Class A Division II: Bowdon 39, Schley County 31

Recap: Bowdon scored touchdowns on its first six full possessions and used the seventh to ice the game with a 4-minute, 9-second drive to the Schley County 17 with 13 seconds left. Schley's last chance never got past midfield. Schley had pulled within 39-31 on Jalewis Solomon’s 77-yard kickoff return with 4:22 left. Neither team punted. On the game's first drive, Bowdon's JaMichael Jones intercepted a pass that proved to be a pivotal and rare stop for either team and, with his 18-yard return, set up a 44-yard TD drive. T.J. Harvison rushed for 212 yards and had four solo tackles in the secondary. Bowdon QB/DB Robert McNeal, another two-way player and a four-year starter, had two touchdowns rushing and two passing, made three solo tackles and returned a kickoff 30 yards. His 28-yard TD run for a 32-21 lead late in the third quarter came on a third-and-9. That was Bowdon's only third down of longer than four yards until 1:07 left from the Schley 18.

History: Bowdon, the No. 1-ranked team, won its final 13 games to finish 14-1 and won its third state title, first since 1992. T.J. Harvison finished with 2,026 rushing yards, including 931 in five playoff games. Fifth-ranked Schley County’s 11-game winning streak ended. The Wildcats finished 12-3 with their first state finals appearance. The game marked the eighth time in finals history that both teams scored more than 30 points, the first time in Class A. 

Game Statistics

Schley County - 7-14-0-10 - 31

Bowdon - 13-6-13-7 - 39

First quarter

B - T.J. Harvison 30 run (Cameron Holloway kick), 9:09

S - Clinton Jackson 7 pass from Jay Kanazawa (Miguel Yanez kick), 4:23

B - Robert McNeal 10 run (kick blocked), 1:22

Second quarter

S - Malachi Banks 1 run (Yanez kick), 10:09

B - Jordan Beasley 13 pass from McNeal (run failed), 4:48

S - Sam Forehand 15 pass from Kanazawa (Yanez kick), 0:41

Third quarter

B - Asher Christopher 33 pass from McNeal (run failed), 9:24

B - McNeal 28 run (Holloway kick), 1:10

Fourth quarter

S - Yanez 25 field goal, 10:33

B - Beasley 5 run (Holloway kick), 5:53

S - Jalewis Solomon 77 kickoff return (Yanez kick), 4:22

Rushing: Schley County - Malachi Banks 19-78, Jay Kanazawa 8-23, Zayden Walker 1-2. Bowdon - TJ Harvison 29-212, Robert McNeal 18-78, Jordan Beasley 6-22.

Passing: Schley County - Jay Kanazawa 22-34-1-239. Bowdon - Robert McNeal 4-6-0-79.

Receiving: Schley County - Jalewis Solomon 10-122, Carson Westbrook 5-56, Sam Forehand 3-32, Clinton Jackson 3-23, Kendall Sims 1-6. Bowdon - Jordan Beasley 2-29, Asher Christopher 1-33, Kaiden Prothro 1-17.