Here’s what went down Friday night:
Fellowship upsets Mt. Paran. Fellowship Christian of Roswell moved to 2-0 with a 14-7 win over No. 6 (Private) Mt. Paran Christian (0-1), the first win for the Paladins over the Eagles in school history. For Fellowship, the Jack Hardin to Ryan Reid connection was huge. In the first quarter, they hooked up on a big 33-yard pass play that led to the Paladin's first touchdown – a 12-yard run by Andrew Johnson. Then early in the second quarter, Reid took a screen pass from Hardin and raced 58 yards to put Fellowship ahead 14-0. The defense did the rest, keeping the Eagles out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter when Jack Allen scored on a 14-yard run. But Fellowship was able to run out the clock to spoil the Eagle's home opener.
Commerce rolls. No. 3 (Public) Commerce got its season off to a winning start with a 43-0 whitewashing of Class AA Banks County (0-2) at Tiger Field at Ray Lamb Stadium in Commerce. The Tigers' signature ground game led the way as a total of 12 different runners had a least one carry on the night. Senior fullback Will Thomas rushed for 87 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns, senior running back Cole Chancey ran for 84 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown, Austin Brock had 76 yards on just four touches, and senior quarterback Lane Sorrow had 34 yards on five carries and two touchdowns.
Aquinas pulls out a win at the buzzer. After getting humbled in its season opener at No. 3 Prince Avenue Christian (35-14) last week, and falling out of the Top 10, Aquinas (1-1) evened its record when Crimmins Hankinson drilled a 44-yard field goal at the buzzer to give the Irish a 19-18 win at Class AA Laney. Aquinas went up 16-12 late in the fourth quarter when they turned a Wildcat turnover into a 10-yard touchdown run by Joseph Douglas. But Laney answered with a clutch drive and Mario Sumter found K.J. Redfield with a 40-yard touchdown pass with just :38 seconds left in the game. But the two-point conversion pass failed, leaving the door open for the Irish. Quarterback John Paul, who struggled mightily all night (1-of-14 with four interceptions), ran for 20 yards on the first play of the ensuing possession to the Laney 42. On the next play, a Wildcat defender was called for pass interference near the goal line, which moved the ball to the Laney 27 and gave Hankinson a shot at the game-winning 44-yard field goal. Aquinas was outgained 160-29 in the first half, and 326-180 in the game. But the Irish kept it close by recovering all seven of Laney's fumbles in the game.
Other key finals:
No. 1 Class AA Fitzgerald 56, No. 5 (Public) Irwin County 19
No. 1 (Private) Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy 8, Class AAAAAA Jonesboro 2
No. 2 (Private) Wesleyan 48, Class AA B.E.S.T. Academy 34
No. 2 (Public) Macon County 45, Dooly County 0
No. 1 (Public) Clinch County 32, McIntosh County Academy 7
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