Champions clash in duel of decade

It's not like state championship games need any extra billing, but Washington County versus LaGrange has it all.

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The Grangers are the defending Georgia High School Association Class AAA champions. They've won 28 games in a row.

A stroll through their lockers last Saturday at the Georgia Dome was like a trip to a jewelry store. Almost every player sported two state title rings.

LaGrange (14-0) is without a doubt the team of the decade so far in Class AAA football. The 2001 and 2003 state champions might have their best squad of that stretch this year. There are at least six future NCAA Division I-A players among this year's Grangers.

Nineteen of their 23 seniors start.

"We are definitely an underdog David fighting Goliath," Washington County coach Rick Tomberlin said. "LaGrange has a quick and rugged defense. They've got good offense, good kicking game and outstanding special teams. That's the whole package. We are going to have to play great defense, make some plays in the kicking game and hopefully find a way to move the football."

LaGrange faces a Washington County team that could lay claim to title as the team of the 1990s. The Golden Hawks won state titles in 1994, 1996 and 1997.

The schools met in the state semifinals in 2003, when the Golden Hawks were without a few vital players and lost 20-17.

"They had good players on offensive and a good game plan," LaGrange senior linebacker Tray Blackmon said. "They had a good little running back. They played us as tight as anybody last year."

Much has changed. Washington County returned three starters on offense and four on defense this year. LaGrange has all but five starters back for their third ring.

"It was a good little team they had last year," LaGrange senior Julius Patterson said. "They are physical like us, but we feel like we have gotten a lot better and we're playing at home. It's going to be real hard for them to beat us at our house."

It will also be a clash of the best offensive and defensive players in Class AAA. Blackmon, rated the top player in the state, has been ranked as high as the eighth-best player in the nation.

The Golden Hawks' Tyree Burnett just might be the best runner in team history. He was the first to crack the 2,000-yard mark in a single season under Tomberlin.

LaGrange hasn't been run on all season. The starting defense has given up less than 50 points this year. The Grangers allow an average of 5.7 points per game.

Washington County has won three times in four appearances in the state title game under Tomberlin. The Golden Hawks see no need for subtlety. They throw the ball less than five times per game.

That will not change.

"We feel like we've won 12 games this year with what we do," Tomberlin said. "We're not going to change our game. We just have to go out and execute."

It's a challenge that Blackmon and a defense chock-full of college prospects will relish.

"Let them come at us," Blackmon said. "We are just going to be physical right with them. We will want to break them and try to make them quit in the fourth quarter by pounding away at them. Our goal is simple: We're going to want to break them."

Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.