Pelham's most valuable player might be Kendrick Patterson, and he was struggling to pass the ball in his team's biggest game of the year, a showdown with Mitchell County for the championship of Region 1-A last week.
The quarterback missed on 12 of his 16 pass attempts - but he was still the player of the game. Patterson rushed for a season-high 132 yards, intercepted three passes and forced a fumble. Pelham won 34-13 and with it claimed the region title and the Hornets' first 10-0 regular season.
"He's been a really great team player and is growing into a great leader," Pelham assistant head coach Daniel Dorsey said. "He has the ability to play multiple positions. He has helped on the field offensively and defensively, but also has allowed other teammates, especially younger ones, to see that playing multiple positions benefits everyone."
Patterson had started every game at safety but moved to cornerback for the Mitchell County game. He swapped positions with CB Treun Pace, a Georgia Southern commit, because opponents had been avoiding Pace's side of the field. Now, maybe they'll avoid Patterson's side. Those were Patterson's first three interceptions of the season.
Patterson is a college prospect. He's 6 feet, 4 inches, and athletic. Georgia, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Alabama and more have come to Pelham to see him. "Originally it was as a dual-threat quarterback," Dorsey said, "but more recently as an athlete."
Patterson's efforts are among the Top Performances for last week.
Top five
*Camden County DB/RB Roninn Wright blocked two punts, one that was returned for a touchdown, and caught a 34-yard TD pass on a fake punt in a 28-24 victory over Tift County.
*Eagle's Landing Christian RB Keaton Mitchell scored seven touchdowns and rushed for 184 yards on 13 carries in a 77-0 victory over Landmark Christian. The seven touchdowns are tied for sixth-most all-time in Georgia. ELCA RB Darrien Hudson also scored seven in a 2009 game.
*Heard County DB Zaylin Wood had nine tackles, three sacks, three other stops for losses, four QB hurries, a batted pass on fourth down and a safety in a 20-7 victory over Bremen in a game between ranked Class AA teams. Wood is committed to Temple.
*Pelham ATH Kendrick Patterson rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown, intercepted three passes and forced and recovered a fumble in a 34-13 region-clinching victory over Mitchell County.
*Savannah Christian RB/LB Nate Moon scored three touchdowns, had more than 200 all-purpose yards and made 14 solo tackles, three for losses, in a 29-14 victory over Emanuel County Institute in a game that decided the Region 3-A championship.
Best of the rest
*Archer DE/LB Solomon Zubairu had three tackles for losses and three other solo tackles in a 35-7 victory over Shiloh.
*Bainbridge LB Randy Fillingame had 10 tackles, two assists, six tackles for losses and three sacks in a 44-11 victory over Thomas County Central.
*Campbell RB Tavion Jackson rushed for 302 yards and scored five touchdowns in a 55-38 loss to Westlake. Jackson finished with 1,304 yards rushing on a 1-9 team.
*Carter (Atlanta) ATH Tony Jones had 163 yards from scrimmage on 13 touches in a 20-14 victory over Decatur.
*Charlton County DB Seaquon Clark intercepted three passes in a 47-14 victory over Lanier County.
*Cherokee LB McKinley Hunter had 10 tackles, three sacks and two QB hurries in a 26-23 victory over Lassiter. Hunter has 16 sacks on the season.
*Christian Heritage LB Syd Reece recovered three fumbles and intercepted two passes in a 38-24 victory over Mount Pisgah Christian. Reece returned one interception 50 yards for a touchdown. He also punted six times for a 42-yard average with no return yards.
*Colquitt County DE LaQuavion Haynes had three tackles for losses in a region-clinching 40-6 victory over Lowndes. Colquitt held Lowndes, which entered with the No. 1 scoring offense in Class AAAAAAA, to 103 yards of total offense.
*Creekside DB Rashad Battle returned two interceptions for touchdowns, and LB Tyson Meiguez returned one for a score in a region-clinching 44-7 victory over South Paulding.
*Creekview RB Cade Radam rushed for 207 yards and scored the winning conversion in overtime of a 36-35 region-clinching victory over Harrison.
*Crisp County sophomore QB A.J. Lofton completed four passes - all for touchdowns and to four receivers - in a 38-8 victory over Monroe. Lofton threw a 76-yard touchdown to Gaige Little on the first play from scrimmage.
*Dublin RB Jermaine Cooley rushed for 229 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries in a region-clinching 28-10 victory over Washington County.
*Elbert County WR Metrius Fleming had 10 receptions for 231 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-0 victory over Banks County.
*Forsyth Central RB Devran Orsan rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-27 overtime victory over Lambert. Forsyth Central finished the regular season 7-3 after going 0-10 last season.
*Heritage (Ringgold) WR Nolan Letzgus had nine receptions for 226 yards and returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown in a 56-28 win over Northwest Whitfield.
*Greene County LB Montez Mapp had 10 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a recovery of an onside kick in a 35-10 victory over Tattnall Square in a game that decided the Region 7-A championship.
*Habersham Central WR Donovan Curry had eight catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-21 victory over Apalachee.
*Hart County sophomore RB Malachi Thomas rushed for 266 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-34 loss to Morgan County.
*Jefferson County QB Jaden Jenkins rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-21 victory over Screven County.
*Laney RB Jarvis Washington rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns and threw a 25-yard TD pass in a 36-6 victory over Josey. Washington finished with 1,227 yards rushing for a 4-6 team.
*Lee County QB Kyle Toole threw four TD passes, three to Chauncey Magwood, in a 38-7 victory over Coffee. Toole finished the regular season with 25 TD passes and no interceptions.
*Loganville WR Jackson Daniels had six catches for 101 yards and a touchdown in a 27-10 victory over Johnson of Gainesville.
*Lovett QB Blaine McAllister was 14-of-25 passing for 232 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown in a 34-28 victory over Westminster. His 22-yard TD run with 1:25 left gave Lovett a 34-20 lead.
*Lumpkin County RB Luke Smith rushed for 261 yards and two touchdowns, scored a two-point conversion and dropped two punts inside the 20-yard line in 32-31 loss to East Hall. Smith finished with 1,036 yards rushing for a 3-7 team.
*Marietta RB Kimani Vidal rushed for 220 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-22 victory over Kennesaw Mountain.
*Milton RB Josh Edwards rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns in a 49-23 victory over North Forsyth.
*Norcross WR/TE Christian Sims had four receptions for 128 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-10 victory over Meadowcreek.
*North Atlanta RB T.K. Mack rushed for 236 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries in a 46-41 victory over Chattahoochee.
*Northside (Warner Robins) QB Jadin Daniels rushed for 200 yards and passed for 107 on just nine rushes and eight pass attempts in a 41-6 victory over Houston County.
*Parkview RB Cody Brown rushed for 233 yards and four touchdowns - all in the first half - of a 49-14 victory over Central Gwinnett.
*Perry QB Lane Rucker was 22-of-44 passing for 369 yards and five touchdowns, three to Malik Mullins, in a 38-27 victory over West Laurens. Mullins had 11 receptions for 210 yards.
*Pierce County RB John Jones rushed for 209 yards and four touchdowns on 27 carries in a 29-26 region-clinching victory over Liberty County.
*Rockdale County DL Lavar Washington had three sacks, blocked a punt and forced and recovered a fumble in a 35-34 overtime victory over Newton.
*Sequoyah MLB Adam Laselva had a team-leading eight solo tackles, three for losses, and recovered a fumble in a 17-0 victory over previous No. 4 Allatoona in a Region 6-AAAAAA game.
*Social Circle QB Tate Peters was 18-of-30 passing for 343 yards in a 36-28 loss to Monticello. Davis Smith had eight receptions for 208 yards.
*Southeast Whitfield RB Denzel Allen rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-21 loss to Ridgeland.
*Sprayberry QB Kyle Brown threw five TD passes in a 44-6 victory over River Ridge. Brown was 14-of-21 for 284 yards.
*Statesboro RB Jaylin Roberson rushed for 182 yards in a 35-21 victory over New Hampstead, giving him 1,265 on the season. Davadrion Lipsey ran for 125.
*Stratford Academy QB Christian Palmer rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns and was 9-of-13 passing for 66 yards in a 17-14 victory over then-No. 9 Aquinas in Region 7-A.
*Swainsboro DE Armanie Sims had nine solo tackles, two sacks and three other tackles for losses in a 21-20 victory over Toombs County.
*Thomasville DB/WR Karey Lee had three receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown and scored on a 40-yard punt return and 25-yard interception return in a 56-3 victory over Early County.
*Upson-Lee reserve RB Milique Smith rushed for 193 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries in a 50-23 victory over Spalding.
*Vidalia RB Chris Gay rushed for 168 yards and four touchdowns on seven attempts in a 42-13 victory over Bacon County.
*West Forsyth LB Jack Hughes had 10 primary tackles, four sacks and three QB hurries in a 24-14 victory over South Forsyth.
*Westlake WR Corry Thomas had five receptions for 204 yards and two touchdowns in a 55-38 victory over Campbell.
*Wilcox County RB Noah Hollingsworth rushed for 243 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-0 victory over Atkinson County.
Lines of distinction
*Darlington's offensive line of Tate Ratledge, Ted Corwin, Cade Brock, Tysen Dougherty and Colin Zazzarro opened holes for a 352-yard rushing effort in a 22-14 victory over Whitefield Academy. Kolin Rogers ran 51 times for 249 yards and three touchdowns. Darlington was 11-for-11 on third-down conversions.
*Harlem’s offensive line of Joe Odom, Antonio Henderson, Lane Logue, Jacques Ryals and Jordan Grant, with TE Michael Carroll and FB Abijah Ray, was the catalyst behind A.J. Brown’s 2,000-yard rushing season. Brown rushed for 194 yards and scored four touchdowns in a 50-0 victory over Westside of Augusta and finished the regular season with a school-record 2,007 yards.
*Lincoln County's offensive line of Javon Wynn, Levion Lockhart, Tyson Zellars, Logan Prescott, Nykese Norman, Quadarious Hogan and Miles Parks helped a freshman, Tevin Gartrell, rush for 210 yards and three touchdowns - one a 92-yarder - on just four carries in a 54-0 victory over Twiggs County. Kolbi Ferguson also rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries.
*Monticello's offensive line of Johari Stone, Tyler Wages, Ben Lynch, Max Dotson, Jacob Parrish and Hyrum Pierce helped the Hurricanes put up 317 rushing yards in a 36-28 victory over Social Circle. It completed a 5-5 season, the team's best since 2004. QB Jay Fleetwood (104 yards) and RB Chance Hope (125) each went over 100 yards.
*Oconee County's offensive line of center Rob Boswell, tackles Cole Johnson and Ethan Cummings, guards Carsen Stocklinski and Nick Saunders, and tight ends Jackson Manders and Seth Caldwell produced three 100-yard rushers - Miles Pettway, Jimmy Boswell and Julian Benitez - in a 41-20 victory over Madison County.
*Pelham's offensive line of juniors Jaylan Smoak and Dallas Washington, sophomores Makiah Martin and Austin Davis and freshman Jaramiah Vicks paved the way for 416 yards of total offense and five touchdowns in a 34-13 region-clinching victory over Mitchell County. The young line was integral in Pelham's 544 points scored, third-most in a regular season in Georgia history.
*Rabun County's offensive line of tackles Jackson Webb and Will Hightower, guards Nolan Crane and Dylan Kelly, center Shawn Lovell and tight end Austin Sosebee paved the way for 56 points and 566 yards of total offense (287 rushing, 279 passing) in a 56-28 victory over Union County in a game that decided the Region 8-AA championship. The line allowed no sacks, no QB hurries and no QB hits on 28 passing attempts.
*Starr's Mill's offensive line of tackles Joseph Rampey, Jackson Via and Jimmy Pecoraro, guards Cole Sanders, Joseph Suddreth and Logan Prince and center Jeff Tiller were the cornerstone to the Panthers' 6-0 finish in Region 3-AAAAA after a 1-3 start to the season. Starr's Mill averaged 319.0 yards rushing per game after graduating all five starters from the 2017 team. The current line has no seniors.
Union Grove's offensive line of Buck Barrett, Josh Webb, Jared Hines, Mitchell Smith, Tyler Southern and Walker Starr helped the Wolverines rush for 320 yards in a 34-25 victory over Woodland of Stockbridge. Sophomore RB Jaylen Blackwell rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown.
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