DUBLIN, Ga. — On Friday, Dublin High School football players will hit the gridiron to play for the AA state championship title against Brooks County in Atlanta, and the whole Laurens County community is rooting for them.
"This is exciting, I'm really confident in this team," Neal Goodson said.
"I'm always Irish, bleed green and gold," James Rogers said.
Across the Emerald City, businesses like Chick-fil-A are fired up for the Fighting Irish.
"I put that sign up last Saturday right after the game, 7 o'clock in the morning, first thing I did coming in from that big win last week against Thomasville," Goodson said.
Goodson manages the Chick-fil-A off Veterans Boulevard. Because he's a former Dublin High School student, this championship game means something special.
"Just sitting at home with my kids, listening to it over the radio, it was just a really exciting time to be back here in Dublin where I grew up, and be a part of this great run," Goodson said.
Businesses like Georgia Pools, the Dublin Mall, Dublin Deli, Classic Florist, and even Fairview Park Hospital are showing support.
"This is so exciting for the entire community. Those children have worked so hard, those coaches have put so much in, bringing those kids together as a team," Karen Carswell with the hospital said.
Fairview Park is sponsoring towels for the Fighting Irish, and one of their employees is sporting a light-up necklace with a sign that says "Feed the Donut."
"Number nine JaQues Evans, that is Donut, he is a touchdown machine, they cannot stop him," Rogers said.
Rogers said he is not making any predictions but he's hoping the Fighting Irish come back with a pot of gold.
Two other central Georgia schools will be playing for a championship title this week. The Warner Robins Demons and the Crisp County Cougars are heading to Georgia State Stadium on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
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