Class A Blog: Week 10 in review

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The top teams in the classification all sent clear messages in Week 10. Here’s a recap:

Holy Innocents 41, Trinity Christian 7. No. 2 (Private) Holy Innocents' (8-0, 5-0) took another key step toward winning the Region 5 title with a decisive win over Trinity Christian (6-2, 3-2). The Bears took a 21-7 halftime lead and never looked back.

Holy Innocents’ scored just over a minute into the game on a 42-yard touchdown run by senior QB Matt Davis. The Bears added two touchdown runs from senior FB/LB Michael Cox – a three-yarder and a four yarder – before Trinity got on the board with a seven-yard touchdown pass from sophomore QB David Dallas just before intermission.

Three plays into their first offensive possession of the second half, Davis hit senior RB/DB Jack Felton with a 54-yard scoring strike. Felton added a 9-yard run later in the quarter, and the Bears closed out the scoring with a 58-yard touchdown run by Cox.

Defensively seniors led the way, including LB Hunter Hawk along with DT Griffin McKinnis and Jack Felton, both of whom had interceptions, and Sam Aiken and Spencer Goetz combined for five tackles for losses.


Darlington 31, Bowdon 0. The Tigers are hitting on all cylinders at the right time of the season. RB Kolin Rogers led the way offensively with 120 yards rushing and three touchdowns, raising his season totals to 1,023 yards and 20 touchdowns.

The senior got Darlington (8-0, 5-0 in Region 6-Division A) on the scoreboard early, capping a seven-play drive with a 1-yard score. Darlington quarterback Griffin Brewster helped set up the score with back-to-back passes to Patrick Shelley and Trystin Wright. Rogers added a 12-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and a 47-yard field goal by Brinson Sumner as time expired gave the Tigers a 17-0 lead at halftime.

Defensively, along with the shutout Darlington held Bowdon to just 213 yards of total offense. Bowdon sophomore RB Gage Stephens was held to just 40 yards rushing, more than 100 yards below his season average.

Irwin County 16, Wilcox County 0. The host Indians picked up their third-straight shutout and closed out Wilcox County to improve to 7-0.

Irwin County’s first points came on a safety midway through the second quarter when Jalen Billingsly and Garland Benyard sacked Wilcox County quarterback Noah Hollingsworth for a safety. The two points added to Irwin County’s previous six defensive touchdowns scored so far this season that have the Indians defense outscoring opposing offenses 38-22 on the year.

Irwin County’s Nehemiah McCoy returned the ensuing free kick to the Wilcox County 30-yard line, and 11 plays later on a 4th-and-4 from the 6-yard-line, Jamorri Colson ran in a touchdown to make it 9-0 with just 30.8 seconds left before the break.

Both teams went scoreless in the third quarter before DJ Lundy rushed for a 30-yard touchdown with 4:13 left to increase the lead to 16-0. Irwin County outgained Wilcox County 208-to-42 in total yardage and the Patriots picked up 25 of their 42 yards on their final drive.

Christian Heritage 21, North Cobb Christian 20. In perhaps the most thrilling game of the weekend, sophomore RB/LB Gage Leonard blocked an extra point late in the game to preserve a big win for the Lions.

North Cobb struck first, taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Leonard got the Lions (7-1, 4-1 in Region 6-Division A) on the board with a rushing touchdown to tie the game, but they still trailed at halftime, 14-7.

Christian Heritage tied the game again at 14 just before the end of the third quarter with a quarterback sneak from Christian Thomas. Leonard scored again minutes later as he broke free for a 52-yard touchdown to give the Lions a 21-14 lead. North Cobb scored with less than two minutes remaining but the blocked extra point and, on the Lions’ ensuing possession, a key conversion on fourth-and-inches, preserved the win.