If Conrad Nix were to have it to do all over again, he probably would have taken the coin toss and had his Northside Eagles take the football first. No one could have imagined the backfire that would result from deferring that option to the second half. What was billed at the battle for "Team of the Decade" quickly became the stunner of the season. Ean Days went 98 yards for a score on the opening kickoff, Steven Murphy bolted for 63 yards for a score on a punt return moments later, and the Camden County Wildcats opened with a 21 point bang and never looked back on their way to a 31-3 manhandling of Northside Warner Robins at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night.  After converting a Northside interception into a Darius Sullivan 1 yard touchdown run, Camden led 21-0 just six minutes into the game and limited the Northside offense to a mere 3 points in a game marred with 5 Eagle turnovers and several missed opportunities.

Northside finally got on the board with a Devon Pike 41-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 21-3, but they would get no closer. Camden dominated the Eagles defensively, limiting the Northside offense to under 100 yards on the ground and through the air. Every time the Eagles seemed to mount a drive in the first half, disaster struck, normally in the form of a turnover. Nothside had 5 scoring opportunities inside Camden territory for the night, but came away with just 3 points in all.

Trailing 21-3 at the half, Northside had to be looking to climb back into the game with its first possession of the thrid quarter. That possession never happened, however, as Brison Williams fumbled away the second half kickoff. Camden was unable to capitalize, but forced a Van Brunt fumble moments later that led to a Matt Ehasz 41-yard field goal for a 24-3 Wildcat advantage. Northside mounted one last attempt following an Aundre Johnson fumble at midfield, but the Eagles came up a couple of yards short at the Camden 5 yard line on 4th and 17.

Camden quarterback Joel Ruiz would complete just one pass on the night, but it certainly was a memorable one. Ruiz threw a 43 yard strike to Steven Murphy off of play-action for a 31-3 Wildcat lead that sent many of the Northside faithful to I-75 South.

Although in control most of the night, the Camden offensive attack was below their normal efficiency. The Cats rushed for just over 200 yards on the night. Aundre Johnson led the way with 68 yards on 18 carries while Darius Sullivan had a very busy night with 14 carries for 51 yards. Days, the star on the opening kickoff, managed 50 yards on 12 carries for the night. A strong point all season, Northside really struggled getting anything going in their running game for most of the night. The Eagles leading rusher was Shaquille O'Neill, who ran for 64 yards on 8 carries. Van Brunt, a pivotal force in Northside's semi-final victory over Newnan, was held to a mere 17 yards on 13 carries and was sacked 4 times by a Wildcat defense that harrassed him all game long. In the passing game, Van Brunt struggled to a 6 for 20 performance for just 96 yards, one interception, and at one point threw 9 straight incompletions.

The win gives Camden a 13-2 finish and back-to-back state titles, a first for both Jeff Herron and CCHS, and the third title in school history. Northside finishes the 2009 campaign with a 13-2 record as well, and will relocate back to class AAAA for the 2010 season. Both teams are to be commended for outstanding 2009 seasons.