Football: Jefferson scores late touchdowns to get past Bluff

JEFFERSON, Ga. – Gavin Markey’s 68-yard TD run late in the fourth quarter was the exclamation point on Jefferson’s 42-28 victory over Cherokee Bluff on Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

The win sends the Dragons to the Class 3A semifinals for the second straight year. They will face LaGrange at home. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and can be heard live on FM 102.9 WDUN.

“We don’t have a lot of Division I football players on this team,” Jefferson head coach Travis Noland said. “We just have a bunch of average guys that really care about each other and really care about the team. And, you know, they find a way to make plays when they need to and are just very happy.”

One of those “average” guys is Markey, who had a anything but average night.

Markey rushed for 227 yards on the ground and 46 yards through the air. He accounted for 273 yards of the team’s 426 yards. He had 505 yards rushing, 123 yards passing and 13 total touchdowns in the playoffs.

“They’re a really good football team and they battled tonight,” Markey said of Bluff. “Our team performed really well and we never gave up. I think our guys wanted it. I’m so proud of our team and how they handled adversity and we got there.”

The No. 8 Bears (11-2) were neck-and-neck with the top-seeded Dragons (10-3) from the first drive, but Jefferson pulled away late in the fourth after scoring twice had achieved. Back touchdowns.

“I felt like we had to control the ball and we did,” Noland said. “We just needed to make a few stops and we finally got a few in the second half and you know, the offense played great again. So we just have to keep trying to find a way to be the best every week.”

Markey was responsible for both touchdowns, scoring on a two-yard rush before ripping off a 68-yarder on the following drive.

Senior LB Rett Hemphill also had another big night, grabbing two interceptions and scoring a 12-yard touchdown.

Markey talked about how the resilience of this football team was the driving force behind the Dragons’ ability to pull away late.

The first half was back and forth, with neither team able to break away or hold the lead for more than a few minutes.

Jefferson struck first and maintained its 14-6 lead until Cherokee Bluff scored for a two-pointer with 8:08 left in the second quarter. Bluff scored on a 21-yard FG from senior kicker Garret Hyder on the following drive for their first and only lead of the night, giving them a 17-14 lead.

Just before halftime, Hemphill grabbed his first pick of the night and put the Dragons back in the lead 21-17 with six seconds left.

The exchange continued in the third quarter when Bluff scored first on another Hyder field goal, cutting the Dragons’ lead to 21-20. Jefferson responded by scoring a 13-yard run from Markey to take the lead to 28-20. Then Bluff struck back when QB Brooks Brien scored a one-yard TD and converted the two-point play to tie the game at 28-28.

But it was Markey who scored for the lead on a 13-yard run set up by the Hemphill interception. Markey answered again with a 68-yard dash to put the game out of reach.

“This team has gotten better and better,” Noland said. “I think we’ve had to win in a lot of different ways over the course of the season against some really good people, so hopefully we can find a way to win again.”

Bears senior QB Brooks Brien completed 23 of his 39 passes for 287 yards while also throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Senior WR Kaden Thompson caught nine balls for 82 yards and junior WR Malcolm Millsap caught three passes for 79 yards to give the Bears the lead.