St. Pius Weekly Sports Recap

finished a clean sweep of region titles last week by capturing the football and competition cheerleading championships to give all six Golden Lion fall sports a region crown. The Golden Lions boys' cross country team won the AAA state championship for the second consecutive season while the girls' cross country team finished as AAA state runners-up. Football continues to reside in the No. 2 spot in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution rankings and the No. 3 spot in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association poll.

The Golden Lion football team won its second region title in three years and fifth overall as it defeated Woodward, 21-6, Friday night. Senior quarterback Trey White ran for touchdowns of 82 and 49 yards en route to 177 yards rushing on the night while Geno Smith racked up 107 yards and a touchdown on a 42-yard jaunt. T.J. Holloman led four defenders in double-figure hits with 15 as Joseph Crochet chipped in 13. Michael Healy and Jacob Hambrick recorded 12 and 10 stops, respectively.  St. Pius (10-0) will host Shaw (5-5, 3-3 Region 6-AAA) Friday night at 7:30pm in the first round of the state playoffs. The Raiders will be making their first playoff appearance since 2007 and are the fourth seed out of their region.

The Golden Lion boys' cross country team won its second straight AAA state title, edging out North Hall by one point. The championship was the fifth state crown in school history. Austin Sprague paced the Golden Lions, finishing in third place while Calvin Tirrell completed the course in seventh. St. Pius placed all five runners in the top 27 with Andrew Anastasiades coming in 18th, Joseph Ferrugia was 25th and Chris Beach placed 27th.

The St. Pius lady harriers completed the 2011 season on Saturday as state runners-up. Devon Dabney led the Golden Lions as she finished 11th with Tessa Schwarze placing 18th. Emily Thurston finished the race in 25th place while Katy Gilbert completed the course in 32nd. 

The competition cheer squad won its second consecutive region championship at Woodland High School in Stockbridge. The title was the fifth in the last six years and seventh overall for a program that is in its 13th season. The Golden Lions will compete in the state meet at the Columbus Civic Center on Saturday at 9:50am.