Fifth-ranked Gainesville trailed visiting North Forsyth 21-7 in the second half before closing the game on a 27-0 run — including both a 69-yard touchdown reception and a 99-yard kick return touchdown by Darius Cannon — to secure the Red Elephants’ first region title since 2013 with the 34-21 win.
First-year head coach Josh Niblett’s squad was first on the board with a keeper from junior quarterback Baxter Wright in the opening frame. Following an interception from Colton Constable on defense, Raiders quarterback West Roberts connected with Cooper Eglian to knot the game, then found Logan Curry for another touchdown and a 14-7 North Forsyth lead.
In the second half, the Raiders seemed poised to score again, but Zyrion Harrison wrestled Roberts’ pass from Curry to come away with an interception at the goal line. Gainesville was unable to capitalize on the turnover, and North Forsyth went up 21-7 on its next drive when Karson McBrayer took a screen pass 39 yards to the end zone at the 5:29 mark of the third quarter. Cannon returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, however, bringing the Red Elephants within a possession (21-13) of North Forsyth heading into the final frame.
Gainesville ate up quite a bit of clock to start the fourth quarter with a drive that included a 13-yard pick-up from Naim Cheeks on 3rd-and-18, multiple broken tackles on a run by Cannon to pick up a fresh set of downs, a 17-yard run by Wright on 3rd-and-20 (featuring a huge block from Cheeks), and finally, a touchdown run from Cheeks. North Forsyth still held a narrow 21-19 lead after Constable intercepted Wright’s two-point pass attempt, but Cannon’s 69-yard touchdown reception and a successful two-point reception by Tre Reece put Gainesville out front, and Wright and Travien Watson connected on 4th-and-5 in the game’s final moments to seal the victory.
The AJC has writers at Brookwood at Parkview, Blessed Trinity at Alpharetta, Harrison at Marietta, Mount Pisgah at St. Francis and Decatur at Chamblee. Follow the link to Todd Holcomb’s Friday Night wrap or see the prep scoreboard powered by Score Atlanta.
See the Thursday night recaps at the bottom of this file.
Class 7A
Milton 21, Denmark 14
No. 10-ranked Milton built a 21-7 lead in the first half, then held on to defeat host Denmark 21-14 to set up a Region 6 title game next week at Lambert. The Danes were on the board first with a 15-yard run by Anias Blackman, but Milton capitalized on a blocked punt by Will Parton and an interception with Luke Nickel touchdown passes to Marc Essley (7 yards) and Debron Gatling (12 yards), respectively. Nickel found Essley once more with 2:51 left in the first half for the final Eagles points, and Denmark added a touchdown by Dee Crayton in the fourth quarter for the game’s final margin.
Westlake 48, East Coweta 27
After trailing East Coweta 24-13 in the middle of the third, Westlake outscored the Indians 35-3 through the remainder of the game to claim the victory. Junior Christian Peterson sparked the comeback with an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown to make it a 24-21 game after the successful two-point try. The Lions then took the lead following a 34-yard rushing touchdown by Jai’den Thomas late in the third. A trio of fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a kick return to the end zone by CJ Ghee, secured the victory.
Buford 56, Mountain View 7
Buford quarterback Dylan Wittke threw two touchdown passes, one to K.J. Bolden for 44 yards and one to Devin Williams for 36 yards. Running back Justice Haynes rushed five times for 172 yards, including touchdowns of 85 and 65 yards. Wittke also rushed for a 17-yard score, and Jaylen Neal returned a blocked field goal 84 yards for a touchdown for Buford. Wittke finished 7-of-8 passing for 164 yards, all in the first half. Also for the Wolves, Justin Baker rushed for a 16-yard score and Tristan Gabrels threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Berry.
Carrollton 52, Campbell 7
No. 4-ranked Carrollton completed the perfect 10-0 regular season with a 52-7 rout of Campbell. Quarterback Julian Lewis threw two touchdown passes to Caleb Odom (32 and 33 yards) and one each to Andrew Walker (8 yards) and Kiyun Cofer (25 yards), and backup quarterback Malik Kemp found Zion Cooley for 50 yards and the only points of the second half. Bryce Hicks (47 yards) and Jamua Evans (34 yards) added rushing scores, and Jacob Russell had a field goal in the second quarter. On defense, Jadyn Thompson contributed a fumble recovery and an interception in the second.
Mill Creek 45, Dacula 0
No. 3-ranked Mill Creek’s offense made some history in Friday night’s matchup with visiting Dacula, with both quarterback Hayden Clark and receiver Brendan Jenkins setting new school records. Clark and Jenkins connected for two touchdowns, the second of which was Jenkins’ 17th career touchdown reception. Clark also found Caleb Downs for a pair of scores, with the four touchdown passes in one game tying the school record, and Clark’s 352 career completions are now the most in Mill Creek history. The Hawks also got a touchdown from Cam Robinson, a third-quarter field goal from Jacob Ulrich, interceptions from Josh Anglin and Kaymon Bolden and a fourth-quarter scoring strike from Shane Throgmartin to AJ Freer.
North Gwinnett 45, Discovery 8
Host North Gwinnett got two touchdown passes from quarterback Ryan Hall, one to Will Collins and one to Marek Briley. The Bulldogs also had four different players score rushing touchdowns, as Julian Walters, Erik Ronning, Broc Walker and Nicholas Bookman all ran for scores in the first half. Mason Tolar added a fourth-quarter field goal.
Grayson 41, Archer 0
Grayson quarterback Jeff Davis had a rushing touchdown in the first quarter and threw a touchdown to Caden High in the second quarter, the last score before halftime to put the Rams ahead 27-0. Rams running back Joe Taylor Jr. rushed for two touchdowns, and Dylan Elder also had a rushing score. Paul Duncan’s first-quarter field goal put the Rams up 10-0, and Kylan Fox’s sack in Archer’s end zone for a safety made it 12-0 in the second. Grayson clinched the Region 4-7A championship.
North Cobb 47, Cherokee 17
North Cobb won on the road to clinch the Region 5-7A championship, its third straight region title. Ben Hall and David Mbadinga each scored two touchdowns for North Cobb, all in the first half, and quarterback Nick Grimstead threw for two touchdowns.
Norcross 50, Peachtree Ridge 13
Norcross jumped ahead early after junior quarterback AJ Watkins tossed a pair of first-quarter touchdowns, a 49-yard score to Zion Taylor and an 8-yard score to Lawson Luckie. Carter Luckie added a safety in the second, and Watkins tossed two more touchdowns in the quarter — a 26-yard score to Jamari Harrell and a 3-yard score to Lawson Luckie — to put Norcross up 29-0 at the half. Watkins threw a 13-yard strike to Nakai Poole for one last touchdown before backup quarterback Zaire Goff hit Jahsaun Clarke for a 34-yard score. Dillon Mohammed capped the scoring spree with a rushing touchdown in the fourth.
Lambert 31, South Forsyth 13
Quarterback James Tyre had a touchdown pass and a touchdown run in the first quarter and closed out the half with an interception on defense before adding one more rushing score in the third quarter to lead visiting South Forsyth 31-0. The No. 7-ranked Longhorns also got a 23-yard touchdown run and a Ryan Degyansky field goal in the first half, as well as a Carson Knowles interception, and will carry a 9-0 record into next week’s region title game against Milton.
In other 7A games – Lowndes pulled away from a narrow 7-3 halftime advantage to defeat visiting Richmond Hill 35-3, giving the Vikings their first region victory of the season. … No. 2-ranked Colquitt County’s perfect season remains alive after a 24-6 road win over host Valdosta. The Packers led 10-3 at halftime and 10-6 heading into the final frame before adding a pair of touchdowns to seal the victory. … Meadowcreek’s four-touchdown second quarter was good for a 35-7 halftime advantage before the Mustangs coasted to a 49-7 victory over visiting Duluth. Meadowcreek improved to 3-2 in Region 7 play with the win and will close out the regular season next week at Berkmar. … Newton got its second-straight region victory with a 24-14 road win over host South Gwinnett. The Rams beat Parkview last week and will close out the regular season next week at home against Archer.
Class 6A
Allatoona 10, Sequoyah 0
The Buccaneers got their third-straight region win in a defensive battle with visiting Sequoyah. Allatoona got on the board after a quarter and a half of punts with quarterback Saadiq Teel’s touchdown pass to Aidan Vandegriff, and Gray Kelley tacked on a third-quarter field goal for the game’s final points. The Buccaneers close out the regular season next week at home against River Ridge.
Marist 30, St. Pius X 27 (OT)
The War Eagles came out on top following a triple-overtime finish against St. Pius X to claim their fifth-consecutive victory. In the second overtime period, Aston Mosley blocked a potential game-winning field goal by St. Pius X, giving quarterback Jack Euart the opportunity to throw a game-winning touchdown in the third overtime period. Euart finished the game with 18 carries for 61 yards and went 8-of-10 passing for 136 yards and a touchdown. Junior running back Joseph Pizzo had nine carries for 80 yards and a score, along with a 56-yard reception for a touchdown.
Hughes 68, South Paulding 14
No. 1 ranked Hughes responded to a South Paulding touchdown on the opening drive by storming out to a 48-14 halftime lead and running away with the Region 5-6A title. Jakail Middlebrooks ran in four Hughes touchdowns (15, 6, 52, 3), Prentiss ‘Air’ Noland threw two touchdown passes to Jordan ‘AJ’ Barnes, and also found Jovanni ‘Chi’ McGee and Jediyah ‘JD’ Willoughby’ for passing scores to go with his 1-yard rushing score just before the half. Willoughby added the final points on a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Woodward Academy 11, Mundy’s Mill 10
No. 4 ranked Woodward Academy trailed 10-3 at the half and completed the comeback with a Myles Graham safety and Graham 2-yard touchdown run with 10:27 left in the fourth quarter to clinch the Region 3-6A title. Hudson Hanges booted a 42-yard field goal to put the War Eagles on the board early in the second quarter.
In other 6A games – Lovejoy jumped to a 28-3 over Forest Park at halftime to cruise to its sixth win of the year. …Alcovy led 10-6 over Jonesboro in the first half to hang on and earn its third win of the season. …Sprayberry tallied 501 yards of total offense and allowed just 193 yards on defense to earn a win against Lassiter. …Northside-Warner Robins led Veterans 37-0 at halftime to earn its third win in Region 1. …Brunswick recorded 321 rushing yards against the Evans to remain undefeated.
Class 5A
Eastside 30, Winder-Barrow 14
Eastside was first to put points on the board with a field goal late in the first, then tacked on a touchdown at the end of the quarter when Kenai Grier scored off a 1-yard rush set up by a 30-yard run by Anquez Cobb. Winder-Barrow reached the end zone early in the second and took a 14-13 lead heading into the intermission. With under a minute left in the third, Eastside regained the lead off a 5-yard rushing score by E’sean Arnold, and a fourth-quarter field goal and touchdown by the Eagles put the game away.
Northside-Columbus 57, McIntosh 14
Northside-Columbus (9-1) made history on Friday with a convincing 57-14 win over McIntosh—matching its school-record for most wins in a season and earning the program’s first-ever region title to close out its regular season schedule.
Cartersville 39, Dalton 14
Dalton cut the Cartersville lead to four points, 18-14, early in the third quarter, but Cartersville’s Paul Gamble took a quarterback keeper 62 yards for a score to put the Purple Hurricanes back ahead 25-14. Malachi Jeffries’s second touchdown rush went for 20 yards and gave Cartersville a 32-14 lead after the third quarter, and Khristian Lando’s second touchdown run was 56 yards to cap the scoring. A 40-yard Ryan Johnson field goal and 1-yard Jeffries run, plus a successful two-point conversion rush off a direct snap to Collin Fletcher, put the Canes ahead 11-0 after the first quarter. A 29-yard Lando touchdown rush gave Cartersville an 18-8 halftime lead.
Jefferson 49, Heritage-Conyers 6
Visiting Jefferson opened a 35-0 halftime lead before clinching the Region 8-5A region title and improving to 7-2 overall. Sammy Brown ran in a 45-yard touchdown in the first half and added a second quarter touchdown run and a 75-yard touchdown reception on a screen from Max Aldridge. Zay Minish found the endzone on a 1-yard score that was set up by a 34-yard pass from Aldridge to Isaiah Copeland and Shonez Porter ran in a pair of Dragons touchdowns. Aiden Mixon provided Jefferson’s final rushing touchdown to push the lead to 49-7 and Sammy Maxwell iced the game with a late interception.
In other 5A games – Jefferson won the Region 8 Championship with a 49-6 road win over Heritage-Conyers. Sammy Brown rushed for two touchdowns and caught a TD pass from Max Aldridge and Shontez Porter scored twice on the ground for the Dragons. … Greater Atlanta Christian beat host Chattahoochee 28-22 with a Denzell Watkins touchdown pass to Xavier Daisy to break a 22-22 tie with under a minute to play. Watkins also threw TDs to Braylen Burgess, Myles Cunningham and Aidan McKinnie. … Host Loganville won 31-22 as Solomon Leslie rushed for two touchdowns, Johnny Crowe threw a touchdown pass to Davis Roesler and Tyler Breedlove returned a kickoff for a touchdown. … Kell quarterback Bryce Clavon threw five touchdowns, two to Emanuel Ulinfun, in the Longhorns’ 42-0 home win over North Springs. Calhoun won the Region 7-5A title beating Cass 30-16 after narrowly leading 9-8 at the half.
Class 4A
Troup 50, Trinity Christian 15
No. 4 ranked Troup jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter and closed out visiting Trinity Christian to capture the program’s first region title since 1987. Javari Fannin’s touchdown run and Qua Moss’ two-point conversion put the Tigers up 8-0 on the opening drive and after forcing a Trinity Christian punt, quarterback Taeo Todd found Logan Sinkfield for a 60-yard touchdown before Todd’s 2-point conversion. Trinity Christian cut the deficit to 16-7, but Todd cashed in a 1-yard touchdown run and a 65-yard rushing score to push the lead to 29-7 at the half. Todd’s incredible performance continued in the second half and his 27-yard touchdown run pushed the lead to 36-15 midway through the final quarter.
Perry 40, Spalding 7
Host Perry (8-1) earned the top seed out of Region 2 and clinched the program’s third-straight region championship over the visiting Jaguars. Quarterback Armar Gordon Jr. converted a 4th-and-11 situation with a 26-yard touchdown pass to 6-foot-5 tight end Donovan Funsch to put the Panthers up 6-0 in the first quarter and found Colby Dixon for a 9-yard score to push the lead to 12-0. Armar’s sophomore brother Ahmad Gordon tacked on a 4-yard touchdown before the half to extend the lead to 19-0. Perry’s Demetrius Carter ran in two touchdowns in the second half and Ahmad capped a two touchdown performance with a 4-yard touchdown run in between the Carter scores.
In other 4A games – In Region 1, No. 7 ranked Bainbridge defeated visiting Hardaway 42-0 to set up a region championship battle against Cairo next week. The Syrupmakers, Shaw and Westover were all off this week. The winner of the Cairo and Bainbridge game will take the region and the loser will get the No. 2 seed. In Region 2, No. 3 ranked Perry captured the region title with a 40-7 win over Spalding and improved to 8-1 on the season. Benedictine clinched the Region 3 championship with its 49-3 win over Islands and New Hampstead’s 37-27 loss to Burke County. No. 4 ranked Troup’s 50-15 win over Trinity Christian gives Troup its first region championship since 1987. Stockbridge remains undefeated within Class 4A and clinched the Region 5 title with a 40-20 win over Pace Academy. Region 6 remains up for grabs after Stephenson’s 42-14 loss to Holy Innocents’ and No. 1 ranked Cedartown clinched Region 7 with its 48-14 win over Southeast Whitfield. No. 2 ranked North Oconee earned the Region 8 championship last Friday and improved to 9-0 with an 83-0 win over East Hall.
Class 3A
Hart County 48, Hebron Christian 27
The Bulldogs bounced back after two consecutive losses with a sound victory over Hebron Christian. Hart County had a 10-7 lead heading into the second quarter and extended the lead with an Axsel Fajardo field goal and a Nori Moore touchdown rush to go up 20-7 at the half. Moore continued to shine for the remainder of the game, reaching the end zone four times on the ground to put the game away.
Stephens County 28, Oconee County 27
A touchdown in the fourth quarter lifted No. 6 Stephens County past No. 10 Oconee County to secure the 8-3A championship, aided by Hart County’s victory over Hebron Christian. Oconee led 17-14 after the first quarter and pushed the lead to 20-14 at the half but Stephens County held the Warriors to just a third-quarter touchdown while added two second-half touchdowns to secure the win.
Dawson County 38, Lumpkin County 10
Dawson County captured the second region title (7-3A) under head coach Sid Maxwell after the defeat of Lumpkin. The Tigers led 10-3 at the half after a 57-yard touchdown pass from David Glass. Dawson scored two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away.
In other 3A games – Adairsville scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second half to defeat Bremen 14-7. … Peach County moved to 3-0 in Region 2-3A after beating Pike County 63-7. … In Region 1-3A, Thomasville defeated Crisp County 44-0 to move to 5-0 in region play. … Hart County defeated Hebron Christian 48-27 to move to 2-2 in Region 8-3A and allow Stephens County the region title. Hart’s victory created a four-way tie with teams at 2-2 – Oconee County, Monroe Area, Hart and Hebron.
Class 2A
Callaway 49, McNair 6
Callaway stormed to a 35-6 halftime lead and held off visiting McNair to clinch Region 5-2A and secure the program’s 10th all-time region championship. Jordan King and Qua Whitfield each rushed for a pair of touchdowns in the first half and quarterback Deshun Coleman finished the game with touchdown passes to Exavious Reed and Sam Williams before Zae Hart capped the scoring with his fourth-quarter rushing touchdown.
In other 2A games – The Berrien Rebels defeated Dodge County 35-29 in overtime, with senior Ashton Gutierrez scoring the game-winning touchdown. The Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes remain undefeated on the season following their 36-14 victory over Cook, with the win securing the Region 1-2A title. After suffering a 1-point loss to Spencer last week, Northeast took care of business this week with a shutout victory over Jordan, 66-0. After suffering three-straight losses, Toombs County bounced back with a 41-0 shutout victory over Windsor Forest. Putnam County bested Laney in a narrow 27-26 victory. With under a minute left in the game, Jalon Kilgore scored off a 4-yard rush on fourth-and-goal to secure the win for the War Eagles. The Callaway Cavaliers lost their first three games of the season, but have now won sixth straight following a 49-6 matchup against McNair to secure the Region 5-2A title.
Class A Division I
Swainsboro 28, Bleckley County 21
No. 1 ranked Swainsboro improved to 8-0 ahead of next week’s region championship showdown with Dublin and will attempt to secure consecutive region titles for the first time since 1999-00. Bleckley County struck first on a Jahvon Butler touchdown run, but Swainsboro’s Demello Jones answered with the next four scores—including three second quarter touchdown runs that put the Tigers up 20-7 at the break. Bleckley County cut the deficit with a Makeze Brown touchdown pass to Eli Mullis and Butler’s second touchdown run of the game before Swainsboro was able to run out the clock.
Class A Division II
Charlton County 33, Clinch County 28
No. 6 ranked Charlton County and No. 2 ranked Clinch County entered kickoff tied 30-30-1 in the all-time series and the host Indians closed out the victory in a back-and-forth affair. Charlton took a 7-0 lead on a 23-yard Darius Jones fumble recovery touchdown and Clinch evened it 7-7 moments later with a 60-yard strike from Marvin Gainey to Jeremy Bell. Charlton’s Jaylen Lilley put the Indians up two scores with back-to-back rushing touchdowns, but a missed PAT left the lead at 20-7. Clinch County’s Keegan Clayton pulled his team ahead with seven minutes left in the the third quarter with his second touchdown run, but Charlton answered two plays later with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Jaylen King to Elysiss Williams to go up 27-21. Clayton once again put Clinch County ahead with a 1-yard touchdown before King’s 13-yard touchdown run provided the winning margin.
Thursday recaps below.
Class 4A
Cross Keys 39, Notre Dame 6
Andrew Montello rushed for 127 yards and three touchdowns to lead Cross Keys past Notre Dame. Theo Chiffin kicked a 27-yard field goal, ran for a 2-point conversion and kicked and an extra-point. Paul Ross scored on a 90-yard kickoff return and Chiffin added a 55-yard touchdown run for Cross Keys.
Clarkston 8, Johnson-Gainesville 6
Clarkston quarterback Quaricus Hurley passed to Amohd Wood on an 18-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and then converted the 2-point conversion to secure the lead for good.
Hapeville Charter 30, Miller Grove 7
The Hapeville Hornets all but ended the playoff hopes of the Miller Grove Wolverines with a 30-6 victory at Banneker High School on Thursday night. Miller Grove (3-6, 1-3) needed a win to solidify a possible state playoff berth. Hapeville (2-7, 2-2) improved its chances for a berth with the win.
Class 3A
Carver-Columbus 27, Dougherty 0
No. 9-ranked Carver-Columbus will surely climb in next week’s poll after its 27-0 victory over then-No. 8 Dougherty Thursday.
Class 2A
Model 56, Gordon Central 13
Jake Sanders was 6-of-7 for 133 yards and two touchdowns to lead Model. Jeremiah Gamble scored two rushing touchdowns and one 74-yard kickoff returned for a touchdown.
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