Rockmart takes home win to break Ringgold’s undefeated streak to win 6-AAA championship, facing Stephens County in the Playoffs

The Rockmart Yellow Jackets held on and took over the game late against the Ringgold Tigers, outlasting their region foe and taking a fifth region title in a row in 6-AAA ahead of a big move back down to Class AA in 2022.

Rockmart, who moves to 9-1 on the year, didn’t get this victory without a cost: Quarterback JD Davis got knocked out of the game early on a knee injury, and Mason Phillips had to take over under center for the Jackets through the rest of the game.

He still kept the Jackets ahead of the Tigers throughout the game, connecting with Dennis Sims for a touchdown. Cam Ferguson and Brett Washington also scored during the first and second half respectively to ensure that Rockmart came away with a win.

Ringgold was only able to put up a pair of field goals – one in the second quarter and another on their first drive in the third quarter – as the defenses held tough on both sides of the ball.

A fact that Head Coach Biff Parson was well aware of on the night and praised his coaches and players for hanging tough during the game.

“I’m super proud of our program,” Parson said after the victory. “We faced some adversity tonight with some of our kids going down. But the kids stepped up and played their butts off. And how about that defense? Holding a team that usually scores 40 points a game to six. Our defensive staff did a great job.”

Rockmart held up their fifth region title trophy in a row in front of fans at The Rock on Friday, beating a previous school run of four region titles in a row first set from 1954 to 1957. French Johnson and J.Y. Nash coached the Jackets through those four seasons – two titles each – in 3-A South and 3-AA at the time.

The Jackets fifth region title comes in two classifications as well.

Rockmart is unsure of whether JD Davis’s injury will keep him on the sidelines when Rockmart hosts Stephens County in the playoffs. The 7-3 Indians come into the game after earning a fourth-place spot in Region 8-AAA.

The Jackets finished the regular season 9-1 and were undefeated in region play. They’ll get to host at least the first round of the playoffs when the Indians make the trip from Toccoa to play next Friday, Nov. 12.