Cedartown gets the fourth spot in playoffs with win over Jackets
Cedartown triumphs over Rockmart in rivalry showdown
The annual battle for football dominance in Polk County was pushed up a night to avoid severe weather, but Rockmart and Cedartown were tangled in their own storm before Cedartown came out on top, 35-12.
The win gives Cedartown the No. 4 seed in Region 5-AAA, earning them a spot in the state playoffs for the third year in a row.
One force that affected both teams during Thursday’s showdown at Cedartown Memorial Stadium was penalties.
In the first half alone, both the Bulldogs and Jackets combined for 180 yards in penalties, and the flag throwing took a toll on both sides of the ball. That wasn’t how the game started off, however. With Rockmart winning the toss and taking the opening kickoff, the Jackets caught an early break when Griffin Earwood connected on a big pass play that brought Rockmart down to the Cedartown 4yard line and scored on the next play as Maurice Smith drove it in for the score.
From then on the Bulldogs dominated on offense, scoring on a 30-yard touchdown run by C.J.
Robinson. Earwood then got sacked in the end zone for a safety late in the period to give Cedartown two points and the 9-6 lead.
The Bulldogs (2-8, 2-3) scored on their next possession, this time with Quan Neal connecting with quarterback Trevon Wofford for a 26-yard pass play early in the second quarter.
Rockmart (2-8, 1-4) scored with nearly four minutes left in the half, and both teams tried to score before time ran out, but penalties broke up the tempo and each team went into the locker room with Cedartown up 16-12.
The Bulldogs drove the ball down the field for their opening possession of the second half and came up with a touchdown, with Neal running for 32 yards for his second score of the night.
The Bulldogs added two more scores in the fourth quarter, with Neal running for 74 yards early and Robinson putting up a final touchdown late from 5 yards out to cap off a game-finishing drive.
Head coach Scott Hendrix said the performance from his quarterback and running backs on offense was top notch on the night, and the defense did their job by holding off the Jackets from scoring in the second.
“Our kids played well, and executed the game plan we wanted them to,” Hendrix said.
The Bulldogs will face the No. 1 seed from Region 8-AAA on the road next Friday, but won’t know who their opponent will be until after tonight’s games.
Hendrix said his team will prepare the same way they have all season.
“We don’t care who it is, we’re going to go play hard,” he said. “Hopefully that will be good enough.”
Head coach Bin Turner’s Jackets will come back in 2016 with at least one advantage — experience.
“We will have a large amount of seniors, a large amount of juniors and sophomores, and more freshmen,” Turner said. “It’s going to be where we need to be. We’ll have another year in the weight room, and hopefully they’ll get stronger and that’s all we can ask of them.”