Kell’s Kemari Nix threw four touchdown passes, Tyriq Green ran for 118 yards and a touchdown, and the Longhorns’ defense stuffed visiting Sprayberry most of the night in a 40-7 victory Friday in the teams’ final tune-ups before region play begins.
The victory was Kell’s 10th straight against its east Cobb rival and its third consecutive win this season after a loss to Class 7A No. 6 Parkview in its opening game. Sprayberry, which had defeated Campbell, Paulding County and River Ridge in its first three games, was trying to reach 4-0 for the first time since 1989.
Nix threw touchdowns passes of 26 and 13 yards to Landon Mays on the Longhorns’ first two possessions, and that turned out to be more than enough.
Sprayberry went three-and-out on its first two possessions and didn’t get a first down until a 15-yard penalty on Kell on what would have been a third-and-12 late in the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets finished the first quarter with one yard of total offense and had just 13 at halftime, when Kell held a 20-0 lead.
“They set the tone, they got hits on the quarterback and they had a bunch of three-and-outs to start the game,” Kell coach Bobby May said of his defense. “They really did set the tone, obviously. We gave up one in the middle of the third, but they played great and I’m proud of the way they played.”
Peyton Zachary caught an 8-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and a 4-yarder in the back corner of the end zone early in the third to give the Longhorns a 33-0 lead. In between, Green had a 36-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the third quarter. Moonie Gipson finished the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter. Kell finished with 410 yards of total offense.
Nix completed 13 of 15 passes for 138 yards. He won his third consecutive game filling in for regular starter Bryce Clavon, who has been away from the team while he played for the Team USA baseball team that has been competing in the World Baseball Softball Confederation U-18 Baseball World Cup in Taipei, Taiwan.
“We’re excited that he was able to step in and do what he was supposed to do,” May said. “Now he gets to go back to playing defense and playing running back and kinda being all over the place, hopefully. So we’re excited about that.”
Clavon is expected to be back in the lineup for the Longhorns’ next game, a Region 6-5A contest at home against Centennial on Sept. 22.
Sprayberry got a little bit of an offensive spark when Austin Almy came in at quarterback on the Yellow Jackets’ final possession of the first half. Almy completed his first two passes for 26 yards and, combined with a penalty, moved the ball out near midfield, but the drive stalled at the Sprayberry 43 in the final minute of the half.
Almy played the remainder of the game and accounted for the Yellow Jackets’ only points when he threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Jason Pitts midway through the third quarter, three plays after Kell had taken the 33-0 lead. Almy completed five of 10 passes for 134 yards. Aside from that, Sprayberry was held to minus-16 yards.
Sprayberry is off next week and will host Blessed Trinity in the teams’ Region 7-6A opener on Sept. 22.
Sprayberry - 0-0-7-0 - 7
Kell - 14-6-20-0 - 40
First quarter
K - Landon Mayes 26 pass from Kemari Nix (Colin Mitchell kick), 7:42
K - Mayes 13 pass from Nix (Mitchell kick), 3:14
Second quarter
K - Peyton Zachary 8 pass from Nix (run failed), 3:28
Third quarter
K - Tyriq Green 36 run (Mitchell kick), 9:55
K - Zachary 4 pass from Nix (kick failed), 8:16
S - Jason Pitts 62 pass from Austin Almy (Robert Madayag kick), 7:18
K - Moonie Gipson (Mitchell kick), 4:32
