Hawthorne advances to the state championship! Columbia falls short in regional final

Football6
Football6

Hawthorne 18, Madison County 14

This past Friday night the Hawthorne football team advanced to the state championship game for the first time in school history with an 18-14 win against 3-time defending state champion Madison County in the Class 1A state semifinals.

Dre Lawrence had a 1-yard touchdown run and Chaz Mackey threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Johnquavis Jones to give the Hornets a 12-6 lead at the half.  Following a Madison County touchdown and 2-point conversion with :10 to play in the third quarter, the Hornets rallied from a 14-12 fourth quarter deficit thanks to its defense.  

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Samuel Driver scooped a ball up at mid-field and returned it for a touchdown and the go-ahead score with 5:07 to play. 

The Hornets’ defense forced two turnovers after the touchdown – a fumble recovery by Artavis Mallery and an interception by Thurman Mills helped clinch the victory. 

Hawthorne, which improved to 10-2, will play the Baker Gators for the Class 1A state championship on Thursday, December 17, at 7 p.m. Baker is 14-0 on the season after a 41-7 victory over Sneads in the semifinals.

St. Augustine 35, Columbia 24

The Columbia (Lake City) football season came to an end on Friday night with a 35-24 home loss to St. Augustine in the Class 6A-Region 1 Final.

The visiting Yellow Jackets (10-2) made enough plays down the stretch, including a big third-down conversion late in the game to advance.

The Tigers were able to stay in the game due to turnovers as three of the Tigers’ four scores came after the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over.

Columbia (5-6), which was held to just 33 yards rushing, allowed six sacks. In fact, St. Augustine outgained Columbia 253-30 in total yards in the first half.

Junior Jaelin Brown had two rushing touchdowns for the Tigers, including one that was set up by an Amare Ferrell interception that was run back to the St. Augustine 1.

Marcus Peterson scored a 5-yard keeper to tie the game at 21-21 with 9:18 to play in the third. That was set up by a 66-yard pass from Peterson to junior Jacquez Redic on a 3rd-and-8.

The Tigers took their last lead of the game at 24-21 on a 35-yard field goal by senior Zach Williams.

Columbia began the season at 0-5, their worst start ever. However, the Tigers rebounded to win five in a row, including three playoff games, before falling a game short of the Class 6A state semifinals. 

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