A good time to be a Trojan: Green Sea Floyds gets try at back-to-back state championships

Green Sea Floyds is two years removed from a 6-6 season, which at the time was considered a successful campaign.

In the two years since Donnie Kiefer’s first season at the helm of the Trojans (11-1) program, they have won a state championship, a region championship, and, after Friday’s 29-18 victory over Lake View in the Class A Lower State championship game, will play for an opportunity to repeat as state champions.

It’s a good time to be a Trojan.

In its closest contest so far in the playoffs, Green Sea Floyds started with a bang as Aaron Graham returned the opening kickoff 94-yards for a touchdown, making the game look like it would be a track meet with the end zone as the only way to slow down the Trojans.

But the Wild Gators’ defense stood tall against a talented and potent Green Sea Floyds attack, stifling an offense that had put up 65 and 46 points in its two previous playoff games.

“We faced a little bit of adversity early but we rallied together as a team and had each other’s backs out there,” said Green Sea Floyds quarterback Bubba Elliott. “(Lake View) is a really good team and they played a great game tonight. We knew coming in that they would be a tough opponent, even though we faced them before, because they are talented and play fast and physical.”

Facing a Region VI-A rival for the second time this season, with the first being a 42-6 Trojan win on the Gators’ home field, Green Sea Floyds coach Donnie Kiefer did his best to prepare his team and the community for the idea of a closer contest. His prognostications were spot on, as Green Sea Floyds managed only 70 yards in the first half and nursed a 15-6 lead at halftime.

“I thought our guys played hard – both teams played hard,” Kiefer said. “They had a really good defensive game plan and got after us. We were able to do some things well. … We played pretty good defense all night. … We came out with a win, two years in a row (with) a Lower State championship. We’ll never complain about that.”

After being held to just 57 yards rushing in the first half, the Trojans offense broke out in a big way in the second half, finishing the game with two rushers topping the century mark in Elliott and Jaquan Dixon. Dixon, hampered by a nagging injury, came through for his team when they needed him most.

“J is a tough kid, he was nursing an ankle injury and still kept going,” Kiefer said. “Late in the game there I said ‘Look, I need you to make a play.’ … He hit a long run there at the end and put it on ice. He’s just a warrior.”

Although Lake View managed to find success running the football, its passing attack was never able to create any momentum due in large part to the defensive efforts of the Trojans.

“We knew that Lake View would present a challenge for us and we wanted to make sure we responded and made plays all night,” said defensive lineman Tanner Cox, who led the way with 2.5 of the Trojans’ 5 sacks on the night. “When you get to this point of the season, the teams you are facing are very good, so our effort and intensity all week had to be higher. We work hard to be able to make plays and tonight we had some success to put (Lake View) in some long situations.”

The Trojans will look to defend their 2018 Class A state championship on Friday against Ridge Spring-Monetta, which played spoilers against Class A’s top team in Wagener-Salley in the Upper State championship. The two teams will match up at 8 p.m. at Benedict College’s Charlie W. Johnson Stadium.

LV – 0 6 0 12 – 18

GSF – 7 8 7 7 – 29

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

GSF – Aaron Graham 94-yard kick return (Freddie Saratto kick good) 11:45

Second Quarter

LV – Michael McDaniel fumble recovery in end zone (two-point try failed) 5:47

GSF – Bubba Elliott 13-yard pass to Jaquan Dixon (AJ Campbell run for two-point play) 2:24

Third Quarter

GSF – Jaquan Dixon 2-yard run (Saratto kick) 2:23

Fourth Quarter

LV – Da’Correus Ford 60-yard run (two-point play failed) 9:22

GSF – Jaquan Dixon 28-yard run (Saratto kick) 3:29

LV – Derrick Bethea 20-yard pass to Adarrian Dawkins (two-point play failed) 00:42

Statistical Leaders

Passing

LV – Derrick Bethea 5-13-65-1-1

GSF – Bubba Elliott 2-5-19-1-1

Rushing

LV - Da’Correus Ford 26-251 TD

GSF – Bubba Elliott 17-112

Receiving

LV – Adarrian Dawkins 4-55 TD

GSF – Jaquan Dixon 1-13 TD

Interceptions

LV – Adarrian Dawkins 1

GSF – Lucal McDowell 1

This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 11:53 PM.