Marietta kept its region championship aspirations alive and in the process snuffed out Harrison’s title hopes with a 31-7 victory in a Region 3-7A game Friday night at Northcutt Stadium in Marietta.
Marietta (4-5, 3-0) remained in sole possession of first place in the five-team region and can clinch its first region title since 2005 with a victory against North Paulding (6-3, 2-1) next weekend. North Paulding will be the region champion if it beats the Blue Devils.
“The way our kids are playing, I feel great,” Marietta coach Richard Morgan said. “We played a tough schedule, and here we are going on the road to win the region. That’s what you’re asking for. That’s what you want when you start the season. I feel great about my kids. I love them. I’ll put them up against anybody. We already have.”
Harrison (3-7, 2-2) could have clinched the region title Friday night but instead fell into third place. The Hoyas are off next week and will await the results of the Marietta-North Paulding and McEachern-Hillgrove games to see if they finish as the second, third or fourth seed in the playoffs.
The Blue Devils led 7-0 at halftime despite being held to 101 yards of total offense but broke the game open by scoring on their first four possessions of the second half.
Marietta drove 80 yards in 13 plays on its first possession of the third quarter and took a 14-0 lead on a 3-yard run by Melvin Alexander. Ben Parrot made it a 17-0 game with a 20-yard field goal later in the quarter, and the Blue Devils got touchdowns runs from Russell Bey (six yards) and Jaylen Frazier (15 yards) in the fourth to put the game away.
Harrison’s points came on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Xavier Hill to Reggie Brigman with 34 seconds remaining.
The Hoyas finished with 203 total yards. Braylan Ford was 18-of-29 passing for 122 yards but was intercepted three times, twice by Joseph Mosley.
Marietta’s special teams provided the only points of the first half when Nakari Ashley blocked Harrison’s 50-yard field goal attempt and Isaiah Sanders caught it and ran 65 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
The Blue Devils had just three yards rushing in the first half but finished with 94. Quarterbacks Daniel Gray and Chase McCravy combined for 214 yards passing. Gray played most of the first half, and McCravy played all of the second. McCravy was 10-of-17 for 144 yards.
“We had a lot of shots in the first half, but we didn’t make the plays that we were taught to make and we didn’t do the things that we were taught to do, so at halftime we kinda fixed that,” Morgan said. “We came out in the second half and made the plays we were supposed to make, and the defense was solid the entire night, like they have been all season.”
Harrison - 0-0-0-7 - 7
Marietta - 7-0-10-14 - 31
First quarter
M - Isaiah Sanders 65 return of blocked field goal (Ben Parrot kick), 0:36
Third quarter
M - Melvin Alexander 3 run (Parrot kick), 8:18
M - Parrot 20 field goal, 2:15
Fourth quarter
M - Russell Bay 6 run (Parrot kick), 8:44
M - Jaylen Frazier 15 run (Parrot kick), 5:01
H - Reggie Brigman 18 pass from Xavier Hill (Rudolph Gleason kick), 0:34
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