He thrilled Scotland High football fans on fall Friday nights.

He gave those same hometown fans a thrill on fall Saturday afternoons.

But it was a Monday night that he became a national champion.

And Scotland High football coach Richard Bailey has to be beaming.

Zamir White — or Zeus to his fans — took his high school gridiron skills as the No. 1 running back prospect in the country down south to Georgia, and became the Bulldogs’ power back among one of the nation’s best stable of running backs. But the Dawgs and White always seemed to run into a roadblock in their chase for a national championship: Alabama.

That hurdle was cleared Monday in Indianapolis.

Zeus rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries for Georgia en route to a second-half runaway win, 33-18, to give the Bulldogs its first national championship in 41 years. Vince Dooley, the famed Georgia coach for that last championship, was in attendance at Lucas Oil Stadium to watch his Dawgs beat back the Crimson Tide.

It seems unlikely a hometown could be prouder of a high school football star who has gone on to achieve success at the collegiate level, as Fighting Scots fans are of White. The billboard along Hwy. 74 in Laurel Hill merely magnifies the feelings of Scotland County residents who have cheered every yard gained by Zeus throughout his career.

All well deserved.

But the story isn’t over. It’s just the end of another chapter.

What could be next — and we would hazard a guess that it will be — is White’s venturing into the 2022 NFL Draft. That decision must be made no later than Monday.

Those who pay attention to such things, like ESPN’s Mel Kiper, and prognosticating that Zeus will be a third- or fourth-round pick. More specifically, the 92nd pick to the Miami Dolphins late in the third round.

But first, there will be the NFL Scouting Combine the first week in March. If there is any poetic justice at all in the world, it will be that White produces a head-turning Combine, which is being held at the same place he performed so well in the national championship: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

As many of Scotland County’s football fans will, we plan to keep a watch on White’s next few days and month — starting with his decision to declare or not for the NFL Draft.

He does have another year left of college eligibility remaining, but somehow it seems that could be pretty anticlimactic.

Whatever his decision, we speak for all of Scotland County when we wish White well and … Mr. Zeus, we are really proud of you.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Always show love to your hometown. It really forges who you become in a major way.”