Ringgold slowed down in 6-AAA title game
A solid running game, a stingy defense and excellent play from a backup quarterback helped the Rockmart Yellow Jackets (9-1, 8-0) to their second consecutive Region 6-AAA championship with an 18-6 victory over previously-undefeated Ringgold on Friday night.
The Tigers (9-1, 7-1) rolled into The Rock looking for the program’s first-ever region championship in the school’s centennial anniversary. However, they were kept out of the end zone all night by a Rockmart defense that held the Tigers to just 212 yards of offense, 176 less than Ringgold’s per game average this season.
The defense rose to the occasion after quarterback J. D. Davis was injured on the third play of the game and did not return. In his place, backup Mason Phillips performed admirably as he went 7 of 8 through the air and gave his team an early lead on an 8-yard touchdown toss to Dennis Sims with 8:15 left in the opening quarter.
The Tigers cut the lead in half on a 30-yard field goal by Landon Eaker with 9:28 left before halftime. However, Cam Ferguson scored on a 4-yard run at the 5:37 mark of the second period and the Jackets took a 12-3 lead into the locker room.
In the third quarter, Ringgold again got a field goal from Eaker at the 9:28 mark, this one from 26 yards out, to make it a one-score game. But the Jackets answered a little later in the period with a 3-yard run by Brent Washington, which turned out to be the final score of the night.
Rockmart saw two pointafter attempts blocked and misfired on a conversion pass, but the defense make sure the miscues would not come back to haunt them.
Ringgold senior running back Kori Dumas broke the 100-yard barrier for the sixth time this season with a 18-carry, 172-yard effort. However, the rest of the Tigers managed just 17 yards rushing, while Rockmart limited Ringgold quarterback Mason Parker to 5 of 13 passing for just 23 yards.
The Jackets finished with 329 yards of total offense, including 242 on the ground after rushing 51 times in the game.