JEFFERSON — Jefferson could not repeat as Region 8-AAA champs on Friday.
But it wasn't from a lack of trying.
The Dragons pulled away from Hart County for a 43-27 win on Friday in Jefferson, but they finished with the second seed in 8-AAA thanks to Oconee County's defeat of Elbert County on the same night.
Color the Dragons unconcerned.
"Well we're fine with that (finishing with the No. 2 seed). If we wanted to be the first seed we should have won the game last week. We dropped that thing in double overtime and I'm proud for Oconee County and Travis Noland and the job he's done. This is a tough region -- 8-AAA region championship, that's a prize and they deserve it," Jefferson coach Ben Hall said. "Our kids responded tonight. So all we can do is play the games that are on the schedule and gotta try to take care of business and things that we can control. We can't worry about anything that's happened in the past. I'm proud of our guys for winning the game tonight."
There was also plenty of pride in Dragons running back Colby Wood, who broke the school's season rushing record on the night, gaining 254 yards on 29 carrries, to finish the regular season with 1,881 yards. It broke the mark set by Curtis Segars in 1950. Wood also scored four touchdowns on the night.
"You know, that's one that kind of snuck up on us. It's not like we give him carries to get yards; he carries the ball for us so we can win ball games," Hall said. "The offensive line deserves a lot of credit. Colby's a sophomore running back, and he's still learning. He's a good player and he's gonna be a really good player down the road. Our offensive line, our tight ends and our receivers, there's a lot of moving parts with our offense and those guys deserve a lot of that credit. He should have a lot of yards; he's had a lot of carries. I'm very proud of him and his effort, and the guys up front deserve some credit too."
Zack Boobas also scored two touchdowns while rushing for 145 yards for Jefferson, which rolled up 443 total yards on the night.
The Dragons (9-1, 5-1 Region 8-AAA ) will play host to Pepperell next week at Memorial Stadium in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs.
