Tigers defeated by Prince Avenue Christian in State Championship

The Swainsboro Tigers along with their faithful fans headed up to Atlanta to take on Prince Avenue Christian in the State Championship game.

This was an outstanding game between the two best A-DI teams in the state, in the biggest stadium in the state, Mercedes-Benz stadium.

Swainsboro fans showed up and showed out in this one, loud and proud from start to finish.

Swainsboro received the ball first but fumbled on a sack and Prince Avenue recovered. Two plays later, they hit over the top for a passing touchdown taking the lead, 7-0.

It didn’t take long for the Tigers to respond, as Demello Jones caught a screen pass from Kason Edenfield and took it 60 yards for the score, the two-point conversion failed, and the Tigers trailed 7-6.

Prince Avenue drove it the length of the field scoring again, forced a Swainsboro punt, and scored another touchdown. As the first quarter closed, the Tigers found themselves down 21-6.

It looked to be getting ugly when Prince Avenue drove it to the Swainsboro five-yard line again, but Demello Jones jumped the pass, intercepted it, and took it 96 yards for a touchdown to make it a 21-12 game.

The Swainsboro defense got a stop and gave the offense a chance to play catch up. They did that as Jones punched it in after a good drive and the Tigers found themselves only down three at the break.

Prince Avenue received the second half kickoff and extended their lead to 28-18 to start the third quarter.

The Tigers needed their offense to respond to keep them in it and they put together a five-minute drive, capping it off with another Demello Jones touchdown, his fourth of the day.

The back-and-forth affair continued, and Swainsboro just couldn’t seem to stop the Prince Avenue offense, which no one had, after another touchdown, PAC led 35-26.

The Tigers needed to keep chipping away, but failed to do so, throwing an interception on the third play of the drive, PAC capitalized and scored, extending their lead to 42-26.

Swainsboro put together a quick drive as Qin Brown scored from 35 yards out, the Tigers were unable to convert the two-point conversion, as they were stopped short of the goal line, the play was reviewed, but confirmed, no good.

PAC went down and scored again with two minutes left to make it a 49-32 ballgame and as the time expired, the Tigers fell just short again, to the same team.

This loss doesn’t define the incredible season the Tigers had as they have defied the odds all year and to even make it back to this game is an amazing accomplishment.

There is no doubt the Tigers will be back! Congratulations on everything you’ve accomplished Tigers!