THOMASVILLE – On Friday night Thomas County Central will look to keep their perfect season and their championship aspirations alive as they take on Marist in Atlanta. The away game marks the second time the Yellow Jackets have traveled in these playoffs, the last being round three in which they traveled to Rome and took a 19-16 victory on a game winning field goal.

Marist has been a stellar football team this year. They are 12-1 on the season with a perfect 5-0 record in region play. That single loss came in week one against Gainesville, another very good 6A program who exited the playoffs last week in a three point loss to semi-finalist Woodward Academy. Since then, the War Eagles have been on a tear, ripping through every team they have faced. 

The War Eagles have only been in one truly close game against, a contest against Woodward Academy that ended in an overtime victory for Marist. They have allowed no more that 21 points in a game and, on average, give up just 11.6 points per game, while scoring 33.3 points per game.

Marist is a team that is susceptible to the pass game. They give up a lot of yards in the air, but few touchdowns. In all games where stats were reported, Marist held their opponents under 130 passing yards just once and allowed over 215 three times. 

That being said, this Marist secondary is not to be underestimated. Yes, in their three playoff games this year they have given up 704 passing yards, including 353 last week to Roswell. However, they also have nine interceptions in the playoffs and have only given up three passing touchdowns. They may give up yards, but they make big plays when it counts.

In order to win this game, Central really just needs to keep doing what they’ve done all year, trusting themselves and their game plan. Trusting their defense to get stops, trusting their sophomore quarterback and receiving core to get them down the field and trusting Trey Benson and company to punch through the d-line. 

Statistically, Central is the better team. They score more points than Marist and the allow less on average. It is that confidence and trust in each other that can push the Yellow Jackets over the edge and punch their ticket to the state title game.