Athens Academy clinches three-seed in GHSA football playoffs

Athens Academy football has clinched a Georgia High School Association playoff spot.

The Spartans defeated East Jackson 59-21 in a must-win game Friday night to secure a three-seed in Class 2A standings.

"Hey, we're going to the playoffs!" Athens Academy coach Josh Alexander was heard yelling to his team in their postgame huddle.

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The Spartans started the game strong with a pick-six by senior running back Boone Presnell 12 seconds into the first quarter.

"I saw the wide receiver go slant and I knew what I had to do," Presnell said.

"Anytime you can get something like that on the first play of the game, it's a blessing," Alexander said. "Our kids got excited. They were excited already to play this game but it sort of put gasoline on the fire, and we didn't look back after that."

The Spartans pulled ahead in the second quarter and maintained their lead by at least 17 points for the remainder.

The season came down to the final game for the Spartans, who play a number of underclassmen, and they pulled it off. Alexander said their schedule was hard, between playing the No. 17 team in Alabama (Mobile Christian) and cross-town rival Prince Avenue Christian.

"I'm very proud of how they haven't quit," Alexander said. "They've kept playing no matter whether it was a win or a loss. They came in and toed the line and practiced hard and did everything we asked them to do. We're just glad to be here."

Junior running back Jeremiah Wingfield said, "It's a mentality. We got to come every week, no matter what happened, and we just got to keep pushing forward. If we (do that), good things will happen."

Athens Academy finished its season 6-4 overall and 3-2 in region. It will travel to play Columbia either Friday or Saturday in the first round of the playoffs.

"The main thing now is we've got to understand that everybody's 0-0," Alexander said. "There was an opportunity to go try to play for a state championship, win a state championship and now we have that opportunity. We didn't at 7 o'clock tonight, but now we do and we're very proud of them."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens Academy clinches three-seed in GHSA football playoffs