By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The Lafayette Christian School Cougars are one win away from the second state championship in school history.

In the semifinals of the Georgia Independent Christian Athletic Association state playoffs, Lafayette Christian outlasted visiting Georgia Christian 16-6 on Friday.

Lafayette Christian will host Griffin Christian in the state-championship game next Friday.

If the Cougars win, it will be their second state title, and their first since 2015 when they won an eight-man championship.

Lafayette Christian beat Georgia Christian 52-22 on Oct. 4, but the rematch was much more competitive.

The Cougars, normally a high-scoring team, were unable to get much going offensively.

Fortunately for Lafayette Christian the defense was up to the challenge, with Georgia Christian’s lone touchdown coming in the first quarter.

“We had our hands full tonight,” said Billy Bryant, Lafayette Christian’s head coach. “They basically shut our offense down as far as the run game. They realized early we hadn’t been effective pass-wise, so basically the second half they didn’t have a defensive safety. They played everybody up tight.”

A win’s a win, though, and the Cougars are on the verge of a second state title in five years.

Lafayette Christian also finished second in the state last season, losing the title game at home.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us this upcoming week,” Bryant said. “Tonight was one of those nights where I’m glad the game got over with.”

In Friday’s game, Lafayette Christian struck first on a 40-yard field goal by Nathan Fain.

In the second quarter, Georgia Christian scored a touchdown to take a 6-3 lead, and the two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Later in the second quarter, Nathan Karvelas had a punt return for a touchdown to give the Cougars a 10-6 lead, and that was the score at the half.

The lone touchdown in the second half came on a 10-yard touchdown run by Ben Dixon in the third quarter.

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