Savannah Christian’s offense scored touchdowns on its first three possessions and the Raiders’ defense added a touchdown en route to a 25-point halftime lead and a 35-17 victory over Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in a GHSA Class A Private School first-round playoff game Friday night at Garden City Stadium.
The defending Class A state champion Raiders (8-3) advanced to the second round and will play the Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy Chargers (10-1), a 42-14 winner over Our Lady of Mercy (6-5), next Friday.
Savannah Christian struck on the opening kickoff as Jalen Myrick took teammate Wade Benton’s handoff on a reverse and scampered 85 yards to Holy Innocents’ 23-yard line. Four plays later, Ivan Reese ran for a 2-yard touchdown and Logan Tovar kicked the first of his five extra points to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead.
“We knew we had to get off to a fast start,” Savannah Christian coach Donald Chumley said. “I think that’s the key in the playoffs. You can’t start out slow. The game’s over before you know it. We got off to a fast start.”
Myrick, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound senior, said he thought he was going to return the opening kickoff for a touchdown.
“I did but I looked to my left, and I saw their kicker,” Myrick said. “I was trying to give him a look, a move, just a little stutter so I could slip by, but he didn’t even budge on it. I was going to cut back but there was another guy waiting right there. That set the tone a lot. They were shocked that we did that. They weren’t ready for that at all.”
The Raiders made it 14-0 on Myrick’s 17-yard touchdown run with 2:10 left in the first quarter. Myrick’s touchdown capped an 11-play, 63-yard drive.
On the ensuing kickoff, Savannah Christian’s Tovar successfully executed an onside kick that Holy Innocents’ fumbled, and the Raiders recovered. Seven plays later, Savannah Christian’s Benton ran for a 26-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 with 10:35 left in the second quarter. Benton’s touchdown capped a seven-play, 55-yard drive.
“We probably executed our offense as well as we have in several weeks so I’m very pleased,” Chumley said. “With that being said, they don’t do nothing but get a lot, lot tougher after this. Next week’s going to be a monumental task.”
Savannah Christian made it 28-0 when Myrick recovered a Holy Innocents’ fumbled pitch and returned the ball for a 35-yard touchdown with 8:57 left before halftime.
“The guy pitched the ball and his guy missed the ball so I just grabbed it up and went in untouched, easily,” said Myrick, who said he remains firm on his verbal commitment to the University of Minnesota, where he plans to take an official recruiting visit in January.
Holy Innocents’ (6-5), from Atlanta, cut the score to 28-3 with 5:42 remaining when Walker Thomas kicked a 40-yard field goal. Thomas’ field goal capped a seven-play, 67-yard drive.
In the third quarter, Holy Innocents’ cut the score to 28-10 when Clay Pfohl ran for a 66-yard touchdown on the first play of the Golden Bears’ second possession, and Thomas kicked the extra point.
Savannah Christian responded on its ensuing possession with a 12-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by quarterback Chase Marini’s 1-yard touchdown run for a 35-10 lead with 8:52 to play in the game.
The Raiders ran 53 times for 272 yards and four touchdowns. Reese, a fullback, led the way with 24 carries for 87 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown. Myrick ran five times for 70 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown.
“If we can establish our fullback it makes our whole offense go,” Chumley said. “Tonight we were able to do that. Ivan ran extremely hard. We blocked really well up front for him. We’ve got to really pick that up and continue to do that in the next round.”
Reese, a 6-foot, 230-pound senior, said the Raiders understand that the road to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta will get tougher.
“In the playoffs, teams are bigger, faster, stronger and hit harder,” Reese said. “We just have to keep doing what we’re doing because if we let down, we’ve been three years straight in the Dome, we can’t let that go to waste.”
Holy Innocents’ cut the score to 35-17 on quarterback Luke Wright’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Jason Grimes with 2:07 to play. The play capped a nine-play, 76-yard drive.
Savannah Christian’s defense limited Holy Innocents’ to 130 yards rushing on 29 carries. Wright was 8-of-16 passing for 106 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown, for the Golden Bears.
“We played better on defense, and that’s something we’ve been needing to do because we had some ups and downs, defensively, this year,” Chumley said. “I felt like we were more physical tonight than we’ve been. There were still a lot of mistakes, penalties and things, but we’re getting closer to where we need to be.”
HIES 0 3 7 7 — 17
SCPS 14 14 0 7 — 35
SCPS—Ivan Reese 2 run (Logan Tovar kick)
SCPS—Jalen Myrick 17 run (Tovar kick)
SCPS—Wade Benton 26 run (Tovar kick)
SCPS—Myrick 35 fumble return (Tovar kick)
HIES—Walker Thomas 40 FG
HIES—Clay Pfohl 66 run (Thomas kick)
SCPS—Chase Marini 1 run (Tovar kick)
HIES—Jason Grimes 4 pass from Luke Wright (Thomas kick)