EDITORIAL: A truly memorable season

That was a state championship that was earned.

On Friday, with one of their most famous alumni in the stands, the Lee County Trojans came back from a 14-point late-second-quarter deficit to claim the county’s first state football championship with a 28-21 overtime win over Coffee County in the Class 6A final.

It was a long journey — one that included a snowed-out championship game scheduled for Atlanta the previous week — that brought the Trojans back to their home field for the football program’s historical win.

While it’s disappointing that the Lee and Coffee players didn’t have the opportunity to play the deciding game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on the same field where the Atlanta Falcons play and where the Georgia Bulldogs captured a long-sought SEC championship, winning the state’s top prize in a hard-fought contest against a quality team like Coffee on their home turf is an experience they will never forget, nor will alumni, students and fans.

With five players committed to Division I college programs, it was clear that Dean Fabrizio’s squad had the talent to compete before the first kick came off the tee this season. What followed was a remarkable season with only a single blemish, as the Trojans executed well all season and picked up for each other when the game was on the line. Fabrizio and his coaching staff guided their team to a height that no Lee County team had ever achieved, ending a long public school championship drought for the metro Albany area, which last saw one with Dougherty High’s Class 3A title in 1998.

Quite a turnaround for a football program that was 0-10 when Fabrizio arrived nine years ago and overshadowed by Lee’s baseball program. Fabrizio has done a terrific job of instilling a sense of confidence and a winning tradition on the gridiron at Leesburg.

One of the aspects of this achievement that is most encouraging is the class that Lee County and its fan base has shown in the championship. With the fire and fury of social media, the tweets and postings we have seen have been complimentary toward Coffee County, which gave Lee County all the competition it could have asked for, both in their regular-season contest and in the title match.

These Lee County Trojans never gave up and when they needed it, they reached for that little extra that champions find. They have proven to be excellent ambassadors not only for Lee County but for metro Albany and Southwest Georgia. We congratulate the Trojans on their state championship and thank them for the memories of a truly special season.