Friday football roundup

Dacula 34, Collins Hill 14: Dez Howard ran in a Collins Hill touchdown with 2:22 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7, but one minute later Kevin Ficklin answered with a Dacula touchdown to put the Falcons up 14-7. Cory Ames ran in a blocked punt for a Dacula touchdown to end the opening quarter. Collins Hill scored on a 1-yard Jordan Bertrand touchdown, but Dacula quickly answered with a 50-yard C.J. Mayes touchdown run to extend the halftime lead to a 27-14.

Harrison 40, Pope 21: Quarterback Lorenzo Nunez threw a touchdown pass to Adonis Smith and rushed for a touchdown in the host Hoyas’ win. Hayden Messina rushed for two scores, and linebacker Ross Neely had an interception and recovered a fumble. Mark Skradis also added a rushing touchdown for Harrison.

Hillgrove 47, Lassiter 35: Grant Daniels rushed for three Lassiter touchdowns in the opening half, but the Hawks' running game was even more impressive. Out of Hillgrove's 533 yards of offense, 431 came on the ground. Eric Montgomery ran in the first and final of Hillgrove's four rushing touchdowns and quarterback Matt Wilson scrambled his way to touchdowns of 33 and 12 yards. Wilson was efficient passing the football and finished 7-for-11 passing for 102 yards and three touchdowns. Hillgrove trailed 21-14 before scoring 33 straight points to take a 47-21 lead. Lassiter quarterback Russell Aarons added a 53-yard touchdown pass to Micah Grigsby and a 7-yard rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Lowndes 37, Roswell 14: The host Vikings rushed for 234 yards and held Roswell to 50 yards on the ground. Lowndes led 37-0 at the end of three quarters. The Hornets attempted 30 passes, but completed just 10 for 109 yards and threw one interception. Roswell mustered just eight first downs. The game was delayed at halftime due to heat concerns.

Mountain View 38, South Forsyth 31: Alex Scott threw for two touchdowns and also rushed for 77 yards and a score to help host Mountain View survive a thriller against South Forsyth. There were three ties in the game—17-17, 24-24 and 31-31—after Mountain View had trailed 14-0 at the half. The victorious Bears also got 130 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries by Nick Harris. Cameron Hankins had six receptions for 72 yards and two scores, while Kielan Whitner hauled in a 45-yard touchdown strike. Sam Freitas also tossed a touchdown pass for Mountain View.

Tift County 45, Henry County 8: Malik Henry returned two punts for touchdowns as host Tift County rolled over Henry County. It was a long night for the visitors, who arrived late, trailed 17-0 early in the second quarter, lost quarterback Marquez Souder to a shoulder injury and mustered only 143 yards of total offense. An otherwise dominant Tift County defense allowed 131 of those 143 yards on just two plays.

Walton 16, South Gwinnett 13: Walton began a new era under head coach Mo Dixon in style, posting a come-from-behind victory over visiting South Gwinnett. The Raiders led 6-0 at halftime, but soon found themselves trailing 13-6 in the fourth quarter after South Gwinnett scored a touchdown off of a blocked punt for the second time during the game. Walton responded with 10 unanswered points to win, capping off the scoring with what proved to be a game-winning field goal by Chris Jensen.

Wheeler 24, Duluth 6: Junior quarterback Ryles Kirkland passed for a touchdown and rushed for a score to help give visiting Wheeler the win. Kirkland opened the scoring when he hit wide receiver Benaiah Franklin for a touchdown, then scored on the ground to put Wheeler up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. Tabius Padgett added a rushing touchdown in the third quarter. The Wheeler defense recovered two fumbles and shut out Duluth until a late touchdown.

Class AAAAA

Allatoona 27, East Paulding 21: Russell Halimon had 41 carries for 209 yards and a touchdown as host Allatoona pulled outlasted East Paulding. Cameron Pena also starred for the Buccaneers, making one interception and returning a blocked punt for a touchdown. Connor Larson threw a touchdown pass to Zach Nichols before the Bucs had to hold off an East Paulding rally. The Raiders erased a 14-0 halftime deficit to tie the score at 21-21, but the Buccaneers scored the game-winner on a touchdown run by Bryant Dallas.

Dunwoody 48, Clarkston 7: Host Dunwoody got on the board first with a 25-yard Tylor Scales rushing touchdown and the Wildcats took a 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Dunwoody poured on three more touchdowns in the second quarter and took a comfortable 34-0 lead into halftime. Dunwoody tallied 387 rushing yards on 32 attempts and Scales and Daniel Hinton each finished with two rushing touchdowns. Senior running back Devin Francois and junior Kaseem Duke also rushed for Dunwoody touchdowns.

McIntosh 28, Fayette County 25: Josh Ange scored all four touchdowns for McIntosh as the visiting Chiefs came from behind to beat Fayette County. Ange rushed for one score and had three touchdown receptions from Duke Kinamon. A 71-yard strike put McIntosh ahead 7-0, but it eventually trailed 25-14 in the third quarter. Ange made it 25-21 heading into the final frame of play and scored the game-winner with seven minutes left on a 21-yard catch.

Northside-Warner Robins 38, North Cobb 13: Willie Jordan rushed 16 times for 128 yards and three touchdowns in the host War Eagles’ win. Tobias Oliver, starting at quarterback in place of injured starter Jurmon Weaver, also had 76 yards rushing with a touchdown and 112 yards passing. T.J. Anderson had 81 yards rushing with a score. North Cobb quarterback Tyler Queen threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns.

South Paulding 24, Sprayberry 19: The host Spartans opened the scoring with a Jake Oglesby quarterback sneak, but Sprayberry took a 10-7 lead with two minutes left in the half after a Rodrigo Blankenship field goal and the defense returned an interception for a touchdown for a touchdown. Anthony Brown scored a 40-yard touchdown before the half to give South Paulding a 14-10 lead. Brittany Havenner knocked in a 33-yard field goal to open the second half and senior Kameron Watts rushed for the Spartans' final touchdown from seven yards out before the start of the fourth.

Stephenson 41, Arabia Mountain 6: Stephenson scored all six touchdowns on the ground in its win at Hallford Stadium. Jaguars fullback Ivonte Patterson led the team with three rushing scores, running back Kyseem Tillman scored twice and quarterback Dewann Ford added a touchdown.

Villa Rica 28, Rome 26: Josh Perkins kicked off the scoring for host Rome on a 59-yard pass to Jai Cramer to gain the early lead. Villa Rica answered with a 30-yard strike by Noah Smith to Tye Hill to tie everything up at seven. Rome’s Perkins would pass for four touchdowns in the game while Smith had three for Villa Rica. Late in the fourth quarter, with Rome on offense trailing 28-26, the Wolves failed to convert on a fourth down try, sealing the win for Villa Rica.

Class AAAA

Southwest DeKalb 13, Columbia 12: In a Region 6-AAAA matchup, the host Eagles led until late in the fourth quarter when the Panthers broke off a go ahead 30-yard touchdown run. The Eagles mounted a late drive, but Panthers defensive back Rock Yasim picked off a pass near the goal line to seal the win. The Panthers (1-0) open up home play against Cedar Grove Friday Aug. 29 at 7:30, while the Eagles (0-1) have a bye next week.

Class AA

Greater Atlanta Christian 24, Benedictine 21: Visiting Benedictine missed a 22-yard field goal with 3:25 remaining that would have tied the game. GAC quarterback Davis Mills found Darius Slayton for three touchdowns (18 yards, 48 yards and 63 yards).  Benedictine's Stevie Powers rushed for a touchdown and threw passing touchdowns to John Kennedy (42 yards) and Brad Stewart (46 yards).

Lovett 38, Pace Academy 3: Five Lions scored as host Lovett rolled past Buckhead neighbor Pace Academy. Lovett took a 21-0 halftime lead behind scores by Murphy Lee, Jay Harris and a 30-yard reception by Jon Thomas from Willie Candler. In the second half, Nick Sear caught a 63-yard touchdown pass from Candler and Nolan Edmonds rushed for a 44-yard score to cap the Lions’ scoring. Lovett rushed for 201 yards and Candler threw for 118 on 4-of-7 passing. The Lions held Pace to 57 rushing yards.

Wesleyan 45, Walker 7: Wesleyan quarterback Banks Ramsey rushed for a touchdown and passed for two for the visiting Wolves. Ramsey scored on an 11-yard rush, and found tight end John Kraus (10 yards) and wide receiver Harrison Cook (36 yards) through the air. Fellow quarterback Cedric Lynch came in on a special package in the first quarter and rushed for a 65-yard score. Josh Garrard and George Bielan added rushing scores for Wesleyan, and Jordan Weaver capped the scoring with a 45-yard field goal.

Class A

Hebron Christian 35, East Jackson 16: Connor Holliday rushed for a pair of 2-yard touchdowns and also hit Jacob Harper with a 55-yard scoring strike to lead visiting Hebron Christian past East Jackson. Jaquan Gibson kicked off the scoring with a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown, giving the Lions a 28-0 halftime advantage. Hebron Christian also scored on a blocked field goal return by Victor Gibson en route to a commanding 35-0 lead before East Jackson salvaged two late inconsequential touchdowns.

Strong Rock Christian 8, Athens Christian 7: In the first quarter, Demetrius McCourter ran 80 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to give Athens Christian the early 7-0 lead. Strong Rock responded in the second quarter with a five-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Butterfield to Torrie McKissick, but the extra point was blocked, making the score 7-6. Late in the fourth quarter, Strong Rock recorded a safety to gain the 8-7 lead and eventual win.

Stephen Black, Matt Cason, Ricky Dimon, Alex Ewalt, Darrin Heatherly, Craig Sager II, Jalisa Smith and Patrick Tighe contributed to this report.