Burke County 27, Thomson 24 - Full Highlights

The Bear Den was filled with thousands of screaming fans Friday.

Burke County's Damari Kelly scored two second half touchdowns to turn a 3 point deficit into a 10 point advantage, and the Bears defeated Thomson 27-24 at home to clinch a class AAAA region 3 title and a top seed in the coming state playoffs. Burke County entered the game ranked #5 in the state and will enter the final week of the season with an even higher spot after topping the #2 ranked Bulldogs in front of a crowd of more than 4,000 fans.

With Burke County trailing 17-14 in the third quarter, Kelly scrambled for a first down on 4th and 6 inside Thomson's 10 yard line. The lighting quick quarterback seemed to be stuffed for a loss, but Kelly extended the play and converted the first down before running the go ahead touchdown on the next play. On the following series, senior Jaylen Odom intercepted a Mills Ridings pass in Bear territory, running it back to midfield and setting up another Burke County scoring drive that Kelly again capped with a short rushing touchdown to give the Bears a 27-17 lead.

Odom's interception was one of several huge plays the senior made. After the game he wore a wrestling championship belt on his shoulder and gripped a baseball bat. Odom explained in this post game interview that the belt was for the interception and the bat was for his success running the ball, including a second quarter touchdown that tied the game at 7.



Burke County coach Eric Parker won his 100th game along with defeating the state's #2 ranked team and clinching a region championship. Burke County (8-0, 4-0) hosts Hephzibah Friday in the regular season finale. Thomson (7-1, 3-1) hosts Richmond.