Last Friday, the Bulloch Academy Gators (11-0) defeated the Brookstone Cougars to punch their ticket to the GIAA AAAA State Championship. The Gators will now face current state champions, the First Presbyterian Day VVikings, for the GIAA AAAA State Championship.
This is the first state championship appearance since 1998 and the first win since 1983. This group of Gators look to leave their mark and put their names in the history books with the classes of ‘78, ‘82, ‘83, and ‘97 who all won state championships for the Gators during their tenures.
This is the first time the Gators have made it to the state championship under head coach Aaron Phillips since the start of his tenure in 2022. Before coming to Bulloch Academy, coach Phillips was the assistant coach and coordinator at Edmund Burke Academy. As assistant coach and coordinator, Edmund Burke made it to the state finals in 2010 and 2011, but unfortunately were state runner-ups for both those games. As head coach, Phillips teams won three region championships and had three semi-final appearances in five years.
“I’ve been fortunate to play in a state championship as a player and coach in two of them as an assistant and I’ll be the head coach in this one.” Coach Phillips said. “Obviously, that would be a milestone and something that every coach would like to check off their coaching bucket list.”
Being in the postseason semifinals and finals multiple years in a row is a feat, and the more times you get to this point, the easier it is to treat these types of games as a regular game. The Gators may not have been on this finals stage in nearly 25 years, but they have the “experience” of being a part of history from last season to this current season.
“There isn’t any one particular thing that this year‘s group has that last year‘s group didn’t besides that hunger for wanting more,” Phillips mentioned. “Last year‘s group laid the foundation for this year‘s team, and I think having that experience we did last year and seeing our seniors hurt after that semifinal game lead us to where we are today.”
In this final matchup of the season, offensively and defensively the Gators are going to “dance with a girl we brought” in the words of coach Phillips. The Gators will continue to do what got them their 11-0 record this season.
This game marks the Gators' first state championship appearance in 27 years, but their opponents are no strangers to playing in high-stakes games. First Presbyterian Day, the defending state champions, claimed the title last season with a 44-24 victory over Brookstone and enters this year's game with an 11-1 record. The Gators understand the stakes and are staying focused with all the distractions going on and all the excitement around the school and the community.
“We have tried to keep everything quiet in our locker room,” Phillips said. “Rely on what got us here, and that is to play tough, play fast, and get after it. We’re trying to keep everything all business.”
Although making it to the state finals is the cherry on top, Phillips doesn't judge success in terms of winning and losing. I judge success on how much we improve over the course of a year. Already, this team has done so many things that put them in Bulloch Academy history with the last two seasons.
“Winning the state title would be the last goal our guys get to achieve as a Gator football player. We deeply want to bring that trophy back to Westside Road,” stated coach Phillips.