Roswell Hornets senior running back Nykahi Davenport didn’t put much thought into the potential three-way tie for first place that a loss to the Alpharetta Raiders on Friday would have created for Region 7-6A, and it showed in the way he and his teammates played.
In the regular season finale, the No. 8 Hornets rolled to a 52-13 win over Alpharetta for their second straight Region 7 championship. The Hornets (9-1, 6-0) will try to top last year’s 12-3 semifinals finish as the No. 1 seed, and will host the No. 4 seed from Region 6 next week.
The entire second half featured a running clock after the Hornets opened on a 42-0 run and led 49-7 at halftime.
“We never talked about (what a loss would have meant),” Davenport said. “We practiced hard all week to come out with the win. We just kept pounding the ball. We knew we had it in the bag, we just had to keep working. This means a lot, we just need to keep working, day by day. I think we can reach the championship.”
Davenport had 151 yards and an 81-yard touchdown run on nine carries in the first quarter, and had 235 yards on 11 carries by halftime, adding a 57-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Hornets senior quarterback KJ Smith accounted for five touchdowns in the first half, four passing and one rushing. Smith’s first-half touchdown passes were to junior tight end Ethan Gureia (19 and 29 yards), junior receiver Grant Cook (50 yards) and junior running back Synkwan Smith (11 yards).
Senior Brent Gonda was 7-for-7 on extra point kicks and made his only field goal attempts from 31 yards out.
The Raiders (5-5, 4-2) are the No. 3 seed and travel to the No. 2 seed from Region 6. They needed to win to create a three-way tie between them, the Hornets and Blessed Trinity. To emerge from the tiebreaker as region champs, the Raiders would have needed to beat Roswell by eight.
The Raiders’ only score of the first half came on a 90-yard touchdown pass from sophomore DJ Bordeaux to junior Kevin Lipscomb, on third-and-20.
Alpharetta 0 7 6 0 — 13
Roswell 21 28 3 0 — 52
R — KJ Smith 2 run (Brett Gonda kick)
R — Synkwan Smith 11 pass from KJ Smith (Gonda kick)
R — Nykahi Davenport 81 run (Gonda kick)
R — Grant Cook 50 pass from KJ Smith (Gonda kick)
R — Davenport 57 run (Gonda kick)
R — Ethan Gureia 19 pass from KJ Smith (Gonda kick)
A — Kevin Lipscomb 90 pass from DJ Bordeaux (Talan Thomas kick)
R — Gureia 29 pass from KJ Smith (Gonda kick)
A — Ethan Barbour 20 pass from Bordeaux (pass failed)
R — Gonda 31 FG
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