South Atlanta 50, Mount Paran 7

Brown, who led the state in rushing last season with 2,757 yards, adding 38 touchdowns, had 182 yards on just nine carries through the first half.

“I was feeling it,” said Brown, who is committed to Purdue. “It just kept coming to me. They kept giving me the ball, and I kept doing what I did. The line was doing their thing. Shout out to the line.”

The game’s first drive ended after just two plays, when Hornets senior Nick Brown reeled in an interception and returned it 30 yards to the Hornets’ 35. The next play, Keyjuan Brown took it to the house untouched to make it 8-0 after the 2-point conversion.

The Eagles’ next six possessions in the first half ended in punts. The Hornets, in that time, tacked on two more touchdowns, the first being a Nick Brown 70-yard punt return for a touchdown. On the play, he fielded the punt a few yards ahead of a charging defender, and then ran in a circle to avoid him. That angle remained open all the way to the end zone, with a key block downfield that was just enough to keep the punter from pushing Nick Brown out of bounds as the crossed over the pylon. That made it 16-0 with 1:10 remaining in the first.

With 7:13 left in the half, Hornets quarterback Jontez Adams faked a handoff to Keyjuan Brown and the Eagles’ defense committed to Brown, not wanting to give him another big play, but Adams kept it and took it 76 yards for a touchdown to push the Hornets’ lead to 24-0.

The Hornets’ final scoring drive of the half took five plays and ended on Keyjuan Brown’s 2-yard run on third-and-goal with 3:00 left.

In the second half, Keyjuan Brown, for the third time, ran the first play from scrimmage for a touchdown, this one for 72 yards.

The Hornets’ defense seemed to become offended anytime the Eagles crossed the 50. That happened three times in the first half, and each time the next play resulted in Mount Paran being pushed back to their side of the field before punting.

The Eagles did manage to avoid a shutout, which would have been the Hornets’ second in a row, when senior River Kipp broke a 59-yard run with 1:01 left in the first half. The Eagles’ second half possessions ended with a punt and two turnover-on-downs. Senior defensive lineman Jonetavious Stuckey led the way with two sacks.

Now, the Hornets have four region games remaining to seal another region championship, starting next Saturday against North Cobb Christian at Lakewood Stadium. Though Friday’s win was lopsided, the Hornets were called for nine penalties totaling 90 yards.

“I always start happy with a win but my problem is, further down, when we get into the playoffs, that these big penalties we had that were killing our drives will hurt us,” said Hornets coach Michael Woolridge, who guided the Hornets to a record season for wins (11) and best finish (quarterfinals) last year, his first with the team.

“We got away with it tonight...but that’s going to hurt us in the playoffs. So, my main focus is cleaning up penalties that will cost us against playoff teams.”

The Eagles (2-2, 2-1) take a break from region play to host Class 1A Division I’s No. 10 Social Circle, before resuming with North Cobb Christian on Oct. 21. They spent their first 14 seasons in 1A, led by Mitch Jordan, before moving up for this year’s reclassification cycle. Now led by first-year coach Matt Ely, the Eagles have made the playoffs every year since 2013 and won state in 2014.

South Atlanta 16 16 6 12 — 50

Mount Paran 0 7 0 0 — 7

S — Keyjuan Brown 35 run (Brown run)

S — Nick Brown 70 punt return (Brown run)

S — Jontez Adams 76 run (Steve Moore pass from Adams)

S — Keyjuan Brown 2 run (Cevan Edwards pass from Adams)

M — River Kipp 59 run (Jacob Brackman kick)

S — Brown 6 run (run failed)

S — Brown 72 run (run failed)

S — Ivan Weems 34 run