Crusaders Are State Runner-up
The Robert Toombs Christian Academy Crusader football team was at Georgia Southern University last Friday night to play in the GIAA Class A State Championship against Edmund Burke Academy. It was a thrilling game that came down to the wire with RTCA falling just short, 20-17. This is the second year in a row that RTCA has been State Runner-up. EBA was the State Champion in AA last season.
It was a defensive first half as both teams struggled to put together sustained drives. RTCA had some good runs on their first drive by Jayden Toole and Drew Edwards, but they had to kick the ball away after being stopped.
On their next drive, a couple of good passes from Christian Mixon to Bray Williamson for good gains got the Crusaders out to midfield after starting their drive at the 1-foot line. But at the end of the first quarter, the game was still 0-0.
Another good run by Toole moved the ball to the 40-yard line, but RTCA was stopped and turned the ball over on downs with just 5:41 to play in the first half.
EBA cashed in on their next possession as they connected on a 30-yard pass for a touchdown. The ball was nearly intercepted by RTCA as it was tipped, but the EBA receiver came up with it and went in for the touchdown. They added the extra point to make it 7-0 with 2:39 left in the first half.
RTCA started at the 27-yard line on their next drive. Mixon hit Edwards on a pass out to midfield, and then Edwards took it all the way to the EBA 28-yard line on another pass. On the next play, Mixon broke free and took it in for the touchdown with 18 seconds left in the half. Hayden Meeks hit the PAT to tie the game at 7-7. continued from page
And that was the score at the end of the first half of action.
EBA quickly moved the ball down the field on their first drive of the second half. They moved the ball down and went in for the go-ahead touchdown with 8:49 left in the third quarter. RTCA's Edwards blocked the extra point, but EBA was on top 13-7.
RTCA got a couple of good runs by Toole on the next drive to get the ball across midfield, but the first penalty of the game was then called on RTCA. That pushed them back to the EBA 44-yard line. Mixon broke a big run on the next play down to the 12-yard line, but then two more penalties were called on RTCA pushing them back to the 20-yard line. Meeks was able to hit the 37-yard field goal to close the lead to 13-10 with 52 seconds left in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, EBA had the ball all the way to the RTCA 18-yard line with just over seven minutes left in the contest. EBA scored with 4:33 left in the game to take a 20-10 lead over the Crusaders.
But RTCA was not done yet. On their first play of the next drive Mixon connected with Toole sprinting down the sideline for a 78-yard pass all the way to the oneyard line. On the next play, RTCA was in the end zone for the touchdown. That closed the lead to 20-17 after the extra point from Meeks with 4:19 left in the game. RTCA went for the onside kick but did not get it as EBA took over just inside their territory. From there EBA worked the ball down the field on the ground as they began to run the clock out. RTCA ran out of timeouts to stop the clock and EBA took the win over the Crusaders, 20-17.
RTCA played a great final two games of the season in which they played two teams with far better records, but the Crusaders gave it all they had, defeating one, and nearly coming out on top in the State Championship. RTCA will lose six seniors off of this team, but they will look to come back next year and vie for another State Championship.
Drew Edwards gets out and around the edge for a solid gain for the Crusaders during the State Championship Game.Photo by Mike Branch
