Cartersville won the Region 7 title on Friday, its third in four years under coach Conor Foster, and 10th in the last 12 years. But this one was one of the most hard-earned.
The Purple Hurricane completed a 10-0 regular season by beating Dalton 42-21. It marked the program’s third unbeaten regular season under Foster, whose career record improved to 56-6.
Cartersville survived a series of close calls to win the regular-season championship. After beating rival Calhoun 21-17, the Purple Hurricanes survived an overtime test against Cass and beat Hiram on a missed extra point. The Canes trailed Dalton 21-7 in the second quarter before pulling away in the second half.
“First of all, all praise goes to God,” Foster said. “As for our kids, I’m humbled by their effort. We get everybody’s best shot, every week, and our kids responded and executed in the big moments. It’s very humbling and I’m very proud of their effort. Now we’ve got to refocus and get ready for the playoffs.”
Foster said this year’s team has been unselfish and that trait has been crucial in its success.
“We don’t have a lot of superstars and there aren’t a lot of egos on this team,” he said.
All teams in Region 7 have this week off and Cartersville will use the week to rest some bodies and get younger players additional reps they couldn’t take during the regular season.
“Every team is unique and we still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “We treat this week almost like a spring practice week and we’ll use it to continue to develop young players and coach these young guys up.”
Cartersville will open the playoffs at home next week against Centennial, the No. 4 seed from Region 6.
The other big news from Region 7 was the elimination of Calhoun, which was beaten by Cass 52-29 and will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1999, which was Hall of Fame coach Hal Lamb’s first season. Cass earned its way into the playoffs for the third straight year under coach Steve Gates and will be the No. 4 seed. Hiram is the No. 2 seed and Dalton is the No. 3 seed for the playoffs.
Warner Robins nails down Region 2 title: The No. 9 Demons beat Jones County 43-28 on Friday to secure the regular-season title, its first since 2020. Yes, Warner Robins was not the region champion the last two season, even though it reached the state title game both years and won it all in 2021.
Warner Robins quarterback Judd Anderson completed 23 of 35 passes for 233 yards and Rasean Dinkins rushed for 162 yards. Cam Flowers caught a pair of touchdown passes, one of them a 53-yarder.
Jones County quarterback Devon Edmonds completed 27 of 40 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns, but his lone interception came late in the first half and enabled the Demons to take a 16-point lead into the break. Zion Ragins caught nine passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
Harris County clinches Region 3: Harris County (8-1) beat Drew 32-0 on Thursday night and earned the top seed in the region when Northside Columbus beat McIntosh 7-3 on Friday. Harris County hosts McIntosh in the season finale. Harris County moved into the AJC’s rankings at No. 10.
Creekside claims first place in Region 5: The Seminoles (8-1) took care of business with a 64-6 win over Creekside and earned its fourth region title in seven years under coach Maurice Dixon. Creekside has lost only to national power Mater Dei (Calif.) this season. Mays (5-4) clinched the No. 2 seed by beating Banneker 35-0.
Vinson Berry completed 6 of 9 passes for 84 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Shane Kelley, in limited play. Freshman Gary Walker ran 16 times for 97 yards and one touchdown and Roderick McCrary gained 81 yards on six carries and one touchdown before taking the night off. Ricky McCrary and Elijah Ray both had six tackles and freshman Tavarre Terrell had two sacks.
Loganville earns third seed in Region 8: Loganville beat Flowery Branch 32-28 and earned the No. 3 seed in coach Gene Cathcart’s first season. The Red Devils produced 497 yards of total offense – 183 rushing and three touchdowns for Joseph Battles -- behind the offensive line of Jake Taylor, Caleb Dabney, Devon West, Joseph Barnes, Henry Simpson and Carter Hayes. Coach Gene Cathcart was effusive in his praise of offensive line coach Jed Aldridge and assistant Dylan Robbins.
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