Trevarus Walker scored three touchdowns, including a game-changing 90-yard kickoff return late in the second quarter, to lead fourth-ranked Hillgrove to a 48-24 victory over No. 5 Marietta on Friday in a game that decided the Region 3-AAAAAAA championship.
The region title is the second in a row and fourth in eight seasons for the Hawks (9-0, 4-0), who conclude the regular season next week at North Cobb. The win was No. 99 in the 13-year history of the Hillgrove program. Marietta (4-5, 3-1), which was shooting for its first title since 2005, will be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. All five of the Blue Devils’ losses have come against teams ranked in the top 60 nationally.
“We’ve got a great group of coaches and a great group of kids,” Hillgrove coach Phil Ironside said. “We knew we had good kids. I said all along we’d be good on defense, but we had to see what we were gonna do offensively. We’ve got a mess of running backs that can play, and we’ve got a quarterback making good decisions. The offensive staff is doing things well, and the offensive line found themselves.”
Marietta led 17-14 after a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Harrison Bailey with 2:40 to play in the first half, but Walker’s touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff gave the Hawks the lead for good. Hillgrove scored four touchdowns in the first 17 minutes of the second half to pull away.
Bailey, who came into the game as the leading passer in Class AAAAAAA with 2,650 yards, did not play in the second half after suffering an undisclosed injury in the second quarter. Bailey was 9-of-16 passing for 161 yards and a touchdown.
Instead, it was Hillgrove quarterback Matthew McCravy who had the key plays in the passing game. McCravy attempted just nine passes but completed eight, three of which went for touchdowns. Two of those came in the first half - an 8-yarder to Braylen Howard on the Hawks’ first possession, and a 29-yarder to Walker that gave Hillgrove its first lead, 14-10 with 5:11 to play in the first half.
With Bailey not in the game, the Blue Devils had little hope of keeping up with Hillgrove once the Hawks got rolling.
Touchdown runs by Issaiah McCray (29 yards) and Trevor Smith (47 yards) in a span of just over two minutes midway through the third quarter turned a tight 20-17 game into a 34-17 Hawks lead.
Hillgrove got two more touchdowns within a minute of each other midway through the fourth quarter to put the game away. Walker scored on a 27-yard pass from McCravy, and McCray scored on a 38-yard run to make it 48-17 with 7:20 remaining.
Marietta got a 27-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Hughes to Kimani Vidal with six seconds left for the final score.
Smith ran for 160 yards on 22 carries to lead the Hawks, who finished with a 391-307 advantage in total offense. McCray had 95 yards rushing on eight carries and 35 yards receiving on two catches. McCravy finished with 129 yards passing.
Marietta’s Hughes was 6-of-12 passing for 51 yards. Vidal led the Blue Devils in rushing with 44 yards on 11 carries.
“We said we really need to come into this thing and win the special teams, because I felt like we were better,” Ironside said. “Our return game was big. We returned one and we set up some stuff with the punt [returns]. … It was overall a good night.”
Marietta - 7-10-0-7 - 24
Hillgrove - 7-13-14-14 - 48
First quarter
M - Kobe Stewart 54 pass from Harrison Bailey (Cooper Kipp kick), 8:25
H - Braylen Howard 8 pass from Matthew McCravy (Jonathan Grote kick), 3:38
Second quarter
M - Kipp 22 field goal, 8:07
H - Trevarus Walker 9 pass from McCravy (Grote kick), 5:11
M - Bailey 2 run (Kipp kick), 2:40
H - Walker 90 kickoff return (kick blocked), 2:27
Third quarter
H - Issaiah McCray 29 run (Grote kick), 9:22
H - Trevor Smith 47 run (Grote kick), 7:07
Fourth quarter
H - Walker 27 pass from McCravy (Grote kick), 8:20
H - McCray 38 run (Grote kick), 7:20
M - Kimani Vidal 27 pass from Tyler Hughes (Kipp kick), 0:06
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