East Coweta 28, Campbell 6

Quarterback Will LaGuardia passed for 186 yards and three touchdowns and Devonte Brown scored twice to lead East Coweta to a 28-6 victory over Campbell in the teams’ Region 3-AAAAAA opener Friday at Campbell’s McDaniel Stadium in Smyrna.

LaGuardia finished 18-for-21 passing but was especially sharp in the first half, completing all 12 of his attempts, not including a spike to set up a field-goal attempt, for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

Brown rushed for 104 yards on 13 carries and had seven receptions for 71 yards. He scored on a 40-yard run and an 8-yard catch in the first quarter as East Coweta (4-0, 1-0) built its lead. The Indians also got 86 yards rushing on seven carries from Carlos Ford, and Nick Clarke had six catches for 72 yards. East Coweta finished with a 404-189 advantage in total offense.

About the only thing that could slow the Indians down were the 13 penalties for 105 yards. One of those penalties nullified a touchdown pass in the second half, and another kept alive Campbell’s touchdown drive after the Spartans had missed a field-goal attempt.

“I thought we were balanced, but we got too many dad-gum penalties,” East Coweta coach Steve Pardue said. “We’d go two steps forward and one step back. I’m not going to say anything, but we’ve just got to keep working to get better.”

East Coweta was in control from the start but did not have the game in hand until driving 50 yards on its first possession of the second half for what turned out to be the final points of the night. East Coweta took possession at midfield after a blocked punt, one of six for the Indians this season, and scored 10 plays later on a 7-yard pass from LaGuardia to Chaz Cherry for a 28-6 lead with 6:21 to play in the third quarter.

Despite the disadvantage in total offense, Campbell (2-2, 0-1) had opportunities. The Spartans reached East Coweta territory on eight of their 10 possessions for the game but managed only one touchdown, a 1-yard by Hassan Graham midway through the first quarter that cut the lead to 7-6.

Quarterback Jawan Nobles was 12-for-25 passing for 154 yards, and Kahj Huitt rushed for 45 yards on six carries for the Spartans, who came in averaging 40 points per game.

“I was really proud of our defense tonight, because Campbell’s got a real good quarterback,” Pardue said. “We were scared of him and the running back. They’ve put up bunch of points in every game.”

East Coweta – 14-7-7-0 – 28

Campbell – 6-0-0-0 – 6

E – Devonte Brown 40 run (Wyatt Palmer kick)