Roswell 32, Walton 31

Roswell scored a touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:26 remaining and then blocked Walton’s potential game-winning field goal attempt with three seconds left to preserve a 32-31 victory over the second-ranked Raiders in a battle of the top two teams in Region 4-AAAAAAA Friday in Marietta.

Kamonty Jett’s 8-yard touchdown run pulled Roswell within 31-30, and his tough run up the middle on the two-point try gave the Hornets the win.

“When you’re on the road in a hostile environment, you’ve got to take a chance, man,” Roswell coach Matt Kemper said. “They’re too dangerous to give them the football and hope to contain them.”

Walton drove to the Roswell 9 on its final possession, but Hornets linebacker Khaleed Mobley pushed through the line and blocked Jack Westbrock’s 26-yard field goal attempt.

The victory put Roswell (7-1, 3-0) in sole possession of first place in 4-AAAAAA. The Hornets can wrap up their third region title in four seasons with a win next weekend against Woodstock. Walton (7-1, 2–1) fell into a tie for second place with Cherokee, which it faces next week.

Jett scored three touchdowns in the final 14 minutes of a game in which Hornets rallied twice from two-score deficits. After being held to 52 yards on 14 carries in the first half, Jett added 99 in the second and finished with 151 yards on 34 carries.

“I’m sure he thought that ball was getting heavy, but he just ran hard, tough and physical,” Kemper said. “We’re going to have plenty of ice for him tomorrow.”

Jett’s first touchdown, on a 4-yard run with 1:18 to play in the third quarter, gave Roswell its first lead, at 17-14.

Walton got touchdown passes by Austin Kirksey on each of its next two possessions for a 28-17 lead, but Jett answered with a 2-yard touchdown run to cut it to 28-24 with 7:44 left. Westbrock’s 22-yard field goal less than three minutes later made it 31-24 and set the stage for the dramatic final minutes.

In a game that featured 63 points and more than 900 yards of total offense, it was a couple of defensive stops by the Hornets in the second quarter that made the difference.

Walton scored the game’s first two touchdowns and still had a 14-3 lead and a chance to seize control late in the first half, but Walton’s Dominick Blaylock was dropped for a 9-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

Jett ran for 5 yards on the first play of the Hornets’ ensuing possession, and Ethan Roberts threw an 85-yard touchdown pass to John Copenhaver on second down to cut the lead to 14-10 with 3:30 left in the half.

Walton drove inside the Roswell 5 again on its next possession but had a 25-yard field-goal attempt blocked.

“It made all the difference in the world, even though you didn’t know it at the time.” Kemper said of the defensive stands. “We felt like if this thing got above 28 points, that probably was not going to be good for us. But our kids showed a ton of resiliency and a ton of character and battled back when they were down.”.

Roswell finished with 445 yards of total offense. Roberts was 9-of-24 passing for 210 yards. Jacob Jarrett and Copenhaver each had four catches for 111 yards.

Kirksey was 17-of-30 passing for 307 yards for Walton, which had 489 total yards. D.J. Soyoye ran for 84 yards on 13 carries. Blaylock had 189 yards on nine receptions, threw a 30-yard pass and ran for a 3-yard touchdown.

Roswell - 0-10-7-15 - 32

Walton - 14-0-7-10 - 31

First quarter

W - Dominick Blaylock 3 run (Jack Westbrock kick), 8:16

W - Austin Kirksey 2 run (Westbrock kick), 1:52

Second quarter

R - Caden Long 20 field goal, 8:20

R - John Copenhaver 85 pass from Ethan Roberts (Long kick), 3:30

Third quarter

R - Kamonty Jett 4 run (Long kick), 1:18

W - Kendall Alford 4 pass from Kirksey (Westbrock kick), 0:00

Fourth quarter