Two-time defending state champion No. 1 Benedictine and No. 2 North Oconee both clinched region titles on Friday. For Benedictine, the Cadets scored a 38-21 win over Wayne County to capture the top seed out of Region 3. Benedictine trailed 21-14 late in the second quarter but closed out the game with 24 unanswered points to pick up a road win over Wayne County. After Bryce Baker scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half, quarterback Luke Kromenhoek tossed a pair of touchdown passes in the second half as the Cadets pulled away. Chris Frazier and Ack Edwards had receiving touchdowns before Connor Ferguson capped off the scoring with a field goal. Matthew Fuller scored all three of Wayne County’s touchdowns on the ground. North Oconee improved to 8-0 and secured the top seed in Region 8 with a 49-0 win over Walnut Grove. The result gives the Titans their third shoutout of the season and the team is allowing just 6.13 ppg, while scoring 44.88 ppg (38.75 avg. margin of victory). Benedictine will close out its season on Thursday at home against Islands with a chance to improve to 10-0 overall and North Oconee will look for its second-straight perfect regular season against East Hall and Cherokee Bluff these next two weeks.
In Region 1, Cairo cruised past Westover 55-12 and will have a bye before its showdown with Bainbridge for the region title. Keshen Spence rushed for 288 yards as visiting Cairo cruised to a win over Westover. After briefly trailing 6-0, the Syrupmakers seized leads of 20-6 after one quarter, 34-6 at halftime and 48-6 going into the fourth quarter. Spence scored five touchdowns in total, including one on a 99-yard fumble return. That was one of two TDs contributed by the Syrupmakers’ defense, as Braylen Butler recovered a fumble in the endzone. Cairo also got a 35-yard scoring strike from Juderek Gee Simmons to Corey Baker.
Region 4 was a log jam last year and is even more tightly contested this season with Troup, LaGrange, Trinity Christian and Starr’s Mill all sitting at 4-1 in region play. LaGrange surged to a 20-0 lead at halftime and scored the first 28 points of the game on the way to a dominant 42-14 win over visiting Trinity Christian. Malik Kemp rushed for two touchdowns and tossed scoring strikes to Steven Hill and Caydin Thomas. Grayson Cockrell added a 15-yard scoring scamper in the first quarter for the Grangers. Trinity Christian finally got on the scoreboard late in the third quarter with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Ronnie Frere to Logan Moss and Frere also hit Kaden Hanson with a scoring strike with less than a minute remaining in the game.
In Region 5, Stockbridge defeated Woodland-Stockbridge 49-0 to maintain its position at the top of the standings. The Tigers swept their way to the region title last year and will have Pace Academy and McDonough these next two weeks with an opportunity to notch consecutive sweeps. Pace Academy will have heightened urgency after falling 27-20 to Luella on Friday. R.L. Ward rushed for a 45-yard touchdown with just over a minute remaining in the game to break a 20-20 tie and give visiting Luella a victory over Pace Academy. With Pace Academy only getting a pair of Roan Dutta field goals in the first half, Luella led 7-6 at halftime. A back-and-forth second half saw the Knights take a 13-7 lead on a Christian Johnson touchdown run and they tied Luella at 20-20 on a scoring scamper by Jordan Burns with four minutes left. However, that set the stage for the Lions’ final touchdown drive that was capped off by Ward’s heroics.
Druid Hills shut out visiting Johnson-Gainesville 41-0. Reese Patterson rushed for one touchdown and threw a 54-yard scoring strike to Zachary Manning. The Red Devils also got two TDs from Akeem Cunningham and one each from Jaden George and Zion Johnson. … Visiting Cedar Shoals knocked off Chestatee 45-21 even though War Eagles running back Benjamin Plemons rushed for 197 yards and three touchdowns. … Heritage-Catoosa scraped past visiting Northwest Whitfield 28-21. Brady Chandler tossed a pair of scoring strikes to Max Owens and Brayden Slaughter rushed for two touchdowns. Trailing 28-7 in the fourth quarter, the Bruins made it close with two late TD passes by Gavin Nuckolls. They got the ball back with two minutes remaining but could not march into Heritage-Catoosa territory. … Drew Ledbetter threw for 142 yards and three touchdowns as Cedartown blanked visiting Sonoraville 45-0. The Bulldogs also got touchdown runs by Jakoby Dorsey and Rohan Kent. … Stockbridge posted its third consecutive shutout, erasing host Woodland-Stockbridge 49-0. On the offensive side of the ball, the Tigers got touchdowns from Edward Minor, Cobey Thompkins and Jayden Scott. … North Oconee remained undefeated with a 49-0 home beatdown of Walnut Grove. Landon Roldan scored three touchdowns, Preston Cantlin added two, Carter Moon tossed scoring strikes of 52 and 65 yards and Logan Phelps returned a fumble 65 yards for a TD.
Class 4A Week 10 Results and Current Standings
Region 1
Cairo 3-0, 8-1
Bainbridge 2-0, 6-2
Shaw 1-2, 4-5 Westover 1-2, 4-5
Hardaway 0-3, 0-9
Thursday, Oct. 19
*Shaw 30, Hardaway 0
Friday, Oct. 20
* Cairo 55, Westover 12
Region 2
Spalding 5-0, 9-0
Perry 4-0, 7-1
Westside-Macon 2-2, 6-2 Baldwin 2-2, 5-3
Howard 1-3, 4-4
Griffin 1-4, 1-8
West Laurens 0-4, 2-6
Thursday, Oct. 19
*Howard 28, Griffin 21
Friday, Oct. 20
*Baldwin 32, West Laurens 7
*Spalding 48, Westside-Macon 21
Region 3
Benedictine 4-0, 9-0
Burke County 2-1, 7-1
Wayne County 2-2, 6-3
New Hampstead 2-2, 4-4
Southeast Bulloch 1-2, 4-4
Islands 0-4, 0-9
Friday, Oct. 20
*New Hampstead 54, Islands 13
*Benedictine 38, Wayne County 21
Region 4
Troup 4-1, 7-1
LaGrange 4-1, 6-2
Starr’s Mill 4-1, 5-3
Trinity Christian 4-1, 5-3
Whitewater 2-3, 4-4
North Clayton 2-4, 4-5
Fayette County 1-4, 1-7
Riverdale 0-6, 0-9
Friday, Oct. 20
*LaGrange 42, Trinity Christian 14
*Starr’s Mill 48, Riverdale 0
*Whitewater 45, North Clayton 26
Region 5
Stockbridge 5-0, 6-2
Luella 4-1, 4-4
McDonough 3-2, 6-2
Pace Academy 3-2, 4-4
Lovett 3-2, 3-5
Hampton 2-3, 3-5
Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 0-5, 0-8
Woodland-Stockbridge 0-5, 0-8
Friday, Oct. 20
*Lovett 51, Mt. Zion-Jonesboro 7
*McDonough 21, Hampton 13
*Luella 27, Pace Academy 20
*Stockbridge 49, Woodland-Stockbridge 0
Region 6
Holy Innocents’ 2-1, 7-1
Stephenson 2-1, 6-2
Westminster 2-1, 5-3
Hapeville Charter 2-1, 4-4
Miller Grove 1-2, 5-3
Southwest DeKalb 0-3, 2-6
+Druid Hills 0-0, 6-1-1
+Clarkston 0-0, 1-7
+Stone Mountain 0-0, 1-7
Friday, Oct. 20
Midtown 30, Clarkston 0
Druid Hills 41, Johnson-Gainesville 0
Lakeside-DeKalb 33, Stone Mountain 7
Region 7
Central-Carroll 3-0, 8-0
Northwest Whitfield 2-1, 6-2
Cedartown 2-1, 5-3
Heritage-Catoosa 2-1, 5-3
Sonoraville 0-3, 2-6
Southeast Whitfield 0-3, 1-7
Friday, Oct. 13
*Cedartown 45, Sonoraville 0
*Central-Carroll 61, Southeast Whitfield 0
*Heritage-Catoosa 28, Northwest Whitfield 21
Region 8
North Oconee 6-0, 8-0
Madison County 4-2, 6-2
North Hall 4-2, 6-2
Cedar Shoals 4-3, 4-5
Cherokee Bluff 4-3, 4-5
East Forsyth 3-3, 5-3
Walnut Grove 2-4, 3-5
East Hall 1-5, 2-6
Chestatee 0-6, 0-8
+Johnson-Gainesville 0-0, 3-5
+Seckinger 0-0, 3-6
Thursday, Oct. 19
Seckinger 43, Cross Keys 0
Friday, Oct. 20
*Cherokee Bluff 49, East Hall 0
*Cedar Shoals 45, Chestatee 21
Druid Hills 41, Johnson-Gainesville 0
*Madison County 50, East Forsyth 34
*North Oconee 49, Walnut Grove 0
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