Roswell quarterback Quintarius Neely threw five touchdowns in the first half, jumpstarting the third-ranked Hornets to a dominating 48-14 victory over No. 6 Walton in a Region 5-AAAAAA separation game Friday.
Roswell (5-0), the only remaining unbeaten team in Region 5, has outscored its opponents 236-35 this season. Neely, a senior transfer from Lovejoy, is a big reason why. He's accounted for 10 touchdowns the past two games. He shredded a solid Walton defense, finishing 24 of 36 for 369 yards and five touchdowns.
The Raiders (5-1) were supposed to be Roswell's first real test, but were overwhelmed early by the Hornets' abundance of talent on both sides of the ball. Hornets' defensive lineman Max Boyd lived in the Roswell backfield and recorded multiple sacks. At one point late in the first quarter, Roswell had ran 30 plays to Walton's three.
"We didn't react well," Walton coach Mo Dixon said.
Neely torched the Raiders for 286 yards and five touchdowns in the first half. Jayden Comma caught two touchdowns in the first half, including a 62-yard leaping grab that put Roswell 20-0 early the second quarter. Nick Stelton, Kendrick Jackson and Evans also caught touchdowns from Neely in the first half, giving the Hornets a 34-14 lead at intermission
Walton quarterback Addison Shoup completed 11 of 21 passes for 214 yards with a touchdown. Shoup left the game in the fourth quarter, after banging his throwing arm on a helmet.
Walton's K.K. Brooks took a screen pass from Shoup 71 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter that cut the deficit to 20-7. But Roswell answered right back with Neely touchdown passes to Evans and Jackson.
After Neely led the Hornets out to the big first-half lead, Evans put the game away in the third quarter with touchdown runs of 24 and 13 yards. The junior finished with 135 yards and three touchdowns.
Roswell has its sights set on the No. 1 seed out of the region, which could land the Hornets on the other side of the Class AAAAAA playoff bracket from defending state champion, No. 1-ranked Colquitt County.
"All we're thinking about right now is Wheeler," said Hornets' coach John Ford.
Roswell is at Wheeler next week. Walton will look to bounce back next week at Pope.
--
Walton 0 14 0 0 -- 14
Roswell 13 21 14 0 -- 48
1st
R -- Jayden Comma 5 pass from Quintarius Neely (kick failed)
R -- Nick Stelton 11 pass from Neely (Turner Barckhoff kick) 13-0 -- 1:40
2nd
R -- Comma 62 pass from Neely (Barckhoff kick) -- 11:35
W -- K.K. Brooks 72 pass from Addison Shoup (Johnny Randall kick)
R -- Sheldon Evans 24 pass from Neely (Barckhoff kick) 27-7 7:22
R -- Kendrick Jackson 45 pass from Neely (Barckhoff kick) 34-7, 2:54
W -- Brooks 3 run (Randall kick) 34-14, 1:08
3rd
R -- Evans 24 run (Barckhoff kick) 41-7
4th
R -- Evans 13 run (Barckhoff kick) 48-14
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