ATLANTA -- It's been generations in the making. Yet, took just moments to finally accomplish.
The most unlikely group of seniors helped erase 65-years of frustration Saturday night at the Georgia Dome, propelling Jefferson to a stunning 31-14 victory over defending champion Calhoun to win the Class AA state championship.
The Dragons (14-1) were huge underdogs against the Yellow Jackets (14-1) who had dispatched them last year in the first round of the playoffs, and were making their fifth consecutive trip to the title game.
"We had the bad start against Commerce and we really weren't sure what to expect but this group (of seniors) took the challenge of leading the rest of the guys and they have just been playing lights out ever since," Jefferson coach T McFerrin said.
The win over Calhoun capped a magical season for the Dragons, who had not played for a title since the 1977 Class B championship. They finished with a 14-game winning streak, which coincidentally ended the Jackets' 29-game win streak, the longest in the state until Saturday, and brought home the school's first-ever football championship. It's the second state title for McFerrin, who won the Class AA title in 1995 with Elbert County.
"The whole town has been excited about this and we really wanted to win this for everyone," senior quarterback Bryant Shirreffs said. "Honestly, I had a good feeling we could win this game. I know not many outside of our fans thought we could, but we had confidence all week.
"It's just an incredible feeling. All the guys in this locker room will be able to share this and are going to be friends forever. It's really just hard to put into words how I feel right now."
Shirreffs has been the catalyst all season and nothing changed against Calhoun. He accounted for 63 yards on an opening-game scoring drive that set the tone for the rest of the game. He had two big passes to McKay Dickens and two first down runs of 12 yards each.
"After that we knew we could move the ball," McFerrin said. "That really got us going and settled everyone down. Bryant was outstanding the entire game."
The Dragons scored on their first two possessions and eventually would take a 21-7 lead into halftime.
Shirreffs finished with 141 yards and three touchdowns rushing and threw for another 178 yards. But he said it was the play of the defense that was the key to bringing home the trophy.
The defense forced two huge Calhoun turnovers and held the Jackets to 30 points below their season average.
"You have to credit to our defense," Shirreffs said. "To hold that team to just 14 points is amazing. They played outstanding and really gave the offense confidence that we could get things done."
All 14 of Calhoun's points came after Jefferson turnovers and the Jackets had just two drives over eight plays the entire game. The two scoring drives lasted a combined total of 45 seconds.
The first Calhoun scoring drive was just 16 yards long and their second score came on a 75-yard bomb on the first play following a rare Shirreffs interception to cut the Jefferson lead to 21-14 midway through the third quarter.
"I said, 'uh oh' after that play," McFerrin said. "You could feel the momentum changing. You never expect to hold down a great offensive team the whole game so I was little worried right there."
It looked even worse four plays later when the Jackets stripped Dickens on a second down pass play to get the ball back. But the Dragons defense changed the game, and their history, on the next play.
Sophomore cornerback Micah Carpenter corralled a tipped pass and returned it 25 yards to the Calhoun 16 on the next play, setting up a 1-yard Shirreffs TD run three plays later to push the lead to 28-14.
"That was probably the biggest play of the game," McFerrin said. "That gave us the ball deep in their territory and gave us back the momentum."
"I thought Micah's play won us the game," Shirreffs said. "It was huge. You could feel things change and after that touchdown you could see it in the eyes of (the Calhoun players) that it might be over."
"I was about to try and hit the guy and then it just fell in my hands and I took off," Carpenter said. "It was a big play but (the defense) knew we would have to make some more stops. Our job is to stop people and that's what we tried to do."
The Jefferson defense would stuff the Jackets on three-and-out on their next possession and Shirreffs engineered a three minute drive immediately following that ended in a 36-yard field goal by Chandler Schlutow for a 31-14 lead.
Calhoun would never recover.
Right from the beginning Jefferson looked like a team that was familiar with the Dome surroundings. The Dragons came out strong with Shirreffs directing a 74-yard, 15-play opening drive that took more than five minutes. The senior would connect with Dickens on passes of 17 and 30 yards and Tristen Jackson would finish it off with a 1-yard plunge for a 7-0 lead.
The Jefferson defense forced a Calhoun punt on the Yellow Jackets first possession but the Calhoun defense got the first turnover of the game on a crushing tackle to Isaiah Blake and recovering at the Jefferson 29. Three plays and just 25 seconds later Taylor Lamb found Logan Walraven for a 17-yard touchdown to tie the game.
But the Dragons would answer right back with Shirreffs going 3-for-3 passing for 21 yards and capped a 70-yard, 10-play drive with a leaping 3-yard run for a 14-7 lead.
The Dragons defense then held its ground after Lamb guided the Jackets to the Jefferson 20. The defense forced two straight incompletes and then held on fourth down at the Dragons 14.
Shirreffs and the offense went to work again chewing up 6:22 of the final 7:21 of the first half on an 86-yard, 13 play drive capped by a 1-yard Shirreffs TD run. Shirreffs kept the drive alive with two big pass plays, a 36-yarder to Chandler Thompson and a 16-yard strike to Walter Chapeau on 4th-and-3 at the Calhoun 21.
The Dragons dominated the first half piling up 255 yards of offense to the Jackets' 157. Jefferson ran the ball 27 times for 115 yards while Calhoun had just 24 total plays in the first half. Shirreffs had 54 yards rushing and 140 yards passing by halftime.
Lamb, a South Alabama commit, finished 23-of-32 for 248 yards with two touchdowns but most of that came late in the game for the Jackets. The Calhoun defense had yielded just 79 points in its last 11 games coming into Saturday's championship game.
SCORING SUMMARY
Jefferson....7....14....7....3 -- 31
Calhoun.....7......0....7....0 -- 14
First Quarter
JEF -- Jackson 1 run (Schlutow kick) 7-0, 6:36
CAL -- Walraven 17 pass from Lamb (Rhodes kick) 7-7, 0:29
Second Quarter
JEF -- Shirreffs 3 run (Schlutow kick) 14-7, 9:08
JEF -- Shirreffs 1 run (Schlutow kick) 21-7, 0:59
Third Quarter
CAL -- Curtis 75 pass from Lamb (Rhodes kick) 21-14, 5:29
JEF -- Shirreffs 1 run (Schlutow kick) 28-14, 2:44
Fourth Quarter
JEF -- Schlutow 36 FG 31-14, 10:12
Monday
July 28th, 2025
4:19PM
