5A State Championship Preview: Cartersville/Warner Robins

Matt DeBary December 20, 2020 @ 05:00 PM

It doesn’t get any bigger in Class 5A than this one. The Warner Robins Demons, one of the top programs in the history of Georgia high school football, has a chance to bring another state title back to middle Georgia. As good as they’ve been this year, they’ll have their biggest test of the season in the Cartersville Hurricanes. Nobody produces QBs in the state of Georgia like Cartersville. It’s home to current Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence and Southern Miss QB Tee Webb. They spent the first half of the season without current QB [player_tooltip player_id="33684" first="Carlos" last="Del Rio"], a future Florida Gator, but they’ve been a completely different team with Del Rio. The senior dual-threat QB is a solid 4-star prospect and has led the Hurricanes offense to at least 31 points in 9 of their last 10 games. In 7 games this season, Del Rio has passed for 1,146 yards and 11 TDs. He’s still working on his mechanics and overall fundamentals, as Del Rio hasn’t been coached by anyone quite like the staff at Cartersville. As a runner, Del Rio has rushed 33 times for 278 yards and 4 TDs. He is deadly and knows how to beat defenses in a number of different ways. The senior will go up against a tough Demons defense, but he should be ready for the challenge. Warner Robins has played great defense all year thanks to senior linebacker Ahmad Walker, a Liberty commit, and 2023 defensive end Vic Burley, one of the top young defensive ends in the nation. The Demons held 6 of their first 7 opponents to under 20 points and have only given up 20+ points to three opponents all year. Their lone loss came to Lee County, a team who will play for a state championship in Class 6A. Since that lone loss, Warner Robins has won big games against Jones County, Blesses Trinity, Ware County, and Camden County. Cartersville lost an early game to Cherokee, but they’ve dominated ever since. They are used to playing deep into the playoffs and competing for state titles every year. They have a tradition of winning, but so do the Demons. The Hurricanes beat a tough South Georgia team in Coffee last week, but Warner Robins will be their biggest test all season by a mile. This game will come down to Cartersville’s offense against the tough Warner Robins defense. Both are great units, but whichever team wins that battle will likely be holding up the trophy next week.