Marietta quarterback Tyler Hughes fueled the Blue Devils to their third-straight victory Friday night at Northcutt Stadium in a 38-12 win over Parkview. The uncommitted senior completed 13-of-19 pass attempts for 241 yards and finished with four touchdowns—bringing his season total to 16 touchdowns through Marietta’s first four games. Wide receiver Kamryn Perry led with a game-high 105 receiving yards and he hauled in Hughes’ first two touchdown throws. The Blue Devils missed a PAT and then failed to convert a 2-point conversion and the lead remained 12-0.
Parkview cut into the deficit late in the second quarter with an 80-yard touchdown run by Khyair Spain, but the Panthers failed their attempted 2-point conversion and Marietta maintained a 12-6 lead. Marietta got the ball back and then Hughes found Zuri Johnson on the final play of the first half to give Marietta an 18-6 lead.
Parkview’s opening series of the second half ended with a fumbled snap on a 41-yard field goal try and Hughes made the Panthers pay six plays later with a touchdown pass to Camden Overton that gave Marietta a 25-6 lead. The Panthers tried to chip into the lead and got a 9-yard touchdown pass from Colin Houck to Zion Taylor to bring it within 25-12, but Jace Arnold returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and Marietta was able to close out the 26-point victory.
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See the rest of the roundups below.
Class 7A
Collins Hill 42, Alpharetta 0
Collins Hill dominated on both sides of the ball to overwhelm visiting Alpharetta from start to finish. It was all but over after one quarter, as the Eagles jumped out to a 24-0 lead behind three Sam Horn touchdown passes to Cam Pedro, Cedric Nash, and Travis Hunter. They extended their advantage to 30-0 at halftime and 36-0 going into the fourth quarter. Horn finished with four touchdown passes in total, also connecting with Spenser Anderson from 16 yards out in the third quarter. Pedro also had a 26-yard touchdown run for Collins Hill.
Grayson 31, Harrison 20
Grayson took a 24-6 halftime and closed out the road victory to extend their winning streak to four games. The Rams built their lead with three rushing touchdowns—including a 4-yard score by Appalachian State-commit Derrell Farrar, a Joseph Stone Jr. touchdown run and a field goal by Jimmy Gonzalez with just seconds left in the first half. Harrison’s Nathan Vail returned an interception 68 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 24-13, but Grayson answered the the team’s fourth rushing touchdown of the game to take a 31-13 advantage into the final frame
Gainesville 34, Forsyth Central 7
Gainesville running back Naim Cheeks rushed for 242 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns in a rout of Forsyth Central. After a 300-yard passing performance last week, Red Elephants quarterback Baxter Wright passed for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns. A decisive win in their opener in Region 6-7A putting the rest on notice.
Denmark 20, North Forsyth 17
Denmark’s Jelani Miller and Treston Jordan provided pick-sixes on consecutive second-quarter plays for the Danes’ only points prior to quarterback Jacob Nelson’s game-winning 74-yard touchdown completion to Che Ojarikre in a narrow 20-17 victory over North Forsyth. Drew Clare (fumble recovery) and Kenon Dicks (interception on the final pass) also came up with key takeaways for Denmark in the defensive battle, during which North Forsyth forced a trio of turnovers as well.
North Paulding 35, Brookwood 33
The Wolfpack put the first points of the game on the board with a touchdown reception by senior wide receiver Hayden Smith. Brookwood only managed a field goal in the first quarter but a pair of second-quarter touchdowns from Dylan Lonergan to Kashon Carlton and Patrick Campbell put the Broncos up 17-7. North Paulding cut into the lead with a 19-yard touchdown rush by Jaylen Poe but remained down 20-14 heading into the half after a Brookwood field goal by JJ Silva. In the third, Boone Anderson regained the lead for the Wolfpack with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Smith, but Brookwood responded with a 17-yard touchdown rush by Kashon Carlton. A pair of fourth quarter scores, including another Anderson passing touchdown were enough to secure the victory as the Broncos failed to retake the lead.
Tift County 16, Irwin County 14
Tift County gained all 297 of its total yardage on the ground as Irwin County racked up 326 total yards, with 193 coming on the ground and 133 yards through the air. Tift County’s Zach Carter finished with 22 carries for 182 yards and two touchdowns and kicker Kevin Hernandez made a 27-yard field goal to give the Blue Devils the victory. Irwin County’s Mason Snyder finished with three catches for 89 yards and a touchdown and Demarkus Lundy accounted for a team-high 113 rushing yards off 17 carries to go with his touchdown. The two-time defending state champion Indians had two touchdowns called back for penalties and also fumbled at the Tift County 3-yard line in the narrow defeat.
South Forsyth 35, Lambert 13
Junior quarterback Ty Watkins connected with Joshua Nelson for two first-quarter touchdowns in South Forsyth’s Week 5 matchup with Lambert, and the visiting War Eagles maintained control throughout the night en route to a 35-13 victory. South Forsyth finished the first half with 177 yards on the ground, including a 42-yard touchdown on Watkins’ QB scramble and a rushing score from Samford-commit Gavin Morris, and Watkins found Morris on the War Eagles’ opening drive of the second half for their final points of the night.
East Coweta 36, Northgate 0
The ninth-ranked East Coweta Indians kept their undefeated season going by shutting out Northgate 36-0. Daniel Shoch passed to Amariyon Moss for a touchdown to open scoring. East Coweta led 33-0 at the half. Trey Bowles scored two rushing touchdowns, DJ Reid scored on a rushing touchdown and Lucas Labattag kicked a 42-yard field goal in the romp.
Class 6A
Chaminade-Madonna FL 7, Buford 0
Cambridge 7, Creekview 0
Zach Harris passed to Will Taylor for the game-winning touchdown (22 yards) with 10:29 left in the game and after previously being 0-9 versus Creekview, the Cambridge Bears have broken the losing streak and defeated the Grizzlies for the first time in school history.
Johns Creek 41, Sequoyah 20
Johns Creek quarterback Kyle Durham rushed for a touchdown and found Joshua Thompson for a 22-yard touchdown in the first half and kicker Mcrae Ball made field goals from 21 and 40 yards out to give the Gladiators a 20-6 halftime lead. Durham and Thompson connected again with 1:47 left and iced the game with a 13-yard touchdown.
Carrollton 56, Dalton 15
Senior quarterback MJ Morris had a pair of first quarter touchdowns to Terrell Carmichael and Ace Williamson to put Carrollton up early. In the second, Dalton’s Tyson Greenwade scored off a 7-yard rush to make it a 14-8 game, but Morris found Williamson again for an 11-yard score before connecting with Jaden Wolf for another score. With 1:20 left in the second, Morris scored his fifth touchdown of the game to give the Trojans a commanding 35-15 lead at the half. Morris would record two more touchdowns in the second half to end his stellar outing. He finished going 17-of-20 for 252 yards with six touchdown passes and a rushing score.
Brunswick 41, Islands 6
Brunswick rushed for four touchdowns in a romp of Islands Thursday. Leon Charlton had three carries for 12 yards and two touchdowns. Jayden Drayton has one touchdown on two carries and Ree Simmons rushed 13 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. Sutton Ellis was 1-of-3 passing for 16 yards and a touchdown. Jeffery Wayne was 3-of-3 passing for 71 yards. Chuckobe Hill caught 3 passed for 78 yards and a touchdown.
River Ridge 33, Chattahoochee 7
Senior running back Amehre Morrison rushed for three touchdowns in the first quarter in a romp of Chattahoochee. Senior Micah Martineau scored on a 30-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. With just over five minutes left in the game, junior kicker Santiago Lozano made a 31-yard field goal.
Class 5A
Decatur 26, Arabia Mountain 14 (Decatur head coach William Felton was named the Atlanta Falcons Coach of the Week earlier this week.)
Ware County 42, Bainbridge 15
Ware County quarterback Tommy Castellanos threw three touchdown passes to Jarvis Hayes, one to Garrick Griffin and also rushed in a 1-yard touchdown to cap a five-touchdown performance.. The Gators also got a 4-yard touchdown run by Cartevious Norton. Bainbridge scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter and their other points came via a safety and a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown.
Cartersville 24, Cherokee 14
The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes improved to 4-0 with an impressive home victory over Class 7A Cherokee. Running back Amari White rushed for three touchdowns and Jesus Gutierrez connected on a field goal to give Cartersville its margin. Cherokee quarterback AJ Swann threw two touchdown passes and put the Warriors ahead 14-10 before Cartersville closed out the victory with White’s second and third touchdown runs.
Dutchtown 16, Union Grove 7
Sim Singh gave Dutchtown a 3-0 lead with a 30-yard field goal in the first quarter. Union Grove was looking to tie it up in the second quarter, but Dutchtown roughed the kicker and Union Grove capitalized with a touchdown run after the miscue and took a 7-3 lead into the half. The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead with a Lamone Hill forced fumble that he returned for a touchdown to make it 9-7. Sophomore Bryce Clayvon added a 41-yard touchdown run with 44 seconds left in the third quarter that pushed the lead to 16-7.
Calhoun 56, Woodstock 16
Christian Lewis had himself a night and passed for three touchdowns while rushing for a pair of scores to lead the Yellow Jackets past Woodstock. Lewis ran for touchdowns of 2 and 1 yards and passed to Quin Smith (34 yards), Peyton Law (50) and Cole Speer (78) for touchdowns. Kobie Carney scored on runs of 61 and 1-yard and Gage Leonard scored on a 52-yard run.
Warner Robins 49, Houston County 9
Warner-Robins had little trouble during its 49-9 victory over crosstown rival Houston County. The No. 1-ranked Demons got the scoring started with a 59-yard run down from Malcolm Brown. Warner-Robins never let up. Fred Perry contributed two rushing scores, Brown had another, and Christon Lane had two touchdown passes to Antwan Jackson and Corey Petty. Houston County got a touchdown on the final play on a score by Simeon Askew.
Woodward Academy 55, Mundy’s Mill 13
Woodward Academy improved to 4-0 with a dominant 55-13 Week 5 win over host Mundy’s Mill. The visiting War Eagles were fresh off their bye week and held a 28-7 advantage at halftime of their Region 3 opener, then extended their lead to 55-7 by the end of the third quarter with continued success on offense and a pair of pick-sixes. Woodward Academy will travel to Banneker next week.
Blessed Trinity 24, Eagle’s Landing Christian 21
Blessed Trinity scored 24 unanswered points to erase a 21-0 deficit and pick up a road win over Eagle’s Landing Christian. It was all Eagles at the start, as they scored three touchdowns in the first 10 minutes of the game. Charlie Gilliam threw a 79-yard screen pass to Jacque Holley and scored on a four-yard keeper, while Eagle’s Landing Christian also got a three-yard touchdown run by Brandon Hood. It wasn’t long, however, until Blessed Trinity running back Justice Haynes took over. Haynes rushed for a pair of second-quarter scores--including one from 94 yards out--to help the Titans pull within 21-17 at halftime. The eventual game-winner came on a 19-yard run by Haynes with one minute left in the third quarter.
Class 4A
Flowery Branch 56, Hiram 0
Myles Ivey, Malik Dryden, and quarterback David Renard all rushed for a pair of touchdowns to lead Flowery Branch past Hiram. Quarterback David Renard was 5-of-10 passing for two touchdowns. Ivey had 22 carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Dryden had 13 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Flowery Branch travels to Jefferson Friday.
Westover 30, Early County 27
The back-and-forth battle between Westover and Early County featured seven lead changes, but it was junior quarterback Braylon Cook’s third-down pass to Lumumba Spears with 3:45 remaining in the game that put the Patriots on top for good. Cook then connected with Alex Ingram—who had hauled in a leaping catch to extend the drive moments earlier—for the successful two-point conversion and 30-27 final. The win is the program’s first under new head coach Adam Miller.
LaGrange 48, Kendrick 6
Host LaGrange led 41-0 at half and celebrated its first 4-0 start since 2007. AJ Tucker got the Grangers on the board with a 12-yard touchdown run and returned to the endzone before the half to make it 41-0. Magic Johnson also rushed in a 12-yard touchdown and Asa Leath scored on a goal-line touchdown that gave LaGrange a 34-0 lead.
Benedictine 51, Wayne County 7
Wayne County’s Jah Ross knotted the game early at 7-7 with a 55-yard rushing score before Benedictine seized control for the remainder of the Week 5 matchup. Justin Thomas rushed for 171 yards on 12 carries in the first half, including touchdown runs of 22, 46 and 10 yards, and the UGA baseball-commit hauled in an interception on defense as well. The Cadets, who led 44-7 at the break, improve to 2-2 with the win following an 0-2 start to the season.
Riverdale 14, Pebblebrook 14
Host Riverdale found itself tied with visiting Pebblebrook out of Class 7A at the end of regulation after Falcons kicker Jordan Neang’s 28-yard field goal attempt came up short, and head coach Rodney Hackney elected to end the game there. The game was knotted at halftime as well (7-7), and both Pebblebrook (4-0-1) and Riverdale (2-0-1) remain undefeated following the 14-14 final.
Carver-Columbus 43, Shaw 7
The Carver Tigers improved to 4-1 on the season with a decisive 43-7 victory over visiting Shaw. The home team outgained the Raiders by a margin of 386 yards to 87, including 113-15 passing and 273-67 on the ground.
Class 3A
Cedar Grove 47, Greater Atlanta Christian 0
Greater Atlanta Christian’s defense kept this game competitive for a while, but Cedar Grove scored 33 second-half points en route to a blowout of the visiting Spartans. Although the Saints did not produce an offensive touchdown until the second quarter, Jamar Graham’s 48-yard scoring strike to Trevon Ferrell opened the floodgates. Graham also threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Janiran Bonner. Both Rashod Dubinion and Demarcus Smith added a pair of touchdown runs for Cedar Grove.
Oconee County 20, Thomasville 6
Oconee County quarterback Jacob Wright passed to Darius Johnson Jr. on a short route and Johnson carried the ball 74 yards for a touchdown to give the Warriors a 7-6 lead in the second quarter. Oconee wouldn’t look back and Johnson would have more to say on defense. His interception returned for a touchdown pushed the lead to 14-6 and a 22-yard field goal from Gabe Valdez put the game further out of reach. His field goal with 4:25 left in the game was cushion.
North Hall 23, Chestatee 21
North Hall’s Luke Brown kicked a walk-off, game-winning 42-yard field goal to give the Trojans a thrilling home victory. North Hall had an early 14-0 lead, but Chestatee answered and went up 15-14 late in the second quarter following a 59-yard touchdown pass from Luke Bornhorst to Hunter Fauche. Chestatee was poised to increase its lead in the third quarter, but North Hall forced a fumble and recovered it in the endzone. The Trojans took advantage of the turnover and capped a scoring drive with a Kevin Rochester 3-yard touchdown and successful 2-point conversion that put North Hall up 20-15 with 10:04 left in the fourth quarter. Bornhorst brought the War Eagles back in front 21-20 with a touchdown pass with 4:59 left and the failed conversion attempt ended up costing them as Brown’s 42-yard try at the buzzer lifted North Hall to the 23-21 victory.
Windsor Forest 27, Beach 6
Donte Dorman found Abasi Scott for a 29-yard touchdown and Chris Glover added two touchdown runs to put host Windsor Forest up 21-0 in the first quarter. Trayvon Savage scored a 5-yard touchdown to increase the Knights’ lead to 27-0 and Beach got on the board with five minutes left in the fourth quarter with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Desmond Burchett to Shamarrie Hugie.
Class 2A
Chattooga 49, Heritage-Newnan 38
Chattooga led 35-9 with 8:00 left in the third quarter, but host Heritage-Newnan rallied to trail 42-38 with 5:39 left in the final frame. Nic Hester provided four touchdown runs for Chattooga and Brody Mobbs found Jaylon Johnson for a 25-yard touchdown. Heritage-Newnan’s comeback was fueled by a three-touchdown effort by James Thorpe—including his 26-yard rushing score that cut the deficit to 42-38. Chattooga’s Devon Heroch iced the game with a 7-yard touchdown run with less than a minute left that marked the final tally.
Class A Private
Mt. Vernon 35, Athens Christian 14
Mt. Vernon opened up a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard Sam Hodges touchdown but host Athens Christian completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to make it a 7-7 contest at the end of the first quarter. The Mustangs piled on a 28-0 scoring run that expanded the lead to 35-7 before Athens Christian scored the final points with 5:32 left in the third quarter. Spencer Corley rushed for a 4-yard touchdown that put Mt. Vernon up 14-7 and added a 20-yard touchdown after Luke Barnes connected with Jack Mette for two touchdown passes in the second quarter.
Aquinas 33, Strong Rock Christian 7
Charlie Bussey gave visiting Aquinas a 13-0 lead with a 6-yard rushing touchdown and a 16-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Douglas. KJ Edwards added a 15-yard Irish touchdown run to push the lead to 19-0 with 8:50 left in the first half. Strong Rock Christian got on the board to cut it to 19-7, but Edward answered with his second rushing touchdown on a 4-yard carry.
Prince Avenue Christian 35, Wesleyan 10
Prince Avenue Christian scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to erase a 10-7 third-quarter deficit against visiting Wesleyan. Aaron Philo led the late barrage with four touchdown passes, two of which came in the fourth quarter. Philo connected with Elijah DeWitt, Bailey Stockton, Josh Britt, and Ethan Christian. Will Elrod capped off the scoring for the Wolverines with a 30-yard touchdown scamper. Following a scoreless first quarter, Wesleyan briefly took the lead on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Jett Miller to Drew Ball and a 28-yard field goal by Brooks Sturgeon.
Class A Public
Trion 49, Cedar Bluff AL 0
Host Trion opened up a 49-0 lead in the first half and cruised to victory to improve to 4-0 on the season. Rob Brown ran in three touchdowns and the Bulldogs returned a fumble for a touchdown to jump to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter. Brown added his fourth rushing score to increase the lead to 35-0 and teammate Logan Eller ran in a 3-yard touchdown to push the lead to 42-0. Trion’s final touchdown came on a 32-yard pass just before the end of the first half.
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