Clint Thompson
THOMASVILLE — Thomas County Central’s magical season came to an end Friday night. Sandy Creek has hit uncharted territory.
Led by Raijon Neal’s 159 rushing yards and three touchdowns, the Fighting Patriots overcame a 17-10 second-half deficit to beat the Yellow Jackets in the third round of the Class AAAA playoffs 31-17.
The win vaulted Sandy Creek into the semifinal round for the first time. The loss snapped Central’s 11-game winning streak and ended the Yellow Jackets’ season at 11-2.
“It means the world to this program,” said Sandy Creek coach Chip Walker, whose team has 12 wins for the first time in school history and will play Griffin in a semifinal matchup next week. “There are a lot of folks that have gone through that thing and fought really hard to get this program established. We may not be the Thomas County Central with all the tradition, but we’ve built a pretty good tradition ourselves the last 11 years. For us to come down here and beat Thomas County Central is good for us.”
Also good for the Patriots was having Neal on their side. The Mississippi State-recruit ran hard between the tackles and helped wear down a defense that surrendered the most points it allowed all season.
“Their tailback is a great tailback,” Central coach Bill Shaver said. “He’s going to Mississippi State for a reason. Give them credit. They were smart and didn’t run the edges. They just decided to run it up the middle at, what you would consider, the weakness of our defense.”
Neal had a game-high 32 rushing attempts and he carried the ball 18 times out of Sandy Creek’s 27 plays in the second half.
“We’ve got as good a back as there is in the state of Georgia. I don’t care what anybody says,” Walker said. “There ain’t no doubt we were feeding him in the second half. He responded personally after he turned that ball over. We just decided to feed him and feed him. He’s a heck of a back.”
Neal’s only mistake was fumbling a kickoff in the third quarter after Central tied the game 10-10. The turnover gave the Yellow Jackets the ball at the Patriots’ 43-yard line. Seven plays later, Central quarterback Eric Dodson lunged into the end zone for a 1-yard score. It gave the Yellow Jackets their only lead of the game at 17-10. The Yellow Jackets failed to hold the lead, however. Central had one punt and two turnovers on its next three possessions. Sandy Creek responded with three straight scoring drives of 71, 68 and 37 yards.
“Offensively, we had some chances but couldn’t execute when we needed to,” Shaver said. “We missed a couple of passes and missed a block here or there.
“We had a seven-point lead and they just drove it on us and scored.”
The loss was the first for the Yellow Jackets since their season-opening defeat to Thomasville. It didn’t take away from the superb season the Yellow Jackets had, however. They recorded double-digit wins for the third time in five years.
“I’m proud of these guys. It’s one of those (games) you wished you’d played your best,” Shaver said. “We just didn’t quite play our best. Sandy Creek’s a good team. They did a good job.”
