State Championship Preview: 4A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The State title matchups are all set and will begin this Thursday with the 1A and 5A matchups followed by 2A and 6A on Friday and 3A, 4A and 7A on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Check out our preview of all the action below, continuing with 4A:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Who</strong>: Louisville (14-0) vs. Columbia (14-0)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>When</strong>: 12pm, Saturday, December 2nd.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What to watch for:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Louisville</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats come into State Championship weekend ranked as the number 1 team in the state in the PRZ Power Rankings and have been there throughout the back half of the season. They have achieved the feat with a primarily balanced offense led by QB Xavier Hunt and a stifling defense led by linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1121269' first='Kendon' last='Sanders'] (126 tackles), linebacker Tayquon McKinney (108 tackles, 32 TFLs and 22 sacks) and defensive lineman Dyjaylen Miller (39 tackles and 12 TFLs). Coach Shorter's Wildcats have only given up 7 points thru their playoff run so far. Can Louisville make it 3 state titles in the last 4 years?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Columbia</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As good as Louisville has been in the north half, Columbia has been just as impressive in the south part of the state. Offensively they play very multiple and have dynamic talent at RB in South Alabama commit [player_tooltip player_id='346332' first='Amarion' last='Fortenberry'] (1,426 yards rushing, 20 TDs on offense; 7 INT's on defense) and WR A.J. Lewis (873 yards recieving, 10 TDs). Defensively the Wildcats are stout at defensive back with Fortenberry and [player_tooltip player_id='512999' first='Jeremiah' last='Foxworth'] (86 tackles and 7 INT's). The defense excels at forcing turnovers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key to the game:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Columbia defense has excelled at forcing turnovers in 2023 which will be something to watch for in the 4A State Title game. Both teams enter undefeated but only one will leave that way. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["920471"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-656756109c577"} /-->