Douglas County 49, Mays 41
Douglas County scored early and often as it outlasted Mays in a war of attrition while battling weather delays to bring the Great Atlanta Bash to a close Saturday at Midtown.
“I feel happy for a win, but there’s a lot of defensive fixing to do,” said head coach Johnny White. “We gave up too many big plays tonight. The offense is playing well.”
Sire Hardaway, a 5-foot-11, 151-pound junior quarterback led the Douglas County offense passing for two touchdowns and rushing for one in the victory.
“He worked hard and ran track and worked hard in the weight room,” White said of Hardaway’s offseason. “He became such a mental giant in terms of learning our offense and knowing exactly where the ball needs to go. He did a great job tonight as usual.”
Hardaway opened scoring on a 1-yard run to give the TIgers a 7-0 lead. He passed to Chris Morgan (64 yards) and Monte Gooden (63 yards) for touchdowns and added a 2-yard rushing touchdown.
“It’s just tackling,” White said of focuses heading into next week. “Ball security on offense, tackling on defense and just routing to the football. If we do that, I think we will be fine.”
Douglas County scored on a 4-yard run from James Johnson, a 5-yard run from Mike Hastie and an 86-yard interception returned for a touchdown from Khaleb Bridges which put Douglas County up 49-28.
Mays quarterback Saulaman Evans passed to Jeremiah Carroll twice for touchdowns while rushing for one touchdown. Carroll added a 96-yard kickoff return with 7:29 left in the game to cut into the lead 49-34. Quintarion Kelley scored on an 8-yard run and caught a 20-yard pass for a touchdown for Mays.
“Coach (Tony) Slaton has done a great job with them,” White said. “I told him that his guys have a lot of fight and I’m happy to watch them be the Mays that they used to be. I am just happy to get out here with a win.”
Carver-Atlanta 44, Riverdale 24
Quarterback Bryce Bowens did a little bit of everything for Carver-Atlanta as the Panthers moved past Riverdale 44-24 in the penultimate game of the Great Atlanta Bash Saturday.
“Well, it feels great anytime you get a win,” said head coach Darren Myles. “But our guys just found a way. It was kind of sluggish for us. Credit to coach (Rodney) Hackney and Riverdale. They played a great first half.”
Bowens opened scoring on a 44-yard touchdown pass to Zyeek Mender and then weathered a Riverdale scoring streak which gave the Raiders a 12-8 lead following a three-yard touchdown run from Autavius Ison with 2:03 left in the first half.
“Bryce is a competitor, for one,” said Myles. “He is strong. He could play linebacker if we needed him to. He can be more of a running threat if we needed him to as well. He’s a gamer. He’s always hard on himself and he takes coaching well.”
Bowens scored on a run from three yards out with :27 left before half to put Carver up 14-12. His 1-yard touchdown run capped a 7-play, 65-yard drive and gave the Panthers a 22-12 lead. Bowens scored on a 16-yard run which capped a 74-yard drive to give Carver a 28-12 lead. Carver took a 36-14 lead on a 23-yard pass from Bowens to Deandre Buchannon.
Riverdale got into the game on a 42-yard run from Chandler Fogler to trail 36-18. Another pass from Bowens to Mender, this time a 46-yard touchdown, put the game out of reach. Riverdale scored late on a 42-yard pass from Fogler to Ison to bring the game to its final margin.
South Atlanta 33, Chapel Hill 9
South Atlanta moved to 2-0 on the season after its 33-9 victory over Chapel Hill in the opening game of the Great Atlanta Bash’s triple-header Saturday.
“The first game you want to get that W and you feel good to do it,” said head coach Mike Woolridge. “It feels like we left a lot of points on the field. You just don’t want to do that down the road. It can hurt you if you play teams that can make you pay by leaving points on the field.”
South Atlanta went up on a 5-yard run from Keyjun Brown with 9:40 left in the second quarter. Quarterback Jontez Adams scored on a 39-yard run to extend the Hornets’ lead.
“Jontez has the highest football IQ on the field,” Woolridge said. “He is a smart player. Him and my running back Keyjun Brown too. They are like having two really good running backs back there but one can throw the ball.”
Adams scored again on a 44-yard run on the first play of the second half to take control of the game. Adams scored on a 16-yard touchdown run and Brown added a 20-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach.
Ricky Shannon scored on a 3-yard run late in the game for Chapel Hill.
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