FLOWERY BRANCH — The Flowery Branch High School varsity cheerleaders have painted their South Hall city red and black — literally.

From the windows of the Chick-fil-A on Spout Springs Road to nearly every wall and glass frame in the high school, it’s clear the Flowery Branch Falcons are revving up for the AAA state championship football game to be held at 5 p.m. on Saturday in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Football mania has taken over Flowery Branch High School this week as football players practice for their first chance at a state title.

The school already has sold 1,500 tickets to the game. And on Thursday, students swamped a Flowery Branch Falcons state championship T-shirt sale. Denise Ramsey, head cheerleading coach for Flowery Branch High School, said 600 T-shirts were sold in a little less than 15 minutes.

Also on Thursday, students were allowed to wear baseball caps to school and donned stickers that read, "Put a cap on the Syrupmakers," referring to their Saturday night opponents, the Cairo Syrupmakers.

On the same note, cheerleaders are rising early this morning to hold a pancake breakfast for the football team that has more than 100 players.

After breakfast, senior varsity cheerleaders will join the drum corps and starting line-up of football players on a mini-pep rally tour through the Flowery Branch High School’s feeder schools — Martin, Friendship and Spout Springs elementaries and C.W. Davis Middle School. The festivities culminate this afternoon with a 2:40 p.m. pep rally in the high school gym.

Ashley Bloomfield, senior Flowery Branch cheerleader, said "surreal" is the best way to describe the days leading up to the title game.

Senior Flowery Branch cheerleader Alex Abernathy said the cheerleaders, band and football team are elated with the opportunity to perform in the Georgia Dome.

"I think this means a lot to the seniors. We finally get to experience it," Abernathy said.

Jordan Wehunt, also a senior Flowery Branch cheerleader, said she feels honored she gets to participate in the state championship game experience that no other school in the region has experienced in quite some time.

"We’ve only been here for seven years," Wehunt said of Flowery Branch High School. "And already we’ve achieved so much so quick. Other schools have been around for such a long time. This really shows how much talent these guys have."

Cheerleaders said they encourage everyone in the community to bring air horns and posters and stand along Hog Mountain and Spout Springs roads for a send-off celebration at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The football players’ buses will travel through the lined streets as they leave to take on the Cairo Syrupmakers at the Georgia Dome.

As for the outcome of the game?

Abernathy said, "I think our heart’s going to get us there."

"Cairo doesn’t stand a chance," Bloomfield said.