How Savannah Christian is looking toward bright future after playoff loss to Sandy Creek
The Savannah Christian football team moved up two classifications this season to play in 3A, and a young Raiders squad has played with a chip on its collective shoulder all year — determined to show the rest of the state that it's a top-notch team.
The Raiders' impressive run came to an end Friday night as they lost 51-21 in the GHSA Class 3A quarterfinals to visiting Sandy Creek at Pooler Stadium.
Savannah Christian, which entered the playoffs outside the Class 3A top-10 rankings by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, finished its season with an 11-2 record. The Raiders beat No. 5 Peach County on the road last week 23-7, before seeing their season come to an end against No. 3 Sandy Creek, a program loaded with talent.
"There's nothing we can do about this loss tonight," said Baker Woodward, who has been leading the SCPS program for five years. "This stings for the kids, and for the coaches, but I told them we have to walk off this field with our heads held high. We moved up from Class A Private to 3A this year and reached the state quarterfinals. That's a great accomplishment. But it still hurts because there are no moral victories at Savannah Christian."
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Sandy Creek quarterback Geimere Latimer, who has offers from schools such as Georgia Southern and Tulane, had a big-time first-half performance. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 215 yards and five touchdowns, including a pair to Kaleb Cost, who has committed to North Carolina as s defensive back.
The Patriots led 37-7 at the half, but SCPS got a pick-six from Austin Saylor to cut the lead to 37-21 midway through the third quarter. Latimer was hurt on the Saylor interception and didn't return to the game, but the Patriots' ground game added a pair of touchdowns to secure the victory.
Patriots linebacker Marcellius Pulliam — a senior with offers including Auburn, Miami and Georgia Tech — showed why he is so highly regarded with a stellar defensive performance.
Paulus Zittrauer, the senior quarterback for the Raiders, broke loose for a 42-yard run that set up his own touchdown on a quarterback sneak in the third quarter and also had a 15-yard scoring strike to junior David Bucey in the first half. Zittrauer hurt his knee in the fourth quarter and was on crutches after the game.
"We have nine seniors who have done such an amazing job as leaders of this team, and we're going to miss them a lot," Woodward said. "Guys like Paulus, Jayden Hester, Akeem Lane, Jep Hudspeth, Cole Burnsed and Jackson Mercer have meant so much to our program. They will be tough to replace."
But the Raiders are stocked with young talent that will be back next season. Defensive lineman Elijah Griffin is the top-ranked sophomore in the country, regardless of position, and his classmate Zo Smalls rushed for more than 1,400 yards and had 22 total touchdowns.
Sophomore Logan Brooking, the son of assistant coach Keith Brooking — the former star linebacker at Georgia Tech and later with the Falcons — had a breakout season as a linebacker and tight end and has offers from South Carolina and Virginia Tech.
Bucey, a junior, has emerged as one of the top two-way players in the state as a linebacker and wide receiver, he had a pair of interceptions along with his touchdown catch Friday. Sophomores Kenry Wall and Jaden Miles also had excellent seasons.
"It's tough to end our season like this, but we do have a tremendous sophomore class with some great juniors, too," Woodward said. "We're looking forward to coming back strong next season."
Griffin, who received his first Division I offer from Georgia as an eighth-grader, was a force all season. On Friday night, he had a pair of sacks and a fumble recovery while pressuring the quarterback on nearly every passing play.
"We've been the underdog all season, but I think we earned respect with the way we played this season," Griffin said. "We're going to take this experience and learn from it. We're going to use this as motivation and bounce back to be even better next year."
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Sandy Creek beats Savannah Christian in state football quarterfinals
