The first full night of high school football is in the books. As always, we had a little bit of everything to write about tonight in the offices of Score Atlanta. Check out our recaps of almost 40 games featuring metro Atlanta schools:
Class AAAAAA
Archer 46, Mountain View 7: Ernest Alexander rushed for 115 yards and four scores and also had a touchdown reception in host Archer’s blowout victory. Quarterback K.J. Parmer was an efficient 7-for-11 passing for 117 yards and a touchdown, and Sean Fowler added another 136 yards on the ground with a score. Kicker Zach Wachholz connected on field goals from 43 and 36 yards.
Central Gwinnett 27, Collins Hill 21: The visiting Black Knights turned Collins Hill over on downs with two minutes remaining and ran out the clock to preserve the victory. Central Gwinnett senior quarterback Emmanuel Westmoreland was 18-of-28 passing for 214 yards and three touchdowns, while sophomore running back Jonathan Hawkins rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown.
Duluth 22, Berkmar 15: Visiting Duluth came back from a 15-8 deficit in the fourth quarter to pick up the win. The Wildcats rallied on a long pass play to Jordan Dandridge, who was brought down at the goalline and set up a Lavonte Cranford one-yard touchdown on the next play. Later in the quarter, Will DeLorenzo completed a touchdown pass to Dandridge off a bootleg. DeLorenzo had two touchdown passes.
East Coweta 35, Henry County 7: The Indians played host to Henry County and took care of business at home, especially on the ground. Dee Godfrey led the Indians with 150 yards on 18 carries including three touchdowns. Godfrey scored on rushes of 35-yards, 38-yards and six-yards. Quarterback Bryce Gemmel also got in on the action scoring a touchdown on a three-yard quarterback sneak.
Langston Hughes 26, Creekside 14: The Panthers took care of visiting Creekside using their aerial attack to defeat the Seminoles by 12. Kenny Moxey led the Panthers with a pair of touchdown passes along with a rushing touchdown, while back-up quarterback Kinan Humphrey also had a touchdown pass. Stephan Whitehead added a field goal to help lead Hughes to the victory.
Lovejoy 44, Mundy’s Mill 6: The visiting Wildcats dominated the hosting Tigers from start to finish. Lovejoy quarterback Alejandro Benefield threw four passing touchdowns and Travis Custis combined to gather 101 rushing and receiving yards. The Wildcats were able to bring home their first victory of the season and started with 41 unanswered points to take down the Tigers.
Marietta 27, Pope 7: Anthony Jennings was the ring leader of a dominating Blue Devils’ performance. In the first half, Jennings was 18-for-19 passing and scored four first-half touchdowns, two by air and two by ground. The half-time lead held and heavy doses of the running game wore down the Greyhounds. Marietta finished with nearly 400 yards total offense and went for 164 yards on the ground.
Mill Creek 35, Dacula 0: Senior running back Jacorey Lewis rushed 24 times for 215 yards and three touchdowns of 70, 10 and four yards. Quarterback Daniel David was 5-for-10 passing and threw two touchdowns, completing scoring passes to Matthew Pursell and Andrew Sciara. Mill Creek racked up 370 total rushing yards in the game and held Dacula to 58 yards on the ground.
Norcross 35, South Gwinnett 20: The visiting Blue Devils put on an offensive clinic against the host Comets. Trailing early, Norcross was able to rally past South Gwinnett and take control late in the second half to blow the game open. Bernard Morrison did return a kick off for an 85-yard touchdown for South Gwinnett. Jordan Ramey threw two touchdown passes in a losing effort.
North Forsyth 10 Forsyth Central 7: The host Bulldogs got on the board with a 39-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Cochran to Jeremiah Jones, but could not find any points after that. The visiting Raiders were tied at seven until a late FG with 5:33 left gave them the 10-7 lead. The Bulldogs tried to tie the game back up, but the 46-yard attempt with 58 seconds remaining sailed left.
South Cobb 29, Westlake 22: Kyle Jennings threw two touchdown passes of 22 and 28 yards to 6-foot-9 receiver Clarence Williams to lead the host Eagles over the Lions. South Cobb earned its first victory of the season, while Westlake fell to 0-2. The Eagles were able to control the ball offensively, with 260 total yards of offense, mostly in the first half of play.
Class AAAAA
Apalachee 21, Lanier 11: Running back Zay Henry scored an 800-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage to give the visiting Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish. Apalachee led 14-0 at the intermission, but Lanier rallied to cut the lead to 14-11 at the start of the fourth quarter. Eric Tanner then responded with his second touchdown of night, a 14-yard run.
Heritage-Conyers 9, Northgate 7: The host Patriots narrowly escaped with a victory over the Vikings on a Harrison Kulp 18-yard field goal with just a minute left on the clock. Kulp kicked three field goals for the Patriots’ only points. Heritage fell behind 7-3 in the second quarter, but was able to climb back in front with great defense and Kulp’s kicking.
McIntosh 51 North Springs 6: The visiting Chiefs jumped to a 21-0 lead when Andrew Johnson hit Bo Brown for a 40-yard touchdown with just three seconds left in the half. The Chiefs defense got on the board with a safety to open the second half and a Victor Nguyen seven-yard touchdown. Backup quarterback Duke Kinnamon scored the first of three second-half touchdowns on a five-yard run, before ending his scoring outburst with a big 45-yard run.
Northside-Warner Robins 45, Flowery Branch 7: The teams entered the half locked at seven, but the visiting Eagles pounded the Falcons in the second half. Curtis Martin opened the second half with a four-yard touchdown run. Keshun Hill had a first-half 40-yard touchdown run, an 18-yard touchdown reception from Marcus Ivory, and a 30-yard run in the second half to stamp the victory.
Ola 38, Eagle’s Landing 30: The visiting Golden Eagles were able to take a 22-17 lead into the half, as quarterback Bradley Dewberry converted a fourth-and-13 conversion to his goliath target Bill Teknipp. An emotional Mustangs community that is still mourning over the death of sophomore offensive lineman Jason Holland earlier this month was able rally the Mustangs’ back and close the door in the fourth to claim a heartening victory.
Riverwood 48 Cambridge 0: The Bears lost to the visiting Raiders in Cambridge’s first-ever football game. Grant Drakeford set the tone and got the Raiders on the board twice with an electrifying 63-yard touchdown run and 54-yard punt return. Jermel Johnson anchored the defense with 12 tackles and furthered the lead with a 73-yard touchdown run.
Sequoyah 41, River Ridge 14: The visiting Chiefs dominated all aspects of the game. Running back Blake Ingleton rushed for 294 yards to lead Sequoyah. Ingleton also had three rushing touchdowns. The win was the first of the season for the Chiefs. They are now 1-1 this season.
Class AAAA
Class AAAA No. 4 Marist traveled to Athens to defeat Clarke Central 30-13 behind quarterback Myles Willis, who carried 26 times for 144 yards and three total touchdowns to lead the War Eagles. Willis scored on runs of 40 and four yards and threw to Gray King for a 27-yard score. Ian Gibson opened the scoring for Marist with a one-yard plunge in the first quarter. It was the first-ever meeting between the two tradition-rich programs that have combined to win five state championships.
Oxford (Ala.) 21, Carrollton 17: Carrollton held a 17-7 lead at the half thanks to touchdown runs from Will Hesterlee (one yard) and Trey Chivers (14 yards) and a 36-yard field goal from Tyler Newsome, but were shut out in the second half by the visiting Yellow Jackets. Oxford returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the first half and took the lead with an 18-yard rushing score with 4:16 left in the game.
Griffin 42, Dutchtown 16: The Bulldogs scored all of their 16 points in the first half, before falling to a rally by visiting Griffin. Quarterback Jaquez Parks threw for 150 yards including two touchdowns to Christian Owens and one more to Qua’ Mangham. Tailback Malik Miller added two rushing scores before reserve Anforne Stroud capped the Bears’ scoring on a quarterback keeper.
Jackson-Atlanta 14, Therrell 0: The Jaguars overcame the stifling afternoon heat to shutout Therrell at Lakewood Stadium. Running back Jamari O’Neal opened the scoring in the second quarter with 35-yard run. Quarterback Shadricus Ferguson scrambled out of the pocket for Jackson-Atlanta’s other touchdown before halftime. Running backs Robert Allison and Jermaine Perkins Jr. each added 60 and 40 yards respectively out of the backfield for the Jaguars.
Jonesboro 33, Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 7: The host Cardinals easily handled Mt. Zion and got scoring contributions from both sides of the ball. The two stars of the game for Jonesboro were Taurean Ferguson and Patrick Petty. Both Ferguson and Petty had rushing touchdowns on offense, and each had interceptions that they returned for touchdowns in the Cardinals’ victory.
Woodland-Henry 27, Walnut Grove 10: The Wolfpack running backs were the deciding factor against Walnut Grove. Malcolm Miller rushed for 158 yards with a touchdown. Miller also caught a touchdown for the team’s first points of the year. Mark Bussey also had two rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Taylor Poss completed 9 of 18 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.
Class AAA
B.E.S.T. Academy 64, Cross Keys 0: Deshaun Waller was a one-man wrecking crew for the Eagles in their rout of Cross Keys at Grady Stadium. The running back/safety ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns on offense. On defense, Waller returned both a fumble and an interception for scores. Running back Wasonu Allen added two rushing touchdowns, and quarterback Ventravious Rashada connected with wide receiver Christopher Seaborn for the Eagles’ other score.
Buford 14, Elbert County 3: The Wolves overcame multiple injuries to defeat the Blue Devils. Running back Dontravious Wilson scored the only touchdown of the first half. Thomas Wilson caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Montgomery VanGorder in the fourth quarter for the Wolves’ second touchdown. Buford had 150 yards rushing and 60 yards passing. Blue Devils running back Tyshon Dye was held to 66 yards.
Dawson County 35, Lumpkin County 0: The Tigers were in control from the start of the game. Quarterback Tyler Dominy scored five touchdowns, four passing and one rushing. He also threw for 235 yards on 11 passes. Bruce Clark caught two of Dominy’s passing touchdowns, one for 33 yards and the other for 45 yards. Zach Martin was the leading rusher with 54 yards.
St. Pius 21, Westminster 3: The visiting Golden Lions defeated Westminster for just the fifth time in 28 meetings. Despite fumbling twice in the first quarter, St. Pius held a 7-3 lead going into the second quarter after a 13-yard touchdown run by fullback Ryan Braswell. Before the half, wingback Nick Ruffin scored on a 24-yard run to give the Golden Lions a 14-3 halftime lead. Braswell scored again on a 32-yard run.
Woodward Academy 34, Fayette County 0: The War Eagles jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead at home, opening the game with a 3-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Ozzie Bunbury. Woodward got rushing scores from Jollyce Myrick (16 yards), Terry Googer (three yards) and Quincy Wolff (74 yards). Alex Robinson hit field goals from 35 and 28 yards in the first half.
Class AA
Greater Atlanta Christian 31, Savannah 8: The host Spartans took care of business on the ground in improving to 2-0 on the season. Kyle Scales led the Spartans with a pair of rushing touchdowns, both from 12 yards out. Late in the game, Corey Stephenson tacked on a three-yard score. Brandon Holzgrefe nailed a 31-yard field goal and was a perfect four-for-four on extra point attempts in the win.
Lovett 24, Blessed Trinity 7: Quarterback Willie Candler scored on the ground and through the air while racking up 132 total yards. Candler’s first score was a one-yard run in the opening quarter to give the host Lions a 14-0 lead. Candler then threw to Jack McGranahan for a 23-yard score in the third. Grant Haley opened the scoring with a 14-yard plunge in the first period.
Class A
Commerce 22, Jefferson 7: Commerce dominated visiting Jefferson on the ground by rushing for 398 yards. The Tigers, who did not have a single pass attempt in the game, were led by fullback Jamal Browner who had 20 carries for 160 yards and a pair of touchdowns, one from 12 yards and another from eight. Terrick Ramsey added an 81-yard touchdown on the ground.
Eagles Landing Christian Academy 32, Briarwood Christian, Ala. 7: The Chargers traveled across state lines and got out to a quick 19-0 lead over the host Lions. Daniel Robert hauled in a last second 40-yard touchdown pass to close out the first half for the Lions. The Chargers’ defense shut the door and their two forced turnovers eliminated any chance for a late Lions’ push. The offense was able to capitalize on miscues and the Chargers return home 1-1.
Holy Innocents’ 10, Wesleyan 9: The host Golden Bears scored all 10 points in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback after trailing by nine. Quarterback Luke Wright had 14 carries for 38 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 5:22 left in the game. Wright was also 3-for-7 through the air for 96 yards. Holy Innocents’ kicker hit a field goal for the Bears.
King’s Ridge 45, Pinecrest Academy 7: The visiting Tigers sprinted out to a 32-0 halftime lead. Sophomore wide receiver Penny Hart had three touchdown receptions and a total of 124 receiving yards. Another sophomore, running back Tarez Miller, scored two rushing touchdowns, of 10 and six yard. Tigers quarterback Connor Burns added a 10-yard scoring run. At the end of three quarters, King’s Ridge led 45-0.
Pace Academy 24, Whitefield Academy 8: Denzel Franklin powered the host Knights to a victory thanks to stellar play on both sides of the line of scrimmage. At tailback, Franklin ran 19 times for 129 yards and a touchdown. As a free safety, he intercepted a Wolfpack pass with less than two minutes left to seal the win. Quarterback Kevin Johnson added two scoring strikes to wide receiver Reid Williams.
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