ATLANTA — Eagles Landing Christian scored the final 22 points to erased a 14-13 Aquinas lead en route to 35-14 victory to capture the Class A Private state title.
It's the second title for the Chargers, who won the 2012 Class A Private title.
Aquinas, the 2013 state champion, took a quick 7-0 lead after a 99-yard kickoff return by Aquinas's Verenzo Holmes to open the game.
ELCA (11-3) tied the game late in the first quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Trevor Gear to cap a 12-play, 65-yard drive. The Chargers eventually took a 13-7 lead into halkftime after a pair of Alex Usry field goals (27, 48).
The Fightin' Irish struck first again in the second half taking a 14-13 lead on a 6-yard pass from Liam Welch to Justin Gibbs with 7:45 left in the third quarter. It was all ELCA after that.
The Chargers got a pair of touchdown runs from senior quarterback Donald Hammonds of 18- and 32-yards just over four minutes apart kidway through the fourth quarter for a 28-14 lead. Aquinas mounted a late drive but ELCA put the game away with a 100-yard interception return by Khaleb Hood with 12 seconds left in the game.
Hammonds finished with 109 yards on 12 carries for ELCA.
