It has been decades since any Macon-Bibb County, Ga. football team made it to a state championship. This week the Raiders of Macon's Northeast High School play for the ring.

All season, their head coach Jeremy Wiggins has not indulged in pep rallies — the better to keep the team focused. But in light of their trip to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Wiggins allowed two things: a special day-before-championship-game breakfast (200 pancakes, 10 dozen eggs, untold pounds of grits) and for the team to parade through the halls of the nearby elementary schools most of them once attended.

Northeast High School football head coach Jeremy Wiggins wears the FCS Championship ring he won as a cornerback at Appalachian State University on the same lanyard as his whistle.

Northeast High School football head coach Jeremy Wiggins wears the FCS Championship ring he won as a cornerback at Appalachian State University on the same lanyard as his whistle.

Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News

 

Members of the Northeast High School drum line in the lobby of Bernd Elementary School.

Members of the Northeast High School drum line play in the lobby of Bernd Elementary School.

Credit: Grant Blankenship / GPB News

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary Principal Tawanya Mucker Wilson, once a member of Northeast High School’s championship winning basketball team, leads her students in a cheer for the Northeast High Raiders football team during their visit to her school ahead of their Tuesday GHSA Championship game.

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary Principal Tawanya Mucker Wilson, once a member of Northeast High School’s championship-winning basketball team, leads her students in a cheer for the Northeast Raiders football team during their visit to her school ahead of their Tuesday GHSA Championship game.

Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News

 

Students at Macon’s Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in their gymnasium, waiting on the Northeast Raiders to arrive Monday.

Students at Macon’s Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School gather in their gymnasium, waiting on the Northeast Raiders to arrive Monday.

Credit: Grant Blankenship / GPB News

 

Students at Macon’s Burnell Hunt Elementary crowd the halls to see the Northeast High School Raiders football team as they walk the halls Monday. Instead of a pep rally at home, the Raiders visited the schools most of them attended years ago ahead of their Tuesday GHSA championship game.

Students at Macon’s Burnell Hunt Elementary crowd the halls to see the Northeast High School Raiders football team as they walk the halls Monday. Instead of a pep rally at home, the Raiders visited the schools most of them attended years ago ahead of their Tuesday GHSA championship game.

Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News

 

The Northeast High Raiders in a hall of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School Monday.

The Northeast High Raiders walk through a hall of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School on Monday.

Credit: Grant Blankenship / GPB News

 

The Northeast Raiders face Toombs County in their first GHSA Championship game in 49 years.

The Northeast Raiders face Toombs County in their first GHSA Championship game in 49 years.

Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News

 

Tags: Macon  Macon-Bibb  Football  northeast  GHSA  championship  Georgia  sports  high school football 

Correction

An earlier version of this story said it had been decades since Bibb County's Northeast Raiders made it to a championship game. It has in fact been decades since any Bibb County team played in a football championship.