By Score Atlanta
Class A-Private
Eagle’s Landing Christian 31, Mt. Paran 7
How the game was won: In a rematch of last year's Class A-Private state championship (Mt. Paran 49-7), ELCA turned the tides with a dominant performance on both sides of the football. Mt. Paran's rushing attack was stonewalled and the only score came with a running clock and a 31-0 deficit. Alex Usry opened the scoring with a Mt. Paran field goal and Trevor Gear made it a 10-0 lead with a 14-yard touchdown run with 4:36 left in the opening quarter. Quarterback DJ Hammond ran in a 1-yard score in the second quarter and Johnathan Youngblood scooped up an Eagles fumble and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown to push the Chargers' lead to 24-0 at the half. Sophomore Josh Mays added a 20-yard touchdown run that made it 31-0.
Top performers: DJ Hammond passed for 147 of his 165 yards in the first half and ran in a 1-yard touchdown. … Cam Merrit hauled in five catches for a game-high 135 receiving yards. … Trevor Gear and Josh Mays ran in Chargers touchdowns.
