The Hapeville Charter Hornets beat the Lovett Lions 25-15 Friday in Region 5-2A, jumping ahead early, withstanding a 15-0 run before halftime adjustments that led to the defense shutting out the Lions in the second half while limiting them to just 45 yards of offense.
The win catapults the Hornets (4-3, 3-0) from the unranked to No. 5, and puts them on a collision course with No. 9 Caver-Atlanta (6-2, 4-0) in the Nov. 8 regular season finale, which will could decide the winner of 5-2A. First, Carver must beat Lovett (7-1, 3-1) next week, which maintains its No. 5 ranking in 3A-A despite the loss.
Hornets coach Winston Gordon knew the defense would be tested with two starters, junior linebacker Rashad Williamson and sophomore tackle Antonio Harris, out due to injury. Sure enough, the Lions scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 15-7 lead into the locker room.
At halftime, Gordon tweaked the game plan.
“We were playing a gap defense and we just needed to make some adjustments,” said Gordon, in his 14th season as the program’s only coach. “We moved some players around to contain the outside run, because (the Lions) were telegraphing where they were running the ball, to the opposite of where they were loading the line. We were able to contain the outside run after that.”
The Hornets took control with two third-quarter touchdowns, the first on a short run from senior Robert Henderson, which was preceded by 40-yard pass from senior quarterback KJ Pope to senior Jaseem Williams. Henderson scored again on a 50-yard tunnel screen to make it 19-15 and give the Hornets the lead for good.
Henderson finished with 225 yards on 28 carries and scored all four of the Hornets’ touchdowns. Senior quarterback AJ Pope was 12 of 20 for 185 yards, Williams had 81 yards on five catches, and Jah’nai Weaver had 72 yards on three catches. Junior Omari Harris had 68 yards on 11 carries.
The defense was led by senior Ke’sean Wooten, who had a team-high eight tackles including one for a loss, senior Dylon Henderson (interception three tackles), junior Jareq Johnson (two forced fumbles, two tackles), senior Justin Pattillo (sack, three tackles, tackle for loss), and Kenny Fairley (four tackles, two for loss). Senior Zach Smith and junior Zion Crawford each had three tackles.
The Hornets are on a three-game win streak, all against 5-2A opponents, and have won four of five after starting 1-3. The losses 5A’s No. 3 Lee County, 4A’s No. 3 Cartersville and 6A’s Westlake. All four non-region games, including a win over 6A’s Heritage-Conyers, were on the road.
“We were very confident coming into this game,” Gordon said. “We play one of the tougher schedules in 2A. Columbia’s the only other one I know of with a brutal schedule like that. (Columbia and Hapeville are No. 1 and 2 for strength of schedule among non-private 2A schools, according to MaxPreps.) We’re battle tested. We were up 7-0 on Cartersville at the half, but Henderson got hurt. Against Westlake we had a touchdown called back with 1:30 left, after we had dominated the game stats-wise, and, besides Lee County (a 66-6 loss in Week 1), we’ve been in every game.
“That schedule humbled the kids, and we found out how resilient we are.”
The Hornets play KIPP (2-6, 1-3) this week and Therrell (2-6, 1-3) on Nov. 1 before the Carver game. The Hornets last won a region title in 2019. The’ve never played Carver in the regular season.
“We used to play each other in the preseason when we were in 4A and they were in 3A,” said Gordon, whose Hornets competed in 4A from 2020-23. “Whoever wins that game will be going into the playoffs with a lot of confidence. We have a good record against Atlanta Public Schools. The kids all know each other from playing in rec league together. It will be an exciting matchup. We have home field advantage, so hopefully we’ll take advantage of that.
Sources: Georgia High School Football Historians Association, MaxPreps, GHSF Daily
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