Thomas County Central sacks Woodward for Georgia 6A football state crown

Yellow Jackets jump out to a 28-0 lead and cruise to their sixth football state championship and first since 1997

ATLANTA – After dominating the state of Georgia in the early to mid 1990’s, winning five state championships in a span of six years, the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets hasn’t done much winning in the past two decades.

That changed Tuesday night.

Looking to win their first title since 1997, the Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 28-0 lead and never looked back en route to a dominant 49-28 win over Woodward Academy in the Class 6A state championship game, Tuesday night at Mercedes Benz Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets wasted no time in scoring their first touchdown of the night.

Junior wide receiver Dee Reddick returned the opening kickoff 59 yards to the Woodward 40, and the Yellow Jackets offense needed just two plays to find the end zone on back-to-back 20-yard runs from Trey Benton.

Midway through the first quarter, Thomas County Central’s Walter Reddick blocked a Woodward Academy punt, and that gave them another short field to work with.

Thomas County Central's Walter Reddick (19) and Caleb Anderson (20) celebrate another big play by the Yellow Jackets roster. The two combined for 2-1/2 of the team's 10 sacks. 12/12/2023 / Photo by Colin Hubbard

Setting up shop at the War Eagle 21, the Yellow Jackets scored in just two plays again, this time with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jaylen Johnson to Malachi Thomas to extend their lead to 14-0 with 5:39 remaining in the first quarter.

The Yellow Jackets took their 14-0 lead into the second quarter and doubled it there soon after.

Starting deep inside their own territory, the Yellow Jackets mounted their longest scoring drive of the first half, an 8-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a short 1-yard touchdown run on second-and-goal from Johnson.

Meanwhile, the Thomas County Central defense was relentless.

They continued to shut down a high-powered War Eagle offense and forced a turnover on downs later in the second quarter to set up their final scoring drive of the night.

The Yellow Jackets regained possession of the football with just under four minutes remaining in the half, and they promptly marched 52 yards in seven plays and scored again to increase their lead to 28-0.

The score came on a 31-yard scamper down the left sidelines from Johnson, who ended his first half with 81 yards rushing and two touchdowns on nine carries.

In desperate need of some offense, the War Eagles finally broke through with points as time expired in the first half.

The War Eagles drove 54 yards over the final 54 seconds of the half and scored as time expired with a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Landon Walker.

That sent the game into halftime with the Yellow Jackets in full control 28-7.

The War Eagles carried their momentum into the third quarter and mounted a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to trim the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 28-14. The score got some help from back-to-back penalties on fourth down that helped keep the drive alive.

Walker eventually tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to running back Lucas Farrigington on second-and-goal.

After needing 6:08 to score against the vaunted Thomas County Central defense, the Yellow Jacket offense answered right back with their third two-play touchdown drive of the game.

Facing a second-and-10 from their own 43, Johnson found a wide-open Tre’Von Pringle for an easy 57-yard catch-and-run touchdown to extend their lead back out to three touchdowns, 35-14.

The War Eagles had one more scoring drive in them to close out the third quarter.

Starting at their own 32, the War Eagles rumbled 68 yards in just over a minute and scored when quarterback Griffin Marshall hooked up with Ben Grice for a 41-yard score.

Leading 35-21 heading into the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets all but ended the game with another lightning quick touchdown drive.

They kept the ball on the ground on four consecutive plays, picking up two first downs in the process before Johnson tossed another touchdown pass to Thomas to extend their lead to 42-21.

In the closing minutes of the fourth, both teams added a score, the first a 16-yard TD run from Thomas County Central’s Bennett, and the second, a 46-yard TD reception from Woodward Academy’s Josiah Abdullah to cap the scoring on the night.

THOMAS COUNTY CENTRAL 49, WOODWARD ACADEMY 28

Woodward: 0 7 14 0 – 28

TCC: 14 14 7 14 - 49

(All photos by Colin Hubbard)

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard