A-3A Private

North Cobb Christian 30, Savannah Christian 27

Prince Avenue 61, Calvary 39

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Nathan Dominitz for the Prep Sports Report

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