STATE CHAMPS! Warner Robins defeats Cartersville in blowout win for 5A state title

Could it have ended any other way?

Sixteen years after its last championship, Warner Robins is once again at the top of the mountain in 5A after a 62-28 championship game victory over Cartersville. The title game appearance was the Demons’ fourth in as many seasons.

Cartersville got off to the perfect start with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Sam Phillips. The Demons answered with a 16 -play, 92-yard drive as senior linebacker Ahmad Walker punched it in from one yard out.

Florida commit, Carlos Del Rio came out firing on offense for the Purple Hurricanes. Del Rio put Cartersville up 14-7 on a 26-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Smith. It would be the final time that Cartersville would hold a lead.

Warner Robins senior quarterback Jalen Addie scored four straight unanswered touchdowns to close out the first half. Addie hit Malcom Brown and Kaleb Howard on back-to-back strikes for scores before rushing for a pair of touchdowns give Warner Robins a 35-14 lead heading into halftime.

After giving up 14 points in the opening quarter, the Demons defense locked down the Cartersville offense, forcing a pair of interceptions by Montrez Dinkins and Deuce Petty.

Warner Robins picked up where it left off in the first half with the running game proving too much to handle. Senior running back Jahlen Rutherford found the end zone on a 10-yard run. Rutherford led the Demons with 143 yards on the ground for the game.

The Purple Hurricanes scored midway through the third quarter, it was their first score since the first quarter. Del Rio hit Evan Slocum on a 22-yard touchdown pass.

Warner Robins scored on all but one offensive possession and closed out the game with three straight scoring drives before a fumble on its last drive. Sophomore Malcom Brown scored from 12 yards out, his second score of the game.

After another three and out by Cartersville, Addie found Daveon Walker on a 56-yard touchdown. Addie would cap his night with his sixth touchdown, a 9-yard run at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Quante Jennings would cap the scoring on the night with a one-yard touchdown run for Cartersville with less than three minutes to play in the game.

3 stars

Jalen Addie, senior quarterback, Warner Robins: Addie has been the star of this team for the last two seasons after moving to quarterback following his sophomore year. Addie closes out his career at Warner Robins with a stellar performance; he finished 16-of-18 for 259 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Addie is a true dual-threat quarterback as he rushed 107 yards on 16 attempts and scored three touchdowns. In the final two games of his career at Warner Robins, he scored 13 touchdowns to lead the Demons to their fifth title in school history

Jahlen Rutherford, senior running back, Warner Robins: Rutherford has been a key piece of the Warner Robins offense for the last four seasons. Rutherford finished his high school career with a 143-yard performance in the state championship game. One of the 21 years seniors on the team who made it to four straight state titles and finally gets a title close out his career.

Marquis Westbrook, Warner Robins head coach: In his second year as a head coach, Westbrook has etched his name in the records book for one of the most storied programs in the state. With the win, Westbrook becomes the third head coach to win a state title at Warner Robins following the legendary Robert Davis, who won three and Brian Way, the last coach to win a state title in 2004. Just two years into his tenure, Westbrook has already made it to a pair of state titles and will be looking to build upon this one.

What they said

“Our guys came out hitting on all cylinders. Everything just came together. It was a really good performance by our offense.” — Westbrook on the offense getting off to a good start.

“We are going to celebrate all the way back to Warner Robins. We are going to enjoy this one. It has been a long time coming since 2004 and we are going to celebrate this one for a while.” — Westbrook on celebration plans.

“This is game 59 for these seniors. That is a lot of football. Those 21 kids come to work everyday, they fight, they do everything we ask them to do. Giving them this trophy right now means the world.” — Westbrook on sending the seniors out with a title

“We finally got the monkey off our back. I am at a loss for words.” — Senior running back Jahlen Rutherford on finally winning a title.

This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 6:18 PM.