JEFFERSON, Ga. — Travis Noland is no stranger to state title games. He took a pair of Oconee County teams to the finals in 2019 and 2020.
But even he couldn’t help himself Friday night after watching his Jefferson Dragons hold on for dear life to beat LaGrange 21-13 in the Class 3A semifinals at Memorial Stadium.
After proclaiming to his team in the postgame speech that “We’re going to The Benz, and they’re not,” he folded his ski cap on top of his head and led the group in a jig to celebrate.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done,” he said after finishing his brief dance, which wouldn’t win any awards on Dancing with the Stars. "I’m very happy for our team and very happy for our community; these guys have worked hard for 219 days and deserve the success they’re having.”
It didn’t come easy Friday, evidenced by Gavin Markey's bloody uniform. The senior quarterback did just about everything but sell tickets and concessions, putting the offense on his back.
He finished with 141 yards and 2 TDs rushing and 145 yards passing on the night. And did most of the damage after being unable to start the second half due to a lingering foot injury.
“He’s a tough kid,” Noland said. “Once we got him taped up and moving around a little, he was able to come back in. He did an unbelievable job.”
Markey’s two second-half scores were the difference. His second, which capped a long 13-play drive chewing up over 6 minutes, gave the Dragons what looked like an insurmountable 21-7 lead with just over six minutes left in the game.
“Our offensive line did a great job, and we were able to do what we wanted for the most part,” Markey said. “But I can’t say enough about the defense and the job they did against their offense.”
The semifinal showdown was billed almost as a duel between Markey and LaGrange senior running back Malaki Render-Fannin. Markey was averaging over 200 yards/per game running and passing, while Render-Fannin was rolling through playoff defenses at more than 240 yards/per game coming in.
However, in the final six minutes, senior LaGrange quarterback Dylan Barber nearly brought the Grangers back by himself. Less than a minute after Markey gave Jefferson its biggest lead of the night, Barber capped a quick 3-play drive in 53 seconds with a 17-yard TD run. But the Grangers missed the PAT.
Then, after the LaGrange defense forced Jefferson’s only three-and-out of the game, Barber and the Grangers raced down to the Dragons 18 in record time with just 15 seconds left.
But three Barber passes into the end zone, including the final one as time expired, fell incomplete as the Dragons defense held on.
“We flew to the ball all night, and we were able to make the plays at the end of the game,” said senior linebacker Rett Hemphill, who had two huge TFLs along with sophomore linebacker Max Brown on a pair of critical third downs. “We had a good game plan of sitting on the run the whole game, and we were able to stop them for the most part.”
Both defenses dominated the first half. The Dragons held Render-Fannin to just 54 yards in the first half, with more than half (29 yards) coming on his second carry of the game. He eventually finished with 110 yards and no touchdowns, well below his playoff average.
“We have a lot of respect for (Render-Fannin),” Hemphill said. “But we did a good job of executing the plan the coaches had for us.”
Only once in th first half did the Grangers get past midfield and they were forced to punt on all three first half possessions. Barber was just 1-of-4 for 17 yards passing as the Jefferson front-7 was constantly pushing the Grangers offensive line backwards.
The Grangers defense was more bend then break in the opening 24 minutes. Jefferson drove deep into LaGrange territory on all three of its drives.But the first ended on downs at the LaGrange 27 and the third ended when Taylor McCall’s 43-yard field goal hit the crossbar and bounced out.
But in between, Markey and running back Dallas Russell found some traction.
Markey connected on a 57-yard pass to Hemphill to the LaGrange 14 on a 3rd-and-15. Markey followed with an 11-yard run, and Russell finished the 96-yard drive with a 3-yard TD run for a 7-0 lead.
That’s the way the half would end, with the Dragons' offense piling up 215 yards to just 85 for the Grangers. Markey had 73 yards rushing on 8 carries and was 3-for-9 for 102 yards through the air.
In the second half, Jefferson again drove into LaGrange territory on its opening drive but was forced to punt. The Dragons pinned the Grangers deep and eventually got great field position after a short LaGrange punt.
Markey accounted for 33 yards and capped the short drive with a 3-yard TD run for a 14-0 lead.
But LaGrange needed just three plays to answer as Barber scrambled for 37 yards on a busted play and then connected on a 49-yard TD pass with Torian Reeves to cut the lead in half with just 16 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Dragons survived the wild final six minutes and now will make their way to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 18 to take on Calhoun for the Class 3A title.
“This is what we’ve been playing our whole lives for, so I can’t wait to get down there,” Markey said. “I love this team and feel like we have a great shot to win it all.”
Noland agreed.
“I love this group,” he said. “They never quit and just complement each other so well out there. We have some nicks and bruises that we need to get healed up but we’ll be ready.”
Calhoun beat Stephenson 35-7 in the other semifinal to advance to the championship game.
