Troy University will be getting a good quarterback from Mount Pisgah Christian in a couple of years.
But Jacob Cendoya, a junior who is committed to the Trojans, won't play that position in college. Not because he can't. Mount Pisgah coach Mike Forester compared him this week to Russell Wilson, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback who has proven that Cendoya's height of 5 feet 11 inches is fine if the other skills are present.
The real barrier is baseball. Cendoya wants to be Troy's shortstop or center fielder. He showed off his hobby skills on Friday, when he rushed for 205 yards, passed for 283 and threw a game-winning 60-yard TD pass to Kai Williams with 1:07 left against Holy Innocents'
"He's just got such a good combination of quickness and speed," Forester said. "He has very good vision and can cut on a dime, and he's very hard to bring down. Those are the things that set him apart."
Cendoya made GHSF Daily's list of top individual performances for week one.
Top five
*Cartersville LB/WR Avery Showell had 10 tackles, four sacks, a fumble recovery and a safety in a 30-14 victory over Allatoona. Showell also had two receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown.
*East Coweta RB/FS/P Devonte Brown rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, returned a punt for 37 yards, intercepted two passes, made six tackles - three for losses - and averaged 42.0 yards on three punts in a 34-6 victory over Lovejoy. Brown is committed to Georgia Tech as a baseball player.
*Gordon Lee RB/DB Drew Cobb rushed for 272 yards on 13 carries and scored on runs of 64, 2, 62, 39 and 51 yards in a 42-28 win over Dade County. Cobb had 221 yards at halftime and scored on the 51-yarder on the first play of the second half. He didn't play any more offensive snaps. Cobb also plays safety and had an interception in the end zone and a sack for a 14-yard loss.
*Mount Pisgah Christian QB Jacob Cendoya rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries and passed for 283 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning 60-yarder, with 1:07 left, in a 43-36 victory over Holy Innocents'. Cendoya was 9-of-13 passing.
*Taylor County RB Lyn-J Dixon rushed for 313 yards on 24 carries and scored all five of his team's touchdowns in a 35-21 victory over Terrell County.
Best of the rest
*Allatoona RB Charles Anderson rushed for 236 yards on 34 carries in a 30-14 loss to No. 1-ranked Cartersville of Class AAAA.
*Archer LB Quinn Miller had 11 tackles, three for losses totaling 23 yards, and two QB hurries in a 27-14 loss to McEachern.
*Benedictine MLB Chandler White had 15 tackles, one for a loss, a sack and three forced fumbles in a 24-7 victory over Glynn Academy.
*B.E.S.T. Academy WR/S Katerian Legrone had six receptions for 209 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-24 loss to Landmark Christian. From his safety position, Legrone had two tackles, one for a loss, and forced a fumble, which he recovered.
*Blessed Trinity PK/P Brooks Hosea had two touchdowns, two Aussie-style punts inside the 20-yard line, one at the 1-yard line, and made a 50-yard field goal in a 22-18 victory over St. Pius. TB/LB Steele Chambers rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries and had eight tackles.
*Brookwood RB Dane Black rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries in a 37-23 victory over North Gwinnett.
*Cairo PK/P Cole Phillips made field goals of 43, 26 and 33 yards, had four touchbacks, and kicked a 51-yard punt in a 23-12 victory over Thomasville. Phillips attempted a 58-yard field goal, but missed.
*Calvary Day DL Nolan Day had four tackles for losses and two sacks in a 20-0 victory over Islands.
*Carrollton LB Jeremiah Pierce had 13 tackles, including 3.5 for losses, and a fumble recovery in a 16-6 victory over Newnan.
*Carver (Atlanta) QB Octavious Battle rushed for 58 yards, passed for 174 and punted four times for a 40.0 average in a 41-7 victory over Lithonia.
*Central Gwinnett RB Josh Samuel rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries in a 54-21 loss to South Gwinnett.
*Cherokee LB Jack Carroll had 18 tackles, two for losses, one sack and a forced fumble (that he recovered) in a 44-26 loss to North Cobb.
*Cook RB Brandon Doe rushed for 190 yards on 33 carries in a 21-14 overtime loss to Brooks County.
*Darlington CB/RB Elijah McKoy intercepted three passes, rushed for 47 yards and scored a touchdown in a 51-0 victory over Gaston, Ala.
*Grady QB Caylin Newton was 18-of-25 passing for 321 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 69 yards and two scores in a 53-0 victory over North Atlanta.
*Greater Atlanta Christian PK/P Brooks Buce made a 54-yard field goal, put five of six kickoffs into the end zone and
*Habersham Central RB Michael Babers rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries in a 45-13 victory over East Hall, Habersham's first opening-game win since 2011.
*Hardaway OLB Michael Gentry had four sacks and a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown in a 21-14 victory over Troup. Antonio Campbell intercepted two passes, one in the end zone to preserve the win, and averaged 41.6 yards on five punts, putting two inside the 20-yard line.
*Houston County QB Jake Fromm was 26-of-36 passing for 414 yards and four touchdowns in a 26-14 victory over Mary Persons. All four TD passes went to WR Amari Colbert, who had 10 catches for 168 yards.
*Jones County WR Nick Singleton had 11 receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown in a 21-14 loss to Lee County.
*KIPP Atlanta Collegiate DB/RB Geronda Hall scored on punt returns of 55 and 35 yards, an interception return of 30 yards and a run of 20 yards in a 47-0 victory over Fulton Leadership Academy.
*Kell LB Solon Page III had six solo tackles, three for 7 yards in losses, in a 20-13 victory over Tucker. Kell held Tucker to 78 yards rushing.
*Lakeside (Atlanta) RB/SS/LB Maxwell Guggemos rushed for 171 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries in a 36-22 victory over Dunwoody.
*Lanier RB Marcko Baity rushed for 268 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries in a 34-13 victory over Northview.
*Mill Creek QB Cameron Turley was 16-of-27 passing for 304 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-27 victory over Colquitt County that ended the Packers' 30-game winning streak.
*Mount de Sales RB Adrian Hardwick rushed for 151 yards on seven carries and scored on runs of 39, 32 and 41 yards in a 48-6 victory over Pacelli.
*Norcross LB Bryce Bowen had nine tackles, two hits behind the line, a sack and a punt-block recovery in a 46-14 victory over Walton.
*North Cobb RB/WR Quannie Green rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and caught six passes for 86 yards in a 44-26 victory over Cherokee.
*North Forsyth QB Ben Bales was 15-of-22 passing for 263 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-14 victory over Sequoyah.
*North Hall RB Kyle Bacus rushed for 199 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries in a 35-28 victory over Chestatee.
*North Murray RB Brady Harper rushed for 149 yards and four touchdowns on 11 carries, all in the first half, of a 49-14 victory over Christian Heritage.
*Northwest Whitfield QB Luke Shiflett was 15-of-19 passing for 261 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries in a 49-24 victory over Ringgold.
*Prince Avenue WR/S Noah Campbell returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, had two receptions for 56 yards and made two tackles for losses in a 35-14 victory over Aquinas.
*Randolph-Clay RB Quailyn Starling rushed for 216 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries in a 36-6 victory over Abbeville, Ala.
*Ringgold RB/SS Ty Jones rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on four carries, caught a 12-yard pass and a two-point conversion, had his team's only two sacks and intercepted a pass in a 49-24 loss to Northwest Whitfield.
*Riverdale QB Joseph Cambridge was 24-of-36 passing for 388 yards and five touchdowns in a 40-12 victory over North Clayton. WR Gregory White had nine catches for 169 yards and three TDs.
*St. Pius RB/LB Grant Holloman rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, had seven tackles (one TD-saving tackle) and blocked an extra point in a 22-18 loss to Blessed Trinity.
*Southeast Whitfield RB/LB Cody Gillian rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns on six carries and made eight tackles in a 49-0 victory over Coahulla Creek.
*Thomas County Central PK Lauren Pearson made four extra points and became the first female player in school history to score points in a football game in a 48-7 victory over Worth County.
*Thomasville WR/S Charlie Thomas had 12 tackles, one for a loss, two pass breakups, one interception (returned 45 yards for a touchdown), two forced fumbles (one recovered) and two catches for 14 yards in a 23-12 loss to Cairo.
*Tift County QB Griffin Collier, playing only the first half, was 8-of-9 passing for 225 yards and two touchdowns, both to Rashod Bateman (four catches, 147 yards), in a 41-0 victory over South Effingham.
*Towers DL Devonte Wyatt had 11 solo tackles, four assists, 4.5 sacks, six total stops behind the line, caused a fumble, blocked a punt and got a safety in a 6-2 loss to Forest Park.
*Veterans MLB Josh Lee had 14 solo tackles and two assists in a 10-0 loss to Northgate.
*Woodward Academy LB K.J. Phillips had 10 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery in a 37-16 victory over Westminster.
Lines of distinction
*Etowah's offensive line of RT Nic Johnson, RG Matthew Morgan, C Colby Horton, LG Joel Happel, LT Gabe Thornburg, TE Blaine Miller and TE Nick Oliver opened holes for 353 yards in total offense in the first half alone of a 56-0 victory over Campbell. Tyray Devezin scored on a 79-yard run through a gaping hole on the first play from scrimmage.
*Ridgeland's offensive line of TE Luke Edwards, T Fred Norman, G Christian Gentry, C Nathan Pickard, G Will Hodges and T Hunter Bain paved the way for 334 yards rushing (9.0 yards per carry) and 432 total yards and allowed no sacks in a 49-7 victory over Adairsville. Ridgeland's Jalyn Shelton benefited most, rushing for 159 yards and four touchdowns.
*Villa Rica's offensive line of LT Ryan McLarty, LG Tyler Cohran, C Austin Bonds, RG Tykell Cox, RT Max McGuire and TE Corbin Johnson blocked for 443 yards of total offense, 335 rushing, in a 20-13 victory over Central of Carroll County. Villa Rica RB Elijah Fluker benefited most, rushing for 211 yards and two touchdowns.
*Pickens' offensive line, nicknamed the Boars, of LT Connor Head, LG Myles Bramlett, C Josh Holbert, RG Andrew Hasbrouck, RT Zayne Burtz, TE Colby McDowell and TE Alex Pittman in three quarters of play paved the way for 492 total yards of offense, 349 of it rushing, in a 49-19 victory over Chattahoochee. Pickens averaged 9.11 yards per play.
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