What we learned: Hmmm, that Rome team is pretty good

ajc.com

Rome got its 31st straight win on Friday, but it wasn’t easy. And it revealed that the Wolves have some work to do on defense if it wants to win a third straight state championship.

No. 1-ranked Rome outlasted No. 4 Carrollton 65-51 in a game that gave the fans at Barron Stadium their money’s worth. The Wolves had 676 total yards and Carrollton had 577 total yards. The outcome wasn’t secured until Rome recovered an onside kick in the waning moments.

Rome (4-0) reinforced the idea that it has three special offensive players that few other teams can match. Running back Jamious Griffin rushed 29 times for 285 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Knox Kadum completed 13 of 24 passes for 286 yards and four touchdowns and ran 13 times or 69 yards and one touchdown. Receiver Xavier Roberts-Donaldson caught 11 passes for 286 yards and four touchdowns.

Carrollton (3-1) didn’t go down without a fight. The Trojans twice had nine-point leads in the first half, but couldn’t’ keep matching body blows with Rome.

A quartet of Carrollton players put up big numbers, too. Quarterback Kashif Talor completed 27 of 44 passes for 337 yards and five touchdowns. Receiver Isaiah Lancaster caught 14 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns. Running backs Kodee Brewer rushed 11 times for 148 yards and one touchdown and Brandon Marenco rushed nine times for 55 yards and caught five passes for 120 yards and one touchdown.

“It was a hard fight,” Rome coach John Reid said. “We thought it would be a fight like this. Our kids just kept coming back.”

Here are a few other things we learned on Friday:

Don't read too much into the Warner Robins loss: The No. 3-ranked Demons (3-1) were battered by Colquitt County 21-14 and saw their 13-game regular-season winning streak broken. But Colquitt may be the best team in Class AAAAAAA and a likely contender for the state championship. A better gauge for Warner Robins will come this week against rival Northside.

Wayne County deserves more love: The No. 8 Yellow Jackets (4-0) whipped up on rival Glynn Academy 29-14 to snap a five-game losing streak to the Terrors. M.J. Fuller rushed 18 times for 164 yards – including an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half -- and Wayne accumulated 352 total yards. Quarterback Shamar Taylor scored on a 1-yard run and threw an 11-yard touchdown to Ashby Cribb. The Wayne defense limited Glynn to 80 rushing yards

East Paulding joins playoff hunt in Region 7: The Raiders (1-2) knocked off No. 7 Kell and improved its playoff chances with the 33-31 win. More will be learned when East Paulding travels to Carrollton on Friday. East Paulding won the game on Delvin Dolph's 23-yard field goal with two minutes left. Chance Foster iced the game with an interception. Tyrell Robinson had 223 total yards, including touchdown runs of 33 and 60 yards.

A night of firsts for Veterans: The surging Warhawks (5-0) beat county rival Houston County 35-33. It gave the Vets their first win over HoCo and pushed them to 5-0 for the first time in school history.