Dougherty Trojans headed to Savannah after beating Mary Persons

ALBANY — The Dougherty Trojans couldn’t have picked a more challenging bracket for the Class AAA state football playoffs.

The Trojans (9-2), after beating Mary Persons 39-23 in Saturday’s first round, are headed to Savannah this Friday night to take on the undefeated and No. 2-ranked Calvary Day Cavaliers (10-0). Should Dougherty find a way to stop the Cavaliers, the Trojans then likely would face top-ranked and defending state champion Cedar Grove in the Elite Eight.

Senior running back Jacob Stallworth scored four touchdowns and ran for 155 yards on 14 carries to lead the Trojans. Quarterback Kameron Davis threw for 248 yards and a touchdown, completing 14 of 23 passes. Davis also ran for a touchdown with 78 yards on 10 carries.

Larry Lane led the receiving corps with 113 yards on five catches while Malik Dixon pulled down five catches for 89 yards.

The Trojans led 20-3 at the half and pushed that lead to 27-3 in the third quarter before the Bulldogs answered with two quick touchdowns from quarterback Logan Hickman that closed the gap to 27-17. Two fourth-quarter Trojan touchdowns put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.

Calvary Day advanced with a 49-0 win over Salem. Dougherty head coach Johnny Gilbert believes the Trojans can win.

“They (Calvary Day) are a good football team,” said Gilbert. “I feel we can match up with them. It is going to come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes.”

The Trojan defense will get a big test Friday night when they travel to face the Cavaliers. Calvary Day averages 45 points and has been held under 42 points twice this season. Junior quarterback Jake Merklinger is rated as a four-star recruit and has thrown for almost 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns. Auburn, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati and Tennessee are just a few of the schools that are recruiting Merklinger.

When not passing the ball, Merklinger is likely to hand off to running back A.J. Butts, who has scored 10 touchdowns with 552 yards.

Dougherty’s leaders have bigger numbers. Davis has thrown 2,365 yards and has rushed for 1,046 yards. He has 18 passing touchdowns and eight running touchdowns. Stallworth is nearing 1,000 yards rushing and has at least 17 touchdowns.

Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]