At Hebron Christian, a standard of excellence is expected within its athletic department. The Lions’ flag football team is just the latest program to uphold that expectation.

Hebron’s girls basketball team has won three state titles in the last five years, the football team captured its first state championship last season, and flag head coach Chad Griffin’s team appears to be on the cusp of entering the elite tier of Georgia programs.

“It starts with your administration, whether it’s your head of school or your athletic director that really sets a precedent,” Griffin said. “But for us, athletics is just one-year, one-quarter of the process. We stress athletics, academics, social and then our spiritual aspect of our school.”

Still among the newer schools in GHSA – Hebron opened in 1999 – the Lions have extended their athletic prowess to flag football. Since its first season in 2021, Griffin’s group is 67-15 and currently MaxPreps’ 30th ranked team in the state.

Currently, Hebron (11-3) is riding a four-game winning streak, with its last three victories over Morgan County, East Jackson and Monroe Area coming in shutout fashion. The Lions are paced by a number of underclassmen, including a pair of quarterbacks in sophomore Bella Brown (720 passing yards, 10 touchdowns) and freshman Saige Walker (404 passing yards four scores), while Walker also serves as the offense’s leading rusher with 594 yards and seven touchdowns.

“Saige has done really well as a freshman,” Griffin said. “She’s a great runner. She’s got close to 600 yards rushing and more than 400 passing and her completion percentage is pretty good. She’s got a good balance of reading the field and if it’s not there, she’s quick enough to take off and then go. Bella Brown is a sophomore for us, and as soon as volleyball got out, she was able to come in. Bella’s probably a bigger arm, so we look for her throwing the ball down the field more. They have two different styles of playing quarterback and what’s fun is when we actually get them together on the field at the same time.”

Griffin – a defense-first coach – oversees a unit that has allowed fewer than 10 points per game and pitched six shutouts in 14 games. Spearheaded by senior linebackers Clara Rothwell – who leads the team with 58 tackles and has taken three of her seven interceptions back for touchdowns – and Makari Glover – daughter of former Georgia Tech and Atlanta Hawks guard Dion Glover – the Lions’ defense is as stout as any entering the postseason.

“We’ve got three girls on defense that have really shined for us,” Griffin said. “Clara Rothwell is our leading flag-puller, Makari Glover is a first-year player that has shown her athletic ability and has been super coachable. She’s made a big difference for us in filling that outside linebacker position. Sophia Rhodes had 15 sacks and her ability to pressure the quarterback makes us really good on the back end.”

After suffering a disappointing second round exit in the state playoffs to Harris County last year, Griffin and company are eager to return to postseason play. Playing in Area 8 has given the Lions plenty of preparation for staunch competition, as Hebron has had to battle No. 6 Seckinger, No. 14 Loganville and No. 31 Jackson County. Hebron and those three contenders are all ranked in the top seven of the Division 2 rankings.

“Our area is pretty brutal. It’s been a pretty good gauntlet to get through,” said Griffin, who knows he’s been put in a great place to win at the school. “When you have great coaches who love what they do and love the sport they’re in charge of, I think you’re prone to have excellence. Our softball team has been in the state championship series in three straight years, football has really set a standard and in Jan (Azar) with basketball course, she’s been great for two decades now. It’s fun when you’re around a group of coaches who love to compete and pull for each other and want to do well.”

After hosting Dacula on Tuesday, Hebron wraps up its regular season schedule against Jackson County and Gainesville.