Class 5A blog: Another field day for ranked teams

It was another uneventful night for the ranked teams in Class 5A this week, as six of the seven clubs in action won their games. The only loss by a ranked team came against a higher-ranked team.

With one week left in the regular season, only two of the region championships have been determined: Starr’s Mill in Region 2 and Clarke Central in Region 8. The remaining six leagues will crown their champion this week.

Here’s how the ranked teams fared on Friday night. No. 2 Warner Robins and No. 6 Coffee had their game cancelled because of COVID concerns at Coffee. No. 9 Clarke Central did not play.

No. 1 Blessed Trinity runs away: The top-ranked Titans brought out the big plays and rolled to a 48-0 win over Cass. Justice Haynes (55, 37 yards) and Evan Dickens (80, 67 yards) each scored twice and Englan Williams had a 48-yard touchdown. Duncan Reavis threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Brendan Hunt. Michael Mitchler had a scoop-and-score for the defense, which also got interceptions from Charlie McCoy and Drew Stephenson.

No. 3 Ware County eliminates Veterans: Thomas Castellanos ran for three touchdowns and threw for two others to lead the Gators to a 42-14 win over Veterans, eliminating the Warhawks from the playoffs. Cartevious Norton added a 60-yard touchdown run and Henry Bates added a field goal for Ware County (7-1), which raced to a 24-0 lead after one quarter.

No. 4 Cartersville turns back No. 5 Calhoun: Carlos Del Rio-Wilson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to help the Purple Hurricanes defeat rival Calhoun 31-14. Cartersville took a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter and got the clinching touchdown on a pass from Del Rio-Wilson to Quante Jennings, who earlier ran for a score.

Eighth straight win for No. 7 Starr’s Mill: The Panthers (8-1) got touchdowns from five different players in a 38-7 win over McIntosh. Brandon Mathis, Marc Stampley, Devin Barnett, Cole Bishop and William Yarbrough each scored a touchdown and Max Prozny kicked a field goal for the Region 3 champions. Starr’s Mill doesn’t play again until the first round of the state playoffs, as next week’s game with Northside Columbus has already been cancelled because of COVID.