Polk County teams make Class AAA playoffs
Tigers take advantage of Cedartown turnovers in win
The Adairsville Tigers are moving on to the second round of the AAA playoffs, and are ready to play against Blessed Trinity next week.
The Tigers defeated Cedartown Friday night in a 52-14 rout at home, taking advantage of three fumbles and two interceptions in the victory.
Adairsville also made good use of the running of Sidnee Johnson and quarterback Marcus Childers to move the offense forward and score 31 points by halftime.
Head coach Eric Bishop said getting the win is only the beginning of what will be a tough road ahead for the Tigers as they travel to take on the Titans next week.
“If it turns out that we play Blessed Trinity, it’ll be the hardest football game that we’ve ever played,” Bishop said
after the win. Adairsville will play at Blessed Trinity next Friday.
Childers said following the game that the win came as a relief following Adairsville’s first round playoff struggles in past years.
“It’s a blessing. The past few years we’ve lost in the first round, so it’s awesome to watch the team come out and play physical to get this first win,” Childers said.
For Cedartown, the game came down to a common theme this season: turnovers.
“When we don’t turn the ball over, we’re pretty good on offense and move the ball consistently, and we can score on anyone,” said head coach Scott Hendrix.
“A team as good on offense on Adairsville, you give them an opportunity like we did tonight, they’re going to score on you.”
Adairsville got their first break early against Cedartown after Bulldogs quarterback Harrison Barnett fumbled the ball early in the opening drive, allowing the Tigers to score less than a minute later off a 51-yard touchdown run for Johnson.
Cedartown struck back with a run to the endzone by Kaelin Glover for 34 yards to tie it up, but it would be the last significant movement of the ball for the Bulldogs until the third quarter.
The Tigers gave up their only fumble of the night on the ensuing kickoff, but the Bulldogs were unable to capitalize off the recovery and punted the ball back to Adairsville after a short drive.
Adairsville picked off a Barnett pass late in the first quarter and the ensuing drive resulted in a second quarter touchdown pass of six yards between Childers and Blaine Bishop.
The Bulldogs fumbled again after getting the ball back near midfield, leading to a second touchdown pass between Childers and Bishop for 20 yards. The Tigers scored again with just over five minutes left of the clock with a twoyard touchdown run for Childers, then put a field goal on the board to end the half.
Back from halftime, Johnson scored on a 31yard touchdown run, followed later in the third quarter by a five-yard touchdown run for Torrey Hale.
Glover scored again with just more than a minute left from one-yard out to give Cedartown another touchdown.
The Tigers brought in sophomore Sam Seaman in the fourth quarter with a running clock to gain some playoff experience, abnd ended up driving Adairsville down to a 31yard touchdown run for junior Jayson Cantrell.
Adairsville freshman kicker Josh Honea attempted a 27-yard field goal, but missed short in the fourth quarter as well.
The loss for the Bulldogs ends their season following a win over Rockmart to force a three-way mini playoff, and then a win over Pepperell to get the third place spot in 5-AAA.
Hendrix said the loss was a disappointment, but making it to the playoffs this year was a big accomplishment for the Bulldogs.
“Our kids have had opportunity after opportunity to throw in the towel, but they didn’t,” he said. “They didn’t quit tonight when they got down, and they got out there and played as hard as they could. They might not have always played good, but they played with effort and tried to do the things we asked them to do.”