THOMASVILLE – The playoff trek to a Class 6-A championship will once again have Thomas County Central crossing paths with a familiar playoff partner.

Central is scheduled to play at Marist on Friday in the semifinal round of the state playoffs. It will mark the ninth time the two teams will have played since 1996 and the fifth time in the postseason. Central won seven of the first eight meetings.

If the prior games are any indication, Friday’s tilt should present a fantastic finish.

Just look back to the first playoff meeting between the teams in 1996. Running back Joe Burns’ two-point conversion pass to Alphonso McKibbons lifted the Yellow Jackets to a 29-28 win in the 1996 playoffs at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Randy Young, radio play-by-play announcer for the Yellow Jackets, said it was the most memorable clash between the football heavyweights.

“Just because it set you up to be able to win the state championship the next week. Central and Marist that season were dead even,” Young said.

Central also won the kickoff classic between the two teams to start the ’96 season.

“It was an overtime game that they thought they had won. That was back when you had penetration rules,” Young said. “They had won the game on penetration, but there was just enough time where they had to punt the ball. Joe Burns had a real good return and got us in striking position. We threw a pass and ended up gaining three more yards than we needed on the very last play of the game. We won it by three yards.”

The two teams met to start the season in the kickoff classic again in 1997 and in the playoffs again. Central won the first game 34-16 and then 34-28 in the playoffs.

“The two wins were pretty solid. They weren’t down to the wire,” Young said. “They scored real late to get within a touchdown (in the playoffs), but the game wasn’t that close.”

Central won the 2002 semifinal game at the Georgia Dome thanks to a hobbled Erik Walden at quarterback and injured Moses Cochran at running back. Cochran scored the winning touchdown and two-point conversion to lift the Yellow Jackets to a 35-34 win in overtime.

“What was memorable about that one was the quarterback, Erik Walden, rolled his ankle about half a dozen times. But he refused to come out,” Young said. “(Bill) Wilhelm kept wrapping him up and wrapping him up and somehow or another, he led us to victory. It was one of the gustiest performances I’d ever seen from a high school football player.”

The two squads met again in 2003 with Marist notching its lone win in the series 35-21, ending the season of one of Central’s best teams.

“We had a big lead, and just before halftime they hit a long pass, one of the few passes they threw the whole day. The receiver got behind the secondary and they scored,” Young said. “Then we fumbled the opening kickoff in the second half at our 10-yard line. They went right in and scored. It was like momentum completely shifted.

“I felt like that 2003 team for Central was the best team we had possibly ever. They were just loaded.”

The two teams played a home-and-home series in 2012 and 2013 with the Yellow Jackets winning both games 21-17 and 28-21 respectively.

Now comes the 2023 edition. The War Eagles are 12-1 following a 48-21 romp over Roswell in last week’s quarterfinal round. They are led by legendary coach Alan Chadwick, in his 48th year at Marist. He’s tallied more than 400 wins but remains 1-7 against Central.

He’ll match wits against Justin Rogers who has established Central as a team to be reckoned with in just two seasons. Central is 13-0, marking the first time the Yellow Jackets have won 13 straight to start the season since 2007.

“Across the board, team wise, this is the most complete team we’ve had, I would say since 1997,” Young said. “This team doesn’t have a superstar, but they’re just solid across the board. The defense as a unit I think is the best one I’ve ever seen at Central, ever.”