Raiders drop opening-round playoff game vs Lee Co

Habersham Central High School’s varsity football team crashed out of the first round of the Georgia High School Association state playoffs Friday night with a 47-7 road loss to No. 3 ranked Lee County High School.

The Raiders (4-7) lone score of the night came on an 8-yard scamper for sophomore quarterback Paris Wilbanks in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans (11-0), who put 40 points on the board before halftime were kept to one score – a 2-yard pass for senior quarterback Weston Bryan – in the second half due to a running clock.

It was Lee County’s fifth game this season being held below 50 points, though the team has only been held to less than 40 once.

The win sets up a second-round home matchup against East Paulding High School next week.

By the numbers

HCHS owned just two stat lines on the night, taking time of possession 33 minutes, 59 seconds to 14:01, and total offensive plays at 59-37.

The Lee County offense was clinical, rushing the ball 20 times for 256 yards and four scores. Through the air, the Trojans were 13-of-17 for 247 yards and three scores.

Bryan rushed for two scores as the signal caller and connected on 11 of his 14 attempts for 234 yards and all three touchdowns, including a 70-yard bomb in the first quarter.

For the Raiders, Antonio Cantrell carried the ball 12 times for 62 yards. Wilbanks had 6 rushes for 22 yards and the lone score.

Through the air, Wilbanks connected on 20-of-38 attempts for 211 yards.

Senior receivers Zeke Whittington and Landyn Savage were the top two pass catchers. Whittington collected eight passes for 77 yards and Savage had five catches for 61 yards.

Sophomores Jay Feltus and Tay Spencer snagged four for 25 and two for 48, respectively.

Defensively, Savage led the crew with nine total tackles and one tackle for a loss followed by Everett Rudeseal with four tackles. DJ Pass and Feltus each had three tackles.

Never give up

The Raiders, to their credit, never laid down in the contest. They fought until the final whistle.

“We knew we had a challenge in front of us. We knew that,” HCHS Head Coach Benji Harrison said. “I challenged our kids to play physical, play tough and give great effort, and I thought they did that.”

The Raiders found themselves in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007-2008 and they were able to get there despite an 0-2 start to the season.

“I think they’re resilient. When things didn’t start the way we wanted them to this year, everybody doubted them,” Harrison said. “They didn’t really care about that. It’s a group that believed in themselves.”

The program will say goodbye to eight seniors as the team closes up shop on 2024 and moves on to preparing for 2025. That means a ton of juniors and sophomores picked up a ton of meaningful minutes this season.

According to Harrison, there are only two paths forward for young teams to take: 1 – they can fold and give up, and, 2 – they can “just not know any better and keep playing.” The Raiders did the latter.

That resilient nature landed them back in the playoffs, an accomplishment for any team in the state to aim for.

“To get back (to the playoffs), I don’t think people fully appreciate the accomplishment that is,” Harrison said. “It’s hard. Winning is hard. Winning at our level of classification is hard. For these guys to get to back-to-back playoffs, to me, that’s a big deal.”

The goal now is to not just make it back to the playoffs, but be in a better position to move further into the bracket.

“Whenever you’ve had some success with a young football team, the expectations grow for the next year,” Harrison said. “I think it’s a team that wants expectations. I think our young guys are competitors. Once you get a taste of it, you want more of it. I think that’ll be this group.”