What was supposed to be top-ranked Hughes’ toughest challenge in Region 5-6A play turned out to be not much of a contest.
The Panthers (9-0, 6-0) clinched their second consecutive region championship with a 68-14 victory Friday night against South Paulding in a battle of unbeaten teams in region play.
South Paulding (6-3, 5-1) took a 7-0 lead on the game’s opening possession, but Hughes led 48-14 at halftime and cruised to its highest-scoring game of the season. Things were going so well for the Panthers that they were successful on a two-point conversion attempt from the 23-yard line (after two penalties) in the final seconds of the first half.
Jekail Middlebrook rushed for 258 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries, and Prentiss “Air” Noland was 16-of-23 passing for 287 yards and four touchdowns.
Hughes has outscored its six region opponents 321-24 with three shutouts, and its closest game in that stretch was a 40-7 victory over Alexander on Sept. 30. The Panthers’ closest game overall was a 47-21 win over Class 7A McEachern on Aug. 26.
“Sometimes when we fire on all cylinders, we kind of connect a lot and I know we can put up points,” Hughes coach Daniel Williams said. “Other days it comes out like, man, I didn’t expect the number to be this high.”
Hughes, the state runner-up in 6A last season, closes out the regular season Friday night at home against Paulding County, which will be the region’s No. 4 seed. South Paulding will face Douglas County in a game that determines second and third place.
Hughes was one of five Class 6A teams that clinched region championships Friday.
Fourth-ranked Woodward Academy won the Region 3 championship with an 11-10 victory over Mundy’s Mill. The championship is Woodward’s seventh in nine seasons. Myles Graham scored on 10-yard run with 10:27 for the War Eagles, who trailed 10-3 at halftime. Graham also scored a safety on a sack. Mundy’s Mill fell into a tie for third place with Morrow, and those teams will meet this week to determine the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds behind Woodward and Lovejoy.
No. 7 Marist clinched its third consecutive region title with a three-overtime 30-27 victory over St. Pius in Region 4. Afton Mosley blocked a potential game-winning field goal in the second overtime, and Jack Euart scored on a 6-yard run on the final play of the third overtime. Marist and No. 2 seed St. Pius will be joined in the playoffs by two teams from a group that includes North Atlanta, Riverwood and Dunwoody.
Sixth-ranked Rome continued its dominance of Region 6 and cruised to the championship with a 30-0 victory over Creekview. It was the third shutout in five region games for the Wolves, who have outscored their opponents 246-26 in that span. Rome has won two consecutive region titles and five in seven seasons. River Ridge, Allatoona, Sequoyah and Creekview are in a tight bunch of teams contending for the other three spots. If Allatoona beats River Ridge, it will be the No. 2 seed and Creekview is likely to be eliminated. If Allatoona loses, it probably will be the odd team out.
No. 4 Gainesville rallied from a 21-7 third-quarter deficit and scored the game’s final 27 points to beat North Forsyth 34-21 to win the Region 8 championship. Darius Cannon put Gainesville ahead for good with 69-yard touchdown reception from Baxter Wright with 4:18 remaining. It is the first region title since 2013 for the Red Elephants, who are 9-0 in their first season under former Hoover, Ala., coach Josh Niblett. North Forsyth will be the region’s No. 2 seed, followed by Shiloh and Lanier.
The other three region titles will be decided this weekend in winner-take-all games between the top two teams in Regions 1, 2 and 7.
Unranked Northside-Warner will take on No. 2 Thomas County Central for the Region 1 championship. No. 8 Brunswick and unranked Effingham County will face off in Region 3, and No. 3 Roswell will meet unranked Alpharetta in Region 7. The losers of those games will be No. 2 seeds in every case except possibly Region 1, where Northside could drop into a three-way tie with Lee County and Houston County that would go to the region tiebreakers.
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