St. Pius Volleyball Advances to Second Round

St. Pius volleyball, which is ranked No. 5 in the AAA ScoreAtlanta poll, hosted first round state playoff action last week while football continues to sit in the No. 5 spot in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution AAA poll. Boys’ cross country is perched in the top spot in the ga.milesplit.com all-classification poll for the second consecutive week while maintaining its No. 1-ranking in the AAA poll. Girls’ cross country remains No. 2 in the AAA poll.

The football team was back in action after the bye week, defeating Region 6-AAA foe Cedar Grove 38-28. The Golden Lions (6-1, 3-0) fell behind 14-7 before scoring 24 unanswered points to take control of the game. Ryan Braswell rushed for a school-record 283 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries. Jack Spear and Branden Mitchell added one TD each as St. Pius rushed for 467 yards in the win. Daniel Crochet led the defense with 11 tackles. The Golden Lions travel to No. 10 Woodward on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

The Golden Lion volleyball team defeated Morgan County last Wednesday in three games to advance to the second round of the playoffs. St. Pius (40-17-1) will host Ringgold, the No. 4 seed out of Area 4-AAA, on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The teams have faced only one common opponent this season, Sandy Creek. The Golden Lions dropped a 2-1 decision to the Patriots while Ringgold lost 2-0. If the Golden Lions advance, the third round will be played Saturday.

Boys’ cross country finished fourth overall and was the top AAA finisher at the Coach Wood Invitational in Gainesville on Saturday. Austin Sprague won the Boys’ Championship division race. Calvin Tirrell finished 11th while Joey Ferrugia placed 24th. Ferrugia was named ga.milesplit.com AAA Runner of the Week after his performance at the Bale N Trail in Florida last weekend. The Golden Lions will travel to Carrollton for the Last Chance Invitational on Saturday.

Girls’ cross country was also the top AAA finisher at the Coach Wood while finishing eighth overall. Devon Dabney paced the Golden Lions with a 28th-place finish. Dabney was the girls’ AAA Runner of the Week for her performance at the ASICS Invitational last weekend. The lady harriers are off this weekend before participating in the Region 5-AAA meet.