No. 3 Roswell took care of business Friday, routing Milton 49-3 and setting up a showdown with fellow unbeaten Walton next week.
Hornets quarterback Quintarius Neely threw four touchdown passes and also ran for a score, and the defense held Milton without a first down in the second half in another dominating performance.
Roswell has outscored its opponents by an average score of 47-5 in getting off to its first 4-0 start since 2008. But the Hornets have yet to be tested. That's expected to change when Walton (5-0) visits for a game that most believe will decide the Region 5-AAAAAA title.
"Walton is an excellent football team," Roswell coach John Ford said. "Coach (Mo) Dixon will absolutely have them prepared. So we just got to make sure we have a great week of practice."
There's a lot to prepare for with this Roswell team. Neely, a transfer from Lovejoy, leads a potent offense that also features elusive running back Sheldon Evans. Neely and Evans accounted for six of the Hornets' seven touchdowns against Milton.
Linebacker Tre Lamar, a Clemson commit, and safety Xavier McKinney, an Alabama commit, anchor a defense that's allowed just 5.4 points per game. Roswell did not allow Milton a first down in the second half.
The Hornets were way too much for Milton, which dropped to 1-4 on the season. The Eagles took the lead on talented kicker Ethan Suda's 27-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but wouldn't threaten again.
"We started kind of slow, sluggish," Neely said. "Coach Ford gave me a pep talk, said 'Let's get it rolling.' So we did."
Neely found his rhythm and led two score drives in the second quarter. Evans scored on a 7-yard touchdown run, and Neely connected with Myles Blouin on a 20-yard pass with 35 seconds left in the half to send the Hornets into halftime with a 14-3 lead.
Roswell put the game away in the third quarter. Neely threw two more touchdowns in the second half, a 47-yarder to A.J. Smith and an 11-yarder to Kendrick Jackson, who leaped over the back of a Milton defender to haul the score. Evans tacked on a 24-yard touchdown run in a dominating second half.
Milton did not cross midfield and finished with negative total yards in the second half.
The Hornets have been so good that they haven't experienced what it's like to be in a close game this season. But Ford isn't worried.
"We don't go against any other standard other than trying to be better than we were yesterday," Ford said. "The variables, the other team ... we can't control that. All we can control is us."
Milton 0 3 0 0 -- 3
Roswell 0 14 21 14 --- 49
2nd
M -- Ethan Suda 27 field goal
R -- Sheldon Evans 7 run (Turner Barckhoff kick) 7-3 5:39
R -- Myles Blouin 20 pass from Quintarius Neely (Barckhoff kick) :49 14-3
3rd
R -- Evans 24 run (Barckhoff kick) 21-3, 6:41
R -- Neely 6 run (Barckhoff kick) 28-3, 5:11
R -- A.J. Smith 47 pass from Neely (Barckhoff kick) 35-3
4th
R -- Kendrick Jackson 11 pass from Neely (Barckhoff kick)
R -- George Arowoselu 1 run (Barckhoff kick)
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