A fourth-quarter safety opened the door for  Blessed Trinity and the No. 1-ranked Titans knocked off No. 2 Cartersville 23-9 in the Class 4A champiionship game on Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The victory allowed Blessed Trinity to successfully defend its state championship. 

Blessed Trinity led 7-6 going into the fourth quarter and seized the momentum went a bad punt snap resulted in a safety. The Titans took the free kick and drove 60 yards for a touchdown, scoring on a 54-yard pass from Jake Smith to Ryan Davis. 

Blessed Trinity (15-0) tacked on a 1-yard touchdown run by Smith to add some insurance.

Cartersville (14-1) scored on three field goals from Oscar Hernandez. 

Smith completed 10 of 18 psses for 156 yards and ran for 21 yards. Steele Chambers rushed 22 times for 98 yards. Davis caught seven passes for 135 yards. 

Cartersville got 175 yards rushing on 26 carries from Marcus Gary. Quarterback Tee Webb completed 12 of 26 for 149 yards, but threw two interceptions.