The Hapeville Charter Hornets rolled to a 24-0 win over the Douglass Astros in a Region 6-AA matchup at Lakewood Stadium on Friday that likely served as the league championship.
The No. 1 ranked, defending state champion Hornets (5-0, 3-0 6-AA) posted their fourth shutout in five games and have only given up a field goal all season. They extended their win streak to 18 games and are on track for the first undefeated regular season in the program’s eight-year history, and a third consecutive region title.
The Hornets’ defense forced three punts and four turnover-on-downs to stop the Astros (5-1, 3-1), who are off to their best start since 2005.
“It started Monday with preparation,” said senior defensive tackle Jujuan White, who had three sacks and six tackles. “We worked hard all week long and our main focus was to rally and that’s what we came out and did.”
The closest the Astros came to scoring was early in the second quarter, when the Hornets fumbled a punt return that Douglass recovered on the Hapeville 35. The Astros got to first-and-goal from the 7 but the Hornets stood firm. On fourth-and-goal from the 6, Astros runner Damontay McKibbens found himself 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage and dropped the ball, with the Hornets recovering on the 26.
By that point, the Hornets already had a 10-0 lead they would take into halftime. Quarterback Jeremy Stephens’ 7-yard touchdown run on their first drive gave them the lead, and Alex Barnett kicked 19-yard field goal on their second drive.
After Douglass opened the second half with a turnover on downs, the Hornets used five plays to move 64 yards, scoring on Stephens’ 22-yard run to go up 17-0 with 33 seconds left in the third.
Hapeville forced another Astros punt on their next possession, but again the Hornets fumbled it away. This time Douglass recovered on the Hapeville 30. However, the Astros went four-and-out, with Jalen Mason sacking McKibbens for a 10-yard loss on fourth-and-12.
On their next drive, the Hornets put the exclamation mark on the game with quarterback Jordan Slocum’s 9-yard touchdown run to bring the score to its final margin with 4:22 left.
For Hornets coach Winston Gordon, the team is following through on its goals for the season.
“We expect to win the region,” he said. “We expect to go on to the state championship. That’s our expectations at Hapeville Charter. Everyday we try to get better and that’s what we do. It wasn’t about just one win, it was about our next notch to get to the state championship again.”
Stephens had 91 yards on eight carries and Marcus Carroll rushed for 73 yards on 17. Slocum was 3-for-5 passing with 73 yards, with Jaquez Smith catching two of his passes for 44 yards.
Douglass' Juan Powell — who last week broke Jamal Lewis' all-time rushing record for the program — carried the ball 27 times for 80 yards. He was injured late in the fourth quarter and did not return.
Hapeville Charter 10 0 7 7 - 24
Douglass 0 0 0 0 - 0
H - Jeremy Stephens 7 run (Alex Barnett kick)
H - Alex Barnett 19 FG
H - Stephens 22 run (Barnett kick)
H - Jordan Slocum 7 run (Barnett kick)
About the Author
