Creekside stops Calvary Christian shy of state championship game
Calvary Christian took it on the chin Friday night, losing to Creekside Christian 38-20 in the GICAA Division I-AA state playoffs.
Creekside's Cole McCollum rushed for 395 yards on 35 carries and four touchdowns. Creekside, 7-2, from McDonough now plays the winner of the Covenant Academy and Community Christian game in the state championship.
"Hats off to Creekside," said Calvary coach Brian Osborne. "They played all four quarters hard and deserved to win. We just came up short."
The loss ended Calvary's season at 9-2 and dashed their hopes for returning to the state championship game. The loss also avenged Calvary's 24-6 win over Creekside last week in the regular-season's finale.
"It's tough to beat a team twice," Osborne said. "And it's tough to win in the playoffs when you have 4 or 5 turnovers like we did. We've got to protect the football."
Calvary fumbled on its first offensive possession, which Creekside recovered and scored at 8:07 in the first quarter on a 3-yard run by McCollum.
The Cougars converted on 2 points and led 8-0.
But Calvary marched down the field on its next drive and Anthony Santiago eventually scored on a 6-yard run. The extra point by Thomas Chappel made it 8-7.
Two series later, Calvary punted deep and Creekside took over on their own 6. On the first play from there McCollum darted up the middle, cut to the sidelines, and was gone 94 yards for a touchdown. After the 2-point attempt failed Creekside led 14-7.
Midway through the second quarter Calvary drove to the Cougars' 1-yard line where they had 4th and 1. But a failed quarterback sneak gave Creekside the ball.
In the second half, Creekside went up 22-7 when Bennett Joiner scored on a 2-yard run. Joiner also had the 2-point conversion.
On the next series, the Knights converted twice on fourth down and eventually scored when Jacquez Green went around end for a 9-yard touchdown. That made the score 22-14.
McCollum had a 27-yard touchdown run at 10:41 in the third quarter making the score 30-14.
Calvary also scored in the third when Kasen Andrews passed 28 yards to Green cutting the score to 30-20.
McCollum capped off the game's scoring on a 74-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Creekside finished with 510 offensive yards to Calvary's 378.
Calvary's leading rusher was Anthony Santiago who tallied 160 yards on 23 carries.
Ethan Cook recovered a fumble for Calvary.
Calvary lost to Sherwood last year in the state championship game.Friday at Len McWilliams FieldCreekside 14 0 8 16--38
Calvary 7 0 7 6--20First Quarter
Cr--Cole McCollum 3 run (Tavion Wilson pass from Richie Langford), 8:07
Ca--Anthony Santiago 6 run (Thomas Chappel kick), 2:52
Cr--McCollum 94 run (pass failed), 0:46Second Quarter
Third QuarterCr--Bennett Joiner 2 run (Joiner run), 9:43
Ca--Jacquez Green 9 run (Chappel kick), 4:36Fourth QuarterCr--MCCollum 27 run (Langford run), 10:41
Ca--Green 28 pass from Kasan Andrews (run failed), 7:46
Cr--McCollum 74 run (Lankford run), 7:29
Team records: Creekside 8-2. Calvary Christian 9-2. Next: Creekside, in GICAA state championship game. Calvary Christian, season over.
This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 11:42 PM with the headline "Creekside stops Calvary Christian shy of state championship game ."