The ranked teams in Class 5A are pretty good. They score a lot of points. They don’t give up very many points, at least their first units don’t.
It was evident again this week, as all eight ranked teams who played won their game by decisive margins. The average margin of victory was 35 points.
Nowhere was the can-opening more evident than No. 1 Warner Robins, which beat Class 7A Camden County 77-34. That’s a 43-point win over a good, well-coached team from a higher classification. And the game was tied at 21-21 before the Demons got serious.
The points came from everywhere. Quarterback Christon Lane threw four touchdown passes and ran for another. Malcolm Brown and Fred Perry each rushed for two touchdowns and Cam Flowers got one. Daveon Walker caught two TDs and Deuce Petty and D.K. Sturn caught one apiece. Jay Carter had a scoop-and-score.
The points were the most scored by Warner Robins since 1976, when the Demons put a 90-0 whipping on Jordan.
The other two Region 1 powers – No. 4 Coffee and No. 6 Ware County were off this week. They play this week in Douglas.
Region 7: In the other power league, all three ranked teams won easily in their league openers.
No. 2 Cartersville beat Cass 43-7 as Jake Parker threw for two touchdown and Malachi Jeffries ran for two scores . … No. 7 Calhoun trounced Hiram 63-17 in a contest that included two long punt returns by Cole Speer. Gage Leonard ran for three touchdowns and Caden Williams added two more. … No. 9 Blessed Trinity led 27-0 at halftime and walloped Woodland 40-3.
It should get interesting this week when Calhoun and Blessed Trinity play in Roswell.
Region 3: No. 3 Creekside (5-1) had too much firepower for Forest Park and rolled to a 63-7 win. The Seminoles rushed for 386 yards and seven touchdowns and threw for 119 yards and two scores. Quarterback Nyqua Lett completed 8 of 14 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 56 yards and one touchdown. Kamauri Davis carried 11 times for 145 yards and three scores. … No. 5 Woodward Academy (6-0) got a pair of touchdown runs from Damari Alston and a 10-yard fumble return from Myles Houston in a 24-7 win over Jonesboro. Lee Johnson kicked a 40-yard field goal for the War Eagles, who spotted the Cardinals a 7-0 lead on the 90-yard pass to Malcolm Simmons from Chadrick Gardner. Woodward and Creekside don’t play until the final week of the season.
Region 5: No. 8 St. Pius (4-2) ran past Southwest DeKalb 33-13 and No. 10 Decatur (6-0) blanked Lithonia 28-0 in the league’s showcase games. … Chamblee (5-1) beat Dunwoody 38-7 and retained possession of the prize Golden Spike trophy. The Bulldogs scored 24 points off four first-half Dunwoody turnovers. … King finally got in the win column by beating Stone Mountain 26-9.
In other interesting games played Friday:
Region 2: Whitewater (5-1) overcame an early 21-0 deficit and earned a huge win by beating Griffin 39-35. The Wildcats answered with four straight touchdowns and kicked a field goal to take a 32-21 lead, but Griffin answered to score twice and took the lead on a drive following a recovered fumble. Whitewater scored the game-winning touchdown on a Logan Griffin run, one of his two TDs, and held on to stop the Bears on fourth-and-2 inside the 10 with little time remaining to seal the win. Whitewater is 5-1 for the first time since 2013. … Starr’s Mill (4-2) methodically defeated Northgate 27-0, as Brandon Mathis and Greigh Joseph each ran for two touchdowns. The Panthers play Griffin on Oct. 15 and are at Whitewater on Oct. 22.
Region 4: Jones County got 201 yards passing and three touchdowns from quarterback John Alan Richter and beat Locust Grove 49-0. The Greyhounds (3-2) have won back-to-back games for the first time all year. … Dutchtown (4-2) edged Eagle’s Landing 20-18 and appears headed for a season-ending showdown against Jones County.
Region 6: New Manchester (3-2) survived a 13-6 scare from Maynard Jackson to retain a piece of first place. Co-leader Villa Rica (3-2) slipped past Chapel Hill 24-20.
Region 8: Clarke Central (3-2) held on to beat Eastside 13-6 in a game that wasn’t decided until Bilal Jones intercepted a pass late in the fourth quarter that allowed the Gladiators to run out the clock. The tough, physical game was heavy on defense. Clarke scored on a 3-yard run from Antonio Jewell Jr., who had caught a 36-yard pass from Lucian Anderson III on the previous play. Anderson posted Clarke’s the first touchdown by picking up a fumble and running it in for the score. Eastside’s only points came from a pair of Rodney Williams field goals.
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