It’s the time of year that high school football players, coaches and fans have looked forward to since the season began back in August. It starts in the sweltering heat of summer in the Peach State and if your season lasts long enough the folks at the concession stands will get to sell some hot chocolate.

Two teams from each classification have earned the right to meet in the final game of the season. This week the final practices are taking place. That means more reps and more stops in the film room. Coaches will do their best to duplicate the opponent’s offense and defense, but there is nothing else like playing at a neutral site venue in Atlanta. Since 2008 the state championship games have been played in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome, Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium or Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The exception being 2017 when most of the games were played at schools when MBS was unavailable after an ice storm.

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Hughes coach "Boone" Williams plans to take his team to the state championship games on Monday so they can get a feel for the atmosphere.

Credit: Sam Crenshaw

This marks the second year of the state finals returning to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Chris Parker is former head coach at Pickens High School and my co-host for the high school scoreboard show on 92.9 FM. Chris love to share helpful information with coaches and I asked him for a short checklist for the coaches of teams who are bound for “The Benz.” Chris says these are a few things that he would watch out for .

  • A weird pregame; not much time like normal.
  • Starting times may be different if the previous game runs long.
  • Halftime can be different.
  • Try to avoid players and coaches looking "big eyes" at the big stadium, the video board, the different sounds, etc.
  • Instant replay.

The Hughes Panthers are in a state championship game for the third time. Head Coach Daniel “Boone” Williams reminded me that MBS will be a new experience for his team.

“We played at Georgia State when we played our state championship,” recalls Williams. “I'm going to probably take them down there the day before so they can get a feel of it and see it, see how the games run. That’s how I've done my past state championship games. We all call it a pre-game field trip. And we go down the night before. Walk through and just let the boys enjoy the moment. We can't get enough of that. Getting in that final game is big. I just let them go down there and have a good time the night before. The next day is all business.”

Marist will play for the Class 4A title. The War Eagles are one of the state’s most successful programs and there is very little that head Coach Alan Chadwick hasn’t accomplished in high school football. But the winner of 445 games has never coached in the Benz .

“We're excited,” exclaims Chadwick. “Of course it's a great opportunity for our kids. It will be my first time competing in the Benz. The last time I guess we got snowed out or whatever and we had to play at home in 2017, so it's going to be exciting. It’s a different environment. At least you know what you're going to get weather wise. You always worry this time of year about wet and cold If you're playing outside, so we don't have to worry about that.”

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Prince Avenue Christian has been to the Benz the last two years.

The Wolverines of Price Avenue Christian are making their fifth consecutive state championship game appearance when they play for the Private class title. Head coach Greg Vandagriff played the last championship games at Georgia State. This week’s game will be their second at MBS. Vandergriff has learned to delegate some responsibilities to his assistant coaches

“Your first time it seems like there's 5,000 details you're supposed to know,” recalls Vandergriff. “All you can remember is, where am I supposed to be? What locker room am I in? I know I go out 30 minutes before, and then there's a thousand other things going on. It's like your head is spinning. There's just so much going on, and all you're trying to do is get to the game, make sure you're not late.”

The last time Burke County played in the state championship game was 2011 in the Georgia Dome. This year the Bears will play for the 2A title. Head coach Franklin Stephens has experience coaching in big indoor venues.

“I coached in the Corky Kell when I was at McEachern,” says Stephens. “As far as my team, we have not talked a lot about it outside of it being the venue where the Falcons play, and it's a pro stadium on the inside. There are some things that I'm going to talk to them about a little bit later such as the Jumbotron, because we're not used to replay. When you get in that place a lot of times the kids start looking up at the replay. I think communication becomes a problem all of a sudden. Those are the things that you've got to really stress with your coaching staff and your players about communicating with one another.”

One of the great scenes from the movie “Hoosiers” is when Gene Hackman’s character, Coach Norman Dale, bringing out a tape measure to show that the dimensions of the basket at the state championship venue were the same as their gym back home. The GHSA state championship games will be played in a building with a halo board and a roof that opens and closes. It’s not the like the places these teams have played at on Friday nights.

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The Hughes football team was fortunate to get to practice on Thanksgiving.

“We'll talk about things like that,” says Chadwick. “A different environment might sound a little bit more of an echo or louder, that type of thing. But we'll just try to focus on the game. Don't let it get to be bigger than it is, try to keep it in your box and just win your box on play after play. and focus on what you can control. Those are the things that we're talking about.”

Williams adds, “We're going to always tell them the venue doesn't change who we are or how we play. It's the same hundred yards. The field is the same width. The hashes are going to be the exact same as they are on the high school level. We just have to go out there and play ball. We’ve got to play Langston Hughes football at the end of the day.”

And then there are the seniors on all the teams playing this week. For most of them this will be the last football that they get to play. They will get their chance to perform on the same stage as Super Bowl and College Football Champions. It is indeed a privilege and a special honor to take part in the state championships at “The Benz.”

“One of the nice things is the locker room,” says Stephens. “For some of us, it's going to be the nicest locker room we ever played in. It's a phenomenal thing to play in and the fact that your kids are getting an opportunity to play in it is unbelievable. But once that ball is kicked off, you kind of forget about all that.”

The awesomeness of this is that those kids every year will get to watch the Kickoff Classic, then get to watch the Peach Bowl, and at some point they'll tell their kids, ‘I played there,’” says Vandagriff. “It’s a memory that lasts a lifetime. It's 48 minutes to play, a lifetime to remember. That’s what I always try to tell them.”