It didn’t take long for Houston County to take a 7-0 lead in its first appearance in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Saturday evening. And it didn’t take the Bears – a team visiting Atlanta from Warner Robins – much longer to expand to a comfortable 14-0 lead.
And when Houston County closed the game scoring five unanswered touchdowns over the course of the second, third and fourth quarters to defeat Alpharetta 57-10, the Bears let the state know one thing: Houston County belongs in big games on large stages.
It didn’t hurt that the Bears got a five-touchdown performance from Gavin Kurpis in the first game of his senior season after missing last year to an ACL injury.
“We are going to take this one week at a time,” said Houston County head coach Jeremy Edwards. “We want to try to get one percent better. It sounds cliché but that’s all we can focus on right now is to try to get a little better every single week.”
Kurpis, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound tight end scored on three runs – of 4, 1 and 1 yards – and two receptions – of 14 and eight yards. He finished with three receptions for 28 yards and two touchdowns with three carries for six yards and three touchdowns.
That’s an efficient stat line.
“He is a warrior,” said Edwards. “He came back from an ACL tear last year and for this to be his first game back, that is a testament to who he is as a human being and the type of player that he is. I am so proud of him.”
Houston County built its early lead on a 23-yard run from Javien Durham and a 1-yard run from Kurpis. Alpharetta scored on a 21-yard field goal from Talan Thomas but a 14-yard touchdown reception from Kurpis put Houston County up 21-3.
Matt Schletty scored on a 2-yard run with 9:40 left in the second quarter to cut into the lead but on the ensuing possession, Isaiah Mitchell passed 69 yards to Austin Stinson to put the Bears up 29-10. Houston County expanded the margin on a 3-yard pass from Antwann Hill to MJ Mathis with 4:59 left in the first half.
A pair of Kurpis touchdown runs at the end of the first half and early in the third quarter put the Bears up 50-10. Kurpis capped scoring on an 8-yard reception from Hill with 8:45 left in the game.
Hill was 25-of-35 passing for 357 yards and three touchdowns while Mitchell passed once, for a 69-yard touchdown. Mitchell had six receptions for 116 yards to lead receivers. Mathis finished with seven receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown. Durham finished with 10 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown.
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