By Kevin Price For GCS Athletics A recap of Saturday’s games in the Border Classic: Fitzgerald 20, Madison County (Fla.) 12 Fitzgerald ran its record to 4-0 for the season while handing the Cowboys their first loss after two wins to start the season in the first of three games Saturday at Glynn County Stadium on the third and final day of this first-year event. The 1 p.m. game was a matchup of defending state champions from last season. The Purple Hurricane won Georgia’s Class AA state title in 2021 while Madison won the Class A crown in Florida. Fitzgerald is currently ranked No. 1 in Class AA in the Peach State while the Cowboys are first in the Class A Rural rankings down in Florida by MaxPreps which also has them ranked No. 23 among all Sunshine State teams. The teams were tied 6-6 at halftime on Saturday. Fitzgerald took the opening kick 60 yards for a touchdown with junior Diondre Paschal scoring from 8 yards away. The extra-point try banged off the right upright and fell away. Madison matched the early score by Fitzgerald with its quarterback, Jamie Hampton, going 64-yards on just the third offensive play for the Cowboys. Their point-after try was also no good, leaving the score at 6-all. After halftime, Madison took the kickoff 60 yards for its first lead with Hampton scoring on a keeper from 5 yards. A few snaps earlier he had a 55-yard scoring run nullified by a holding penalty. The Cowboys tried for two points, but their play failed and the score stayed 12-6. The Purple Hurricane answered the Madison score by driving 69 yards in 11 plays to tie the game on a 2-yard rum by Laphabion Boone. Erick Trejo made the point-after for a 13-12 lead now late in the third frame. Fitzgerald scored its final touchdown early in the fourth quarter on a 7-yard run by Tyler Williams who fought off a defender in the backfield and found his way into the end zone. Again, the PAT was good for a 20-12 lead. The Cowboys threatened the Fitzgerald end zone on their next possession as they drove to the 3-yard line. But on third-and-2, Hampton was still surveying the defense and directing traffic in the shotgun when the ball appeared to be snapped early. It rolled past Hampton who ran back to retrieve it at the 18. On top of that, the Cowboys also suffered another procedure penalty that back ed them up to the 23. On fourth down, Hampton hurled a pass to the left corner of the end zone which was picked off by Demetrius Brown across the goal line to all but sew up the win for Fitzgerald. Coffee 34, St. Augustine 14 Coffee won for the second time in its first three games under new head coach Mike Coe who won four state titles including last year’s at Madison County in Florida before coming into Georgia to take over at Coffee in the offseason. The Trojans (2-1), who were coming off an open week, used a punishing ground attack to power past St. Augustine (1-2). The game was halted at 4:30 p.m. due to inclement weather in the are with just under three minutes to play in the first quarter. The teams were sent to the locker rooms and the fans had to exit the stands. Coffee had just scored the game’s first touchdown prior to the game’s suspension when its quarterback, Maurice Hansley, ran for a 6-yard score. His run came on the seventh play of the 71-yard drive. The game resumed after 6 p.m. And after the Trojans forced a St. Augustine punt, they would set up on the Yellow Jackets’ 45. Coffee would drive for its second score - a 35-yard dash by its featured back Antwain McDuffie - for a 14-0 lead after the extra-point kick. Coffee stretched its lead to 20-0 moments into the second quarter when Tyrese Woodget ran 29 yards to paydirt to finish off a 5-play, 52-yard march. The Jackets got on the board before halftime on a 14-yard run by Trenton Jones on fourth-and-3 deep in Coffee territory. St. Augustine got within 20-14 early in the third period, but Coffee came right back with another McDuffie TD run from 5 yards. The Trojans added a fourth-quarter touchdown to put away the game. They went 73 yards in nine plays and scored on a 21yard pass from Hansley to Keshad Turner with just over four minutes to play to open up their 34-14 lead. Baker County 35, Richmond Hill 32 Baker County held off Richmond Hill with a defensive stand on its goal line to come away with the victory in a game that featured an exciting finish. The Wildcats from Georgia had driven from their own 29 to the 8-yard line of the Wildcats from Florida where they had a chance to pull off a comeback-win. After three direct snaps to a running back netted 6 yards, the game came down to a fourth-and-goal play from the 2. Richmond Hill snapped the ball to a running back again, but this time the ball was quickly handed off to H-back Andrew Matthews who was tackled behind the line of scrimmage, preserving the lead for Baker County which kneeled on the ball to run out the remaining time. Baker (2-0) was playing just its second game of the season while Richmond Hill fell to 2-2 with the loss. The fourth quarter was full of big-play fireworks for both teams. Richmond Hill trailed 28-20 going into the final stanza. These Wildcats scored to get within 28-26 early in the final period on a 43-yard pass from Ty Goldrick to Nick Bliss. A two-point pass was incomplete. The scoring pass came on third-and-22. Richmond Hill would take the lead the next time it got the ball after forcing a punt. This time, the Hill saw Goldrick connect with Ravon Grant on fourth-and-16 from the Baker 41 for a touchdown. Grant caught the pass near the first-down marker, but then broke away from Baker defenders to run to paydirt. Again, the Wildcats would try to throw a pass for two points that was incomplete, leaving the score 32-28 with just more than four minutes remaining. It wasn’t that way for long. Following the kickoff to the end zone, Baker went on offense from its own 20. The Florida Wildcats called the number of their 170-pound cat-quick running back Cameron Smith on first down, and the senior sped past the defense for 80 yards and the go-ahead score for Baker County. The game-winning score was the third of the night for the human-highlight film. Smith went 52 yards for a touchdown in the first half. He also caught a pass coming out of the backfield and raced 87 yards down his own sideline for a touchdown midway through the third quarter. Ke’Nais Williams and quarterback Davion Dean also scored rushing touchdowns for Baker. Zion Gillard scored on a short run for Richmond Hill’s first touchdown. Goldrick and Grant also teamed up for a 33-yard touchdown pass in the first half for Richmond Hill. Border Classic Game Scores Thursday McIntosh County Academy 42, West Nassau, Fla. 8 Creekside, Fla. 21, Glynn Academy 20 Friday University Christian, Fla. 33, Charlton County 0 Brunswick High 20, Bolles, Fla., 3 Saturday Fitzgerald 20, Madison County, Fla. 12 Coffee 34, St Augustine 14 Baker County 35, Richmond Hill 32 *Georgia won 4 games, Florida won 3