Cairo snapped its two-game losing streak to Thomasville and dominated in a convincing 45-21 victory. The 45 points are the most-ever scored by the Syrupmakers in series history. Quarterback Robert Matthew Peters ran for two scores and threw two touchdown passes while finishing with 164 rushing yards off of 10 carries and throwing for 152 yards.
Cairo was not the only impressive Week 1 performance out of Region 1. The Westover Patriots shook off an early 9-0 deficit to Cook and ran away with an impressive 47-16 win on Friday. In last year’s opener, Cook was a 14-10 winner. The game was head coach Olten Downs’ debut with the Patriots. This time around, senior quarterback Cameron Hopkins finished 17-of-26 passing for 389 yards and four touchdowns. Ezekiel Prince hauled in three passes for 153 yards and two scores and Dailan Hall had five catches for 122 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Kurdarius Mallard finished with a game-high 14 tackles and Kobe Fleurinod posted eight tackles and a pair of sacks.
Burke County led Benedictine 42-21 at the end of the third quarter before closing out a 55-42 win. The Bears were led by running back Leon McGee, who finished the game with 206 rushing yards and two touchdowns off his 25 carries.
Woodward Academy was defeated by Westminster 56-31 last season and allowed a concerning 27.92 ppg by the time the 2018 season wrapped up. What a difference a year makes. The War Eagles dominated Westminster 19-0 this past Friday to open its season with a statement win. While the defensive effort was superb, Woodward Academy also racked up 302 yards of total offense. Both of the War Eagles’ touchdowns came on passes from Mike Wright to Hunter Sellers, one from 20 yards out in the second quarter before a 28-yarder capped off the night’s scoring with 4:45 left in the game. Lee Johnson kicked a 37-yard field goal in the first quarter and James Mayfield connected from 36 yards away early in the fourth. Wright completed 11 of 24 attempts for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
Sam Phillips caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Tee Webb to give visiting Cartersville a 14-13 lead late in the fourth quarter and the Purple Hurricanes held on for the one-point victory. On the ensuing Allatoona possession, Cartersville’s Devonte Ross forced an Allatoona receiver to fumble, and the Purple Hurricane recovered to seal the win. Allatoona led 6-0 at halftime after a 54-yard field goal and a 43-yard field from Jude Kelly. Cartersville took a 7-6 lead in the third quarter on a 98-yard run from Quante Jennings, then Allatoona regained the lead, 13-7, late in the third with a short touchdown run.
Chapel Hill looked sharp in its 31-10 win over Newnan on Friday. Defensively, 16 different Panthers posted tackles and combined for seven tackles for loss and four sacks. The defense also produced four turnovers. Rasheed Nuriddin (60 yards) and Kamoni Cummings (45 yards) each had interceptions that were returned for touchdowns and Bradyn Swinson and Oka Kouassi recovered Newnan fumbles. As for the offensive output, Imani Davis took 12 carries for 102 yards and a score. Also, kicker Bryan Leggett made a 39-yard field goal.
Visiting LaGrange scored 24 unanswered points after Heard County built a 9-0 lead in the opening quarter to open the year with a 24-9 victory. The Grangers got on the board with a Kaleb Ceja 25-yard field goal and then took a 10-9 lead with 1:45 left in the half on a Charles Crawford 20-yard touchdown pass to Logan Karcher. Kaleb Gibbs grew the lead to 17-9 with a 47-yard rushing score late in the third quarter, before Crawford added a 36-yard touchdown run in the final frame.
Two-time defending champion Blessed Trinity rolled to a 21-0 halftime lead and never looked back in a convincing 28-10 win over visiting St. Pius X. The Titans got three touchdown runs from Elijah Green, the last of which extended their lead to 28-10 with 11:52 remaining in the game. St. Pius X pulled to within 21-7 midway through the third quarter on a one-yard scoring plunge by Jack Graham, but they could not get any closer. Golden Lions kicker Eli Marshbank contributed a 33-yard field goal with three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
North Oconee opened its year with a strong showing, defeating Putnam County 40-14. The Titans got two early touchdown runs by Adam Weynand and then quarterback Bubba Chandler tossed a touchdown pass to Max Tumblin just before the half to grow a 20-0 lead. Chandler connected with Tumblin again in the third quarter and Robert Finch and Jacob Wright ran in North Oconee’s final two scores.
Oconee County used a 21-20 victory over Jefferson to record consecutive wins over the Dragons for the first time since 1987. The Warriors got on the board with a 23-yard touchdown run by quarterback Max Johnson, but trailed 20-13 in the fourth quarter. Jefferson failed a two-point conversion attempt that kept the lead at six points, and Oconee County was able to score the game-winning touchdown and PAT with 4:19 left. Jefferson finished the game with 246 yards of offense to Oconee County’s 240.
*** Thomson defeated North Augusta (SC) 26-0 on Monday after their game was postponed this Friday. The Bulldogs led 20-0 at the half before closing out the shutout.
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