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The Official 2015 ALLATOONA BUCS football thread!!!

GREAT NEWS!!!!! Our ALLATOONA BUCS ARE THE 2015 STATE CHAMPIONS. 0-0 AT THE HALF... OUR BUCS TAKE 2ND HALF KICKOFF AND SCORE 7-0...THEY SCRATCHED A FG 10-0.... glynn SCORES ON LAST PLAY OF THE GAME ALLATOONA WINS!!!!!!10-6 FINAL WE DID IT WE DID IT!!!! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!!!!
 
ATLANTA — Allatoona has given Cobb County a state title winning streak.

One year after Mount Paran Christian brought a football championship back to the county to end a 47-year drought, Allatoona became the first Cobb County School District program to win the prize with a 10-6 win over Glynn Academy in Friday’s Class AAAAA state championship game at the Georgia Dome.

After losing its season opener to East Paulding, Allatoona capped its season with 14 straight wins.

“It feels great. The community and everybody is excited about it,” said Allatoona coach Gary Varner, who experienced a championship for the first time since serving as an assistant on Roswell’s title team in 2006, two years before he began building the Buccaneers’ program from scratch.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s over. I finally get a haircut (today) and put my Christmas tree up.”

After neither team scored in the first half, Allatoona’s championship push hinged on two key drives in the second half.

The Buccaneers manufactured a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that consisted of nine runs and one pass. It chewed more than 5 minutes of clock, resulting in four first downs before senior quarterback Brandon Rainey punched it in through the middle from 1 yard out.

“We weren’t doing our job (in the first half). None of us were doing our jobs,” said the Citadel-bound Rainey, who threw for 73 yards and rushed for 48. “We talked about getting back to the basics.”

Running back Brandon Archibald, who has seen more playing since Russell Halimon’s season-ending ACL injury in the first round, led Allatoona with 50 yards on 14 carries. Half of his yards came on the opening drive of the second half, which was highlighted by Rainey’s pass to Derrand Garrett down the sideline for a 24-yard gain that set up the quarterback keeper.

While Allatoona’s offense finally found the end zone, its defense continued keeping Glynn Academy (12-3) off the scoreboard. Danny Tesler recovered a fumble in Allatoona territory in the third quarter, but the Buccaneers couldn’t tack on to their lead until Skyler Davis’ 29-yard field goal in the closing minutes.

A 21-yard catch-and-run by Jalen Parrish on the second play of the drive was key, along with 30-yard burst up the middle by Rainey.

Rainey added 7 more yards to put the Buccaneers on the Glynn Academy 11, setting up Davis’ field goal with 2:21 to play.

“We talked about blocking (in the second half),” Varner said. “We talked about the fact that they’ve been out here since January and put a lot of pride in our offensive line and our fullbacks, and they weren’t getting it done. We just challenged them and said that is the heart and soul of our team, and they stepped up.”

The defense did its job, holding the Red Terrors to just 146 yards. It didn’t yield any points until Glynn Academy quarterback Deejay Davis scored from 9 yards out with no time left on the clock, after a pass interference call gave the Red Terrors an untimed down.

The loss prevented Glynn Academy from winning its first state championship since 1964, and it kept Red Terrors coach Rocky Hidalgo winless in the finals — four years after his Walton team lost to a powerhouse Grayson squad.
 
kevraid said:
ATLANTA — Allatoona has given Cobb County a state title winning streak.

One year after Mount Paran Christian brought a football championship back to the county to end a 47-year drought, Allatoona became the first Cobb County School District program to win the prize with a 10-6 win over Glynn Academy in Friday’s Class AAAAA state championship game at the Georgia Dome.

After losing its season opener to East Paulding, Allatoona capped its season with 14 straight wins.

“It feels great. The community and everybody is excited about it,” said Allatoona coach Gary Varner, who experienced a championship for the first time since serving as an assistant on Roswell’s title team in 2006, two years before he began building the Buccaneers’ program from scratch.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s over. I finally get a haircut (today) and put my Christmas tree up.”

After neither team scored in the first half, Allatoona’s championship push hinged on two key drives in the second half.

The Buccaneers manufactured a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that consisted of nine runs and one pass. It chewed more than 5 minutes of clock, resulting in four first downs before senior quarterback Brandon Rainey punched it in through the middle from 1 yard out.

“We weren’t doing our job (in the first half). None of us were doing our jobs,” said the Citadel-bound Rainey, who threw for 73 yards and rushed for 48. “We talked about getting back to the basics.”

Running back Brandon Archibald, who has seen more playing since Russell Halimon’s season-ending ACL injury in the first round, led Allatoona with 50 yards on 14 carries. Half of his yards came on the opening drive of the second half, which was highlighted by Rainey’s pass to Derrand Garrett down the sideline for a 24-yard gain that set up the quarterback keeper.

While Allatoona’s offense finally found the end zone, its defense continued keeping Glynn Academy (12-3) off the scoreboard. Danny Tesler recovered a fumble in Allatoona territory in the third quarter, but the Buccaneers couldn’t tack on to their lead until Skyler Davis’ 29-yard field goal in the closing minutes.

A 21-yard catch-and-run by Jalen Parrish on the second play of the drive was key, along with 30-yard burst up the middle by Rainey.

Rainey added 7 more yards to put the Buccaneers on the Glynn Academy 11, setting up Davis’ field goal with 2:21 to play.

“We talked about blocking (in the second half),” Varner said. “We talked about the fact that they’ve been out here since January and put a lot of pride in our offensive line and our fullbacks, and they weren’t getting it done. We just challenged them and said that is the heart and soul of our team, and they stepped up.”

The defense did its job, holding the Red Terrors to just 146 yards. It didn’t yield any points until Glynn Academy quarterback Deejay Davis scored from 9 yards out with no time left on the clock, after a pass interference call gave the Red Terrors an untimed down.

The loss prevented Glynn Academy from winning its first state championship since 1964, and it kept Red Terrors coach Rocky Hidalgo winless in the finals — four years after his Walton team lost to a powerhouse Grayson squad.

TLDNR.

So one of the Paudlings won, I'm guessing? There's a lotta fucking pauldings.
 
Allatoona reigned supreme in the Georgia Sports Writers Association’s final rankings Wednesday, five days after beating Glynn Academy for the Class AAAAA state championship.

Joining Allatoona in the Class AAAAA rankings was No. 7 Kell. McEachern was sixth in Class AAAAAA, with Mount Paran Christian ninth in Class A.

Coaches often say the final poll is the only one that really matters. To that end, Allatoona coach Gary Varner likes how things shook out.

“It feels good (to be No. 1),” Varner said. “When you’re dealing with a playoff, as a coach, being there at the end means a lot. It’s nice. Not to discount the other rankings, because they have their merits, but when you’re in the last poll, it shows you’ve had a good season.

“From the professional to the college level and the high schools, for the most part, it’s about the championships and the path you take to get there. Fortunately, we were one of those teams to win their final game.”

Allatoona (14-1) began the season ranked second and quickly dropped out of the poll following a season-opening loss at East Paulding. The Buccaneers, however, responded with 14 straight wins and ended the regular-season ranked ninth.

“I think we were where we needed to be in the last (regular-season) poll,” Varner said. “It’s hard to judge those things when there are so many good teams. The playoff system makes it beautiful because with it you can get rid of the vagueness of rankings.”

Allatoona isn’t done celebrating its championship. A rally will take place today in downtown Acworth, and the team will hold its season-ending banquet Friday.

“The pep rally will be neat,” Varner said. “The pep band will be there and the cheerleaders — we’re going to enjoy this for a couple of weeks.”

Joining Allatoona is the Class AAAAA poll were Glynn Academy, Ware County, Stockbridge, Houston County, Northgate, Kell, Drew, Lanier and Mays. Kell (9-4) finished with its No. 7 ranking after falling to Northgate in the quarterfinals.

McEachern (10-2), which lost to Archer in the second round, was sixth in the final regular-season poll and remained there Wednesday. State champion Colquitt County topped the rankings, followed by Roswell, Grayson, Mill Creek and Archer. Westlake, South Forsyth, Camden County and Collins Hill rounded out the list.

Mount Paran (10-2) fell from fourth to ninth. As last year’s private-school state champion, the Eagles were ranked No. 1 for most of the season before losing to Pinecrest Academy in the Region 6A championship game.

Mount Paran went on to lose to eventual champion Eagle’s Landing Christian in the quarterfinals.

“I think it’s great that we’re ninth,” Mount Paran coach Mitch Jordan said. “Being both a public- and private-school poll, we’re in good company. I think it’s where we should be, and it’s always nice to be recognized.”

Eagle’s Landing Christian was one of six private schools in the poll, joining state runner-up Aquinas at No. 3, No. 4 Prince Avenue Christian, No. 6 Stratford Academy and No. 10 Christian Heritage.
 
Gary Varner always had a plan. He just didn’t know how long it was going to take for it to come to fruition.
Varner became one of the few football coaches around the state to start a program from scratch and then lead it to a state championship. He led Allatoona to a 14-1 record and the Class AAAAA state championship, and for that reason, he is the 2015 Marietta Daily Journal/Cobb County Football Coach of the Year.
The Buccaneers’ 10-6 win over Glynn Academy at the Georgia Dome provided the Cobb County School District with its first state football championship, but the way the season started for Allatoona, it didn’t look like that was going to be an option when it lost the season opener at East Paulding.
“That was a good loss for us,” Varner said. “They physically beat us. It was then that the players knew they would have to get better.”
Allatoona did improve, and then it did something that even surprised Varner.
“We began to think we had something special around the seventh or eighth game,” he said, “but then the offensive line kept getting better. The defense was always solid, and that’s when you start to think we could be pretty good.”
The Buccaneers rolled through the remainder of the regular season, and when the playoffs arrived, they earned something that for them was a true advantage. Allatoona had home-field advantage through the playoffs.
The Buccaneers have won their last 17 home games, but injuries threatened to put a dent in that streak during the postseason.
Running back Russell Halimon, an Arizona commitment, went down with a torn ACL on the second play of their first-round playoff game against Winder-Barrow. Against Starr’s Mill in the second round, Allatoona lost left guard Brooks Walper and wide receiver Michael Pynes. And with the state championship game in their sights, Vanderbilt commitment Turner Cockrell dislocated his ankle against Northgate and forced Allatoona to go to its backup tight ends.
While Pynes returned against Houston County, Varner and his assistants continued to have to shuffle personnel to get healthy and fresh players into the lineup.
For a lesser group, it may have been too much to overcome, but Varner and his coaching staff knew every string to pull.
“Seven of our coaches have been here the whole time,” Varner said.
Those who remain from the program’s launch are defensive coordinator Troy Peterson, defensive backs coach David Cintron, quarterbacks coach Barry Cox, defensive line coach Brett Hubinger, offensive line coach Mike Dennison, wide receivers coach Jeremy Anderson and kicking coach Erik Fridborg. Also on the staff is linebackers coach Xarvia Smith, a former Osborne head coach and who worked alongside Varner for five years at Pebblebrook.
“It’s fun to be around these guys,” Varner said. “That’s a cool thing for this number of coaches. We can’t wait to get to work.”
Varner’s record at Allatoona is 72-21 over eight seasons, and the Buccaneers are 44-7 at home all-time. Now the question is, what will Allatoona do over the next eight seasons?
“It doesn’t seem like eight years,” Varner said.
 
JANUARY 2 2025 IS THE 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS THREAD WHERE WE ALL HELPED AND MOTIVATED OUR ALLATOONA BUCS TO WIN A STATE TITLE....I BELIEVE WE NEED A REUNION TO CELEBRATE!
 
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