North Oconee defeated Franklin County 35-14 on Friday and became the first school in Class AAAA to reach 5-0. Each of the other 10 teams that went into Week 5 with an unbeaten record prevailed, with the exception of Troup. The Tigers were defeated by Class AA Callaway 56-45.
In the Cavaliers’ victory over Troup, they were able to weather an injury to star tailback Cartavious Bigsby. Jacob Freeman returned the opening kickoff for a Callaway touchdown. Troup’s Trey Williams answered with a 16-yard touchdown and then Bigsby rushed for a 12-yard score to make it 13-7 with 5:55 still left in the first quarter. Troup grabbed a 14-13 lead after quarterback Kobe Hudson connected with Zy Varner on a 27-yard touchdown, and the Callaway offense returned to the field without Bigsby in the backfield. Charlie Dixon, filled in for Bigsby admirably, and ran in a 6-yard touchdown that put the Cavaliers up 20-14 at the end of an eventful opening quarter. Dixon fumbled midway through the second quarter, but teammate Jacob Freeman recovered it and returned it for a touchdown to build the lead to 26-14. Callaway eventually outscored Troup 20-0 in the second quarter and took a 40-14 lead into the half—quarterback Demetrius Coleman added a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jymere Jones and ran in a 1-yard touchdown. Troup came storming back in the third quarter, using touchdown runs by Williams and Hudson, two successful two-point conversions and a Hudson touchdown pass to Varner to make it 40-37 with 3:23 left in the period. Coleman closed the half with a 13-yard touchdown to Jalin Shephard that pushed the Callaway lead back to 46-37 entering the final frame. Kicker Blake Eubanks made a 23-yard field goal and Dixon rushed for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 55-37. Hudson ran in Troup’s final score with 1:40 left from two yards out and Williams ran in the 2-point attempt to make it 55-45.
Two of Troup’s Region 5-AAAA counterparts picked up big wins this week, and their defensive performances were once again exceptional.
Sandy Creek built off its 14-3 halftime lead to take a 28-3 lead into the fourth quarter before closing out its home victory against Whitewater and starting the season 4-0 for the first time since 2014. Quarterback Matt Williams threw a touchdown pass to Brian Branch to put the Patriots up 7-0 in the first quarter. Starr’s Mill got on the board with a 23-yard field goal in the second quarter, but Sandy Creek running back Rashad Amos ran in three consecutive touchdowns to make it 28-3 heading into the fourth quarter. Hunter Lawson threw a 15-yard touchdown to Owen Phillips with 4:15 left to cut it to 28-10.
Cartersville scored a 28-7 win over Class AAAAAAA Cherokee to improve to 4-0. Quarterback Tee Webb connected with Devonte Ross for a 36-yard pick-up to set up a 1-yard touchdown by Quante Jennings that gave the visiting Canes a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter. Marquail Coaxum forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Jadon Martin and returned 22 yards for Cartersville’s second touchdown. Jennings added a 12-yard touchdown with nine minutes left in the first half to grow the lead to 21-0. Cherokee made it a two-possession game with a 1-yard score in the third quarter, but Webb answered with a 65-yard touchdown pass to Ross on Cartersville’s next possession and Evan Slocum intercepted the Warriors to ice the game.
