It’s a rivalry game. What else would you expect?
For about three-and-a-half quarters, Thomson and Burke played like they were rivals. They played like they were the two best teams in Region 4-AA. They traded shots with each other as if they were the top two squads in all of Class AA Georgia.
That is, until A’merre Williams took over.
Burke County’s senior running back scored three of his four touchdowns in the second half — the last one coming at the 7:30 mark of the fourth quarter — to help push the Bears to a 47-35 win Friday night that helped them clinch their first region championship since 2019.
It was also Burke County’s third straight win over their McDuffie County nemesis.
There was no easing into this one as Thomson’s Jaris Sinkfield took the opening kickoff and ran it back to the Burke County 14-yard line. One play later, senior tailback Anthony Jeffery scored the first of his trio of touchdowns to give Thomson a 7-0 lead at the 11:41 mark of the first quarter.
Burke County wasted no time responding, as running back A’merre Williams capped off a 6-minute scoring drive with an equalizing touchdown run to make it 7-7 still in the first quarter. The Bears got defensive next, forcing a Thomson fumble just before the Bulldogs could reach the red zone.
From there, it only took a couple of plays for Burke County to go on top, thanks to a 70-yard pass to Williams that set up quarterback Sean Vandiver for a short keeper that extended Burke County’s lead to 14-7 with 9:08 left before halftime.
Less than four minutes later, Jeffery pushed his way in from the 1-yard line to produce a 14-14 halftime tie.
The offensive fireworks continued in the third quarter when Vandiver found Joshua Arroyo on a 22-yard scoring strike with 6:59 left in the third.
Thomson turned to Jeffery to knot things up at 21-21 after the Kent State commit bolted 15 yards to the end zone at the 3:51 mark of the third quarter. But things shifted as Williams took over the game with a pair of touchdowns — one in the waning moments of the third quarter, and the second at the beginning of the fourth.
Williams’ first was a 50-yard scoring jaunt that put Burke County up 27-21 after a missed extra point. He struck again at the start of the fourth with 46-yard touchdown sprint that extended Burke’s lead to 33-21 after a failed 2-point try with 11:51 left in regulation.
After Williams’ fourth touchdown seemed to salt the game away, Thomson stormed back, starting with a blocked punt with 3:44 left in the fourth quarter that gave the Bulldogs possession at Burke County’s 30-yard line.
Shortly after, quarterback Markevion Jones connected with Sinkfield for a score that cut Burke’s lead to 40-35 with just over two minutes remaining.
Vandiver shut the door on any Thomson comeback hopes, though, when he took a 3rd-and-11 snap and bolted 65 yards to the end zone at the 1:22 mark of the fourth quarter to provide the final score.
Stay tuned over the weekend for more coverage on this game and a look ahead to both of these teams’ playoff matchups next Friday.
