Georgia High School Football AAAAA State Champions — The Camden County Wildcats
Posted on December 19, 2008
Filed Under General
The only thing missing in Camden County’s Chris Gilman Stadium Thursday night, December 18, was an opposing team and referees, as the 2008 Camden County Wildcats took the field one last time in front of packed-out home stands — all there to celebrate the newly-crowned Georgia AAAAA State Champs! A banner hung in the North end zone — suspended between the outstretched ladders of two Kingsland Fire Dept. ladder trucks — declaring the power and prowess of our mighty Cats; as the Jumbo-tron in the South end zone replayed highlights from the Wildcat’s Undefeated 15-0 season. The scoreboard was set just as the scoreboard in the Georgia Dome was as the last second ticked off the clock in the Championship Game; and the fans were every bit as loud and excited as they were during those tense seconds in Atlanta. It was quite an evening; and a well deserved celebration for these fine young men who worked so hard to achieve the ultimate in high school football — and brought Camden County its 2nd State Title in 5-years! Local officials honored Coach Jeff Herron, who has brought Camden 8-straight Region Titles in addition to two State Titles since coming to Camden in 2000, and the entire Wildcat team and family — who, as usual, showed-up in force to honor and support their warriors!
These Wildcats started their season in the Georgia Dome (a 13-hour round-trip on a bus); and they finished in the Dome — as the Home team, even though the Visiting team only had to drive about 25-minutes to the game! In addition to those two 13-hour bus rides, the Cats third game of the regular season was in Birmingham, Al — an 18-hour round-trip on buses — and their semi-final game against Newnan was in Newnan as the result of a coin-toss between the only two remaining undefeated teams in the state. We lost the toss and had another 14-hour round-trip on buses! Of their remaining 11-games — including 8-regular season games and 3-playoff games — the Cats had two other 4+-hour bus rides to Savannah; but due to their Region 3 Championship and undefeated season, they had home field advantage for the first three playoff games. But those four wins — after a total of almost 60-hours on buses — were truly impressive because they were all against AAAAA powerhouses — including the Hoover team that lost the Alabama State Title by a field goal, an unbeaten Newnan team who had the number-one defense in the State, the season-opener in the Dome against a powerful Norcross team, and the Title game against a Peachtree Ridge team who had won their last 12-games and had the Cats down by 7-points at halftime! Truly an impressive season — and an impressive group of young men!
For those interested in the stories, photos, and videos from the Wildcat’s Championship Game, I have included a number of links here — all the links I could find last night — to any site with photos or videos or stories about the AAAAA Championship. If you know of any others, please leave them in the comment section so we can make them available also. Go Cats!!!
Wildcats Photos and Videos:
http://sgasports.net/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=862&Itemid=578
http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/sports/high-school/peachtree-ridge-camden/
http://www.camdencountyfootball.com/
http://www.gpb.org/football/watch
http://ngaphotos.com/Sports/Camden%20County%20vs%20Peachtree%20Ridge%20State%205A%20Final/index.html
Wildcats News Stories:
http://www.ajc.com/uga/content/sports/highschool/stories/2008/12/13/camden_peachtree_ridge.html
http://www.ajc.com/highschool/content/printedition/2008/12/14/hsaaaaa.html?cxntlid=inform_artr
http://www.tribune-georgian.com/articles/2008/12/17/sports/1sports12.17.txt
http://www.tribune-georgian.com/articles/2008/12/17/sports/2sports12.12.txt
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2008-12-15/hard_work_pays_off_for_camdens_champions
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2008-12-14/wildcats_complete_unbeaten_season
http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2008-12-14/wildcat_supporters_see_a_field_of_dreams
http://savannahnow.com/node/635986
2008 Camden County High School Wildcats (15-0)
Sat 08/23/08 vs. Norcross High School W 21 - 6 (Atlanta, GA)
Fri 09/05/08 vs. Columbia High School W 31 - 0 (Columbia County, Florida)
Fri 09/12/08 @ Hoover High School W 44 - 16 (Birmingham, Alabama)
Fri 09/26/08 @ Windsor Forest High School W 69 – 7 (Savannah, GA)
Fri 10/03/08 vs. A E Beach High School W 50 - 13 (Savannah, GA)
Fri 10/10/08 vs. Groves High School W 42 - 21 (Savannah, GA)
Fri 10/17/08 vs. Sol C Johnson High School W 78 - 6 (Savannah, GA)
Fri 10/24/08 vs. Jenkins High School W 70 - 0 (Savannah, GA)
Fri 10/31/08 vs. Savannah High School W 63 - 8 (Savannah, GA)
Fri 11/07/08 @ Bradwell Institute W 31 - 0 (Hinesville, GA)
Fri 11/14/08 vs. Creekside High School W 49 - 0 (Atlanta, GA)
Fri 11/21/08 vs. Northside High School- Warner W 28 - 20 (Warner-Robbins, GA)
Fri 11/28/08 vs. Woodstock High School W 18 - 17 (Woodstock, GA — 40-minutes North of Atlanta)
Fri 12/05/08 @ Newnan High School W 27 - 7 (Newnan, GA — 30-minutes South of Atlanta)
*Sat 12/13/08 vs. Peachtree Ridge High School W 21-14 — State AAAAA Championship Game (Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA)
Jake after the Wildcats won the State Championship Game!
The AAAAA State Championship Ring (2003)
Also check-out: http://www.exploreexpandevolve.com/general-mind-meat/go-camden-wildcats/ and: http://www.exploreexpandevolve.com/general-mind-meat/saturday-night-lights-congratulations-jake-camden-wildcats/ for a couple more pictures of Jake.
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The Belief Formula
That’s a picture of the ring from the 2003 Championship Team… I’m sure the 2008 ring will be similar.