Washington County quarterback A.J. Gray had a historic night against Pierce County on Friday.
The senior, who has committed to Georgia Tech, rushed 17 times for 442 yards and eight touchdowns as the No. 1-ranked Golden Hawks slammed unranked Pierce County 62-35. He also completed 4 of 8 passes for 27 yards.
The 440 yards rushing is the fifth highest total in the history of the Georgia High School Association. Pepperell's Devyn Collins set the mark earlier this season with 485 yards against Rockmart.
The eight touchdowns tied him for second-best, behind only the 10 scored by Calhoun's Kenneth Moore set in 1948. Gray scored on runs of 48, 1, 89, 20, 75, 68, 47 and 52 yards.
"He had one of those nights," coach Joel Ingram said. "He was just making plays and had some great blocking. He was able to break some runs."
Pierce County (10-3) was led by quarterback Stetson Bennett, who completed 22 of 48 for 272 yards, but was intercepted four times. Michael Bush (114 yards) and Josh Henderson (102) each surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark.
Washington County (13-0) will play No. 3 Blessed Trinity (13-0) in the semifinals. A coin flip will determine the site of the game between the two region champions.
Blessed Trinity 28, Jefferson 21 (OT)
Blessed Trinity tight end Pat Jasinksi, who has made a habit of making big catches all season, came up with the biggest on Friday when he snagged a 15-yarder from Conor Davis in overtime to help the No. 3 Titans (13-0) outlast No. 5 Jefferson 28-21.
Jefferson failed to score on its possession in overtime. A fourth-and-5 pass was thrown too low to catch, sealing the outcome for Blessed Trinity, who is headed to the semifinals for the first time.
The touchdown pass was one of three thrown by Davis, who connected with Matthew Higgins for two scores. The Titans also got a touchdown run from Milton Shelton.
Jefferson (12-1) scored on a run by Sammy Williams and two touchdown passes from Evan Shirreffs to Rodney Carr. The Dragons had a chance to go ahead midway in the fourth quarter but their field goal try was blocked.
Calhoun 19, Elbert County 17
Calhoun won the game when Elbert County quarterback Mecole Hardman was knocked out of the end zone for a safety, giving the No. 2 Yellow Jackets (13-0) at 19-17 win.
With the score tied at 17-17 with just over two minutes remaining, Calhoun punted the ball dead at the Elbert 2. Hardman bobbled the snap in shotgun formation and was chased out of the end zone by the Calhoun defense.
It looked like Elbert was going to get the ball back when they forced Calhoun into a fourth-and-4 at its own 42 with 1:01 remaining. But Elbert was flagged for having too many players on the field. The penalty gave Calhoun a first down and allowed quarterback Kaelen Riley to take a knee and run out the clock.
Calhoun took the lead on a 48-yard pass from Riley to Carson Brown. Elbert County (9-4) went ahead 10-7 on a 36-yard field goal from Cross York and a 7-yard run by Hardman. Calhoun tied it before the half on a 29-yard field goal by Erwin Flores.
Calhoun regained the lead on Riley’s 13-yard touchdown run, but Elbert tied it on an 83-yard pass from Hardman to Tra Barnett.
There were plenty of standout performances. Riley completed 15 of 19 passes, with two interceptions, for 160 yards and rushed 23 times for 85 yards. Cole Jackson carried 19 times for 88 yards for Calhoun.
Hardman threw for 172 yards and rushed for 29 yards.
Westminster 14, Hart County 0
Running back Zay Malcome scoerd on a 34-yard touchdown run and threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Neil Kimble in the fourth quarter to put the game away to lead No. 6 Westminster to a 14-0 win over No. 8 Hart County.
The win puts Westminster (12-1) in the Final Four for the first time since 1996. Westminster posted its first shutout and has allowed only 22 points in the playoffs. Cole Haverty intercepted a pass for the Wildcats.
Westminster will play at Calhoun in the semifinal round.
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