The Gordon Lee Trojans handed Chattooga its first loss of the season Friday night, pulling away from a back-and-forth battle with a pair of fourth-quarter scores from Dalton Russell for a 42-28 home victory.
Junior running back Peyton Groce had a trio of touchdowns in the contest, including a 49-yard trip to the end zone on the third play of the second half that put the Trojans ahead by a margin of 28-14. Indians quarterback Quarry Gibson found Matthew Bryant for their second touchdown connection of the night shortly after, and Zayden Cook’s second score knotted the game late in the third.
Chattooga then had a chance to take the lead after forcing a Trojans turnover on downs, but instead went three-and-out. Russell broke the tie with his first score and — after a recovery of an Indians fumble —iced the game from 33 yards out.
Both teams will continue Region 7-A Div. I play next week, with Gordon Lee (4-2, 2-1) traveling to Dade County and Chattooga (5-1, 2-1) visiting fourth-ranked Fannin County.
See the rest of the Friday night recaps below, and scroll further down for the recaps from Wednesday night.
Friday Recaps
Class 4A
Cass 42, Woodland-Cartersville 6
Cass snapped its three-game losing streak and got its first Region 7 victory of the season with a 42-6 rout of visiting Woodland-Cartersville. The Colonels led 14-6 after the opening frame, 21-6 at the break, and 28-6 heading into the fourth and will travel to second-ranked Cartersville next week.
Class 3A
Upson-Lee 22, Mary Persons 20 (3OT)
Mary Persons is still seeking its first win of the season after retroactively forfeiting its first four games for an eligibility violation, then giving up a game-losing safety in the third overtime period to visiting Upson-Lee. Following a punt and turnover-heavy first half, the Knights got on the board in the third with Nicholas Wells’ touchdown pass to Akeondre Chaney. The Bulldogs tied it up on the following possession with a CJ Banks touchdown run, and again after Wells’ rushing score with a Gavin Martin touchdown reception. The teams traded punts to end regulation, and the score stood at 14-14 after the first overtime period. Wells connected with Jayden Skelton for a 20-14 edge in the second overtime before Banks answered for Mary Persons with another touchdown to force a third extra period, during which Upson-Lee clinched the win with a safety.
Calhoun 24, Adairsville 0
Ninth-ranked Calhoun (2-3, 1-0) got its first Region 7 win of the season, shutting out the visiting Adairsville Tigers (4-2, 1-1) by a margin of 24-0. The Yellow Jackets got on the board in the first quarter with a Carlos Lopez field goal, then capped a long drive with a 3-yard rushing score from Isaiah Nalls for a 10-0 edge at the break. After a scoreless third, quarterback Trace Hawkins sealed the win with an early fourth-quarter touchdown.
Class A Division I
Darlington 21, Pepperell 20
Pepperell’s senior kicker Cameron Jones was set to line up for a potential game-winning 23-yard field goal on the final play of the game, but the untimed down was negated and the game was called due to offsetting penalties and an illegal forward pass on Pepperell’s desperation attempt on the previous play. Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, Pepperell quarterback Sam Ross found Sam Wooten for a touchdown to make it a 7-7 game with just 2:57 left in the half. Wooten—a former Darlington Tiger and transfer—intercepted the next possession and set up Pepperell deep in Tiger territory. Wooten and freshman Michael Patzan took back-to-back carries to set up Ross for a 1-yard quarterback sneak to give Pepperell a 14-7 lead at the break. Pepperell increased its lead to 20-7 with a 79-yard touchdown drive that took up seven minutes of clock on the first possession of the second half and was capped by Ross’ second touchdown pass of the game to Wooten. Ross intercepted Darlington late in the first half and then Kell Edeburn intercepted Darlington in the end zone for Pepperell’s third turnover of the game. Pepperell’s next possession ended with a fumbled snap, but a sack by Madden Garcia forced Darlington to punt. Pepperell clung to its lead and punted to set up a touchback. On the next snap, Myles Twyman took a Statue of Liberty carry all the way for an 80-yard touchdown with 2:30 left. Darlington’s onside kick was recovered by 6-foot-4 junior Henry Ledbetter and gave Darlington the ball at its own 47-yard line. Darlington executed a hook-and-ladder and got the go-ahead touchdown with 1:12 left. Pepperell’s final possession was littered with flags and what fans thought would be an untimed down ended with Darlington (4-2, 2-0) celebrating the victory and Pepperell falling to 0-6 and 0-2 in Region 6.
Temple 34, Bremen 18
Temple improved to 5-1 for the first time since 2016. CJ Gray put the Tigers up 7-0 with a 48-yard touchdown run and Temple’s lead grew to 21-0 with a 4-yard rushing score by Serjoe Jones and a 1-yard Hudson Nix touchdown run before Bremen’s 39-yard field goal closed the half with a 21-3 margin. Temple fumbled to set up a 1-yard Trent McPherson touchdown to cut the deficit to 21-10. CJ Gray scored his second touchdown of the game to push the lead back to 28-10 with 4:31 left in the third and the teams traded touchdowns for the final tally.
Dade County 21, Armuchee 7
Visiting Dade County took a 14-0 lead early in the fourth quarter after a 58-yard touchdown run by Evan Koger and a successful 2-point conversion. Dementrius Walker iced the game with a 16-yard touchdown run with just four minutes left and Armuchee got on the board with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Blaine Ragland to Trenton Cothran with a minute left.
Heard County 49, Haralson County 15
Heard County ran away with a 49-15 victory to improve to 3-2 overall and open up Region 6 play with an emphatic victory. Ethan Tisdale finished Heard County’s opening drive with a touchdown run, but the Braves trailed 8-7 after a successful 2-point conversion by the Rebels. Darience Coleman sparked Heard County with two touchdowns—including a 40-yard touchdown with 8:40 left in the final quarter to put the Braves up 49-15.
Wednesday Recaps
Class 5A
Lakeside-DeKalb 14, Tri-Cities 6
Lakeside-DeKalb moved to 2-0 in region play for the first time since 1997 with a 14-6 win over Tri-Cities. The Vikings got the scoring started early, driving down the field to take a 6-0 lead. With four minutes left in the first quarter, Lakeside added to its lead with a 1-yard Kyle Davis rushing touchdown. Davis then completed a pass to Canon Davis for the two-point conversion, extending the lead to 14-0. Tri-Cities cut into the lead just before halftime with a 1-yard touchdown run, but the Bulldogs missed the extra point, going into the break down 14-6. The second half was all defense, with neither team scoring, giving the Vikings the 14-6 victory.
Gainesville 48, Johns Creek 0
Josh Niblett’s Gainesville Red Elephants improved to 5-1 on the season and an undefeated 2-0 region record as they took down Johns Creek 48-0 on Wednesday night. The Gladiators remain winless on the season after Gainesville held them to less than 100 yards of total offense. The scoring came fast as Gainesville opened things up with a Kharim Hughley touchdown pass to Shane King from 20-yards out to take an early 7-0 lead. Wide receiver Taz Smith’s 49-yard reverse got the Red Elephants in the endzone for the second time of the night taking a 14-0 first quarter lead. Trent Jones blocked a Johns Creek punt in the second quarter as the Red Elephants took it back for a touchdown followed by a Smith 60-yard touchdown reception to take a 27-0 lead in the first half. The first half fireworks didn’t stop there as over the last five minutes of the half, Gainesville running back Carmelo Byrd scored twice, both from inside the five-yard line to give Gainesville a 41-0 lead by the end of the half. Brody Stanford caught the final Gainesville score of the night in the fourth quarter as Gainesville routed Johns Creek, 48-0.
Class 4A
Warner Robins 36, Wayne County 3
Warner Robins moved to 5-1 on the season and 1-0 in region play, defeating region opponent Wayne County 36-3. The Demons started their scoring with nine minutes left in the first half on a 10-yard touchdown catch by Daymond Batts, putting Warner Robins up 6-0. Early in the second quarter, Wayne County cut the lead to three with a 35-yard Christian Seller field goal. The Demons answered less than two minutes later with a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Skyler Williams. Warner Robins added to its lead right before halftime with a 4-yard touchdown run by Da’veon Latimore, extending the lead to 20-3 at the break. The second half was all Demons, featuring a third-quarter rushing touchdown from Carmello Canion, a safety, and a late 4-yard rushing touchdown from Kenyan Johnson, sealing the 36-3 victory.
Tucker 47, Northview 6
The Tucker Tigers improved to 4-1 on the season as they took down the Northview Titans on Wednesday night ahead of Hurricane Helene hitting the area. The scoring began with Lashonnette Hidgins recovering a fumble inside the Northview 10-yard line giving the Tigers the ball early in the red zone. Jace German punched in a rushing touchdown from 10-yards out to put the Tigers up 7-0. The Tiger defense continued to force turnovers early in the game with a 40-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Josiah Horne to put Tucker up 14-0. The first quarter scoring spree continued from the Tigers as Isaiah Horsham gave Tucker a 21-0 lead with a 6-yard touchdown run. In the second quarter, German found the endzone for the second time with a 16-yard touchdown run. Camryn Freeland’s 22-yard rushing score followed by a Christian Ema 13-yard touchdown reception from German gave Tucker a 41-0 lead by the break. Northview was able to get on the board in the third quarter after a 19-yard run from Drew Beam but the Titans ultimately fell to Tucker, 47-6.
Class A Division I
Thomasville 31, Jeff Davis 7
Thomasville improved to 5-1 and 2-0 in region play with a big win over region rival Jeff Davis, 31-7. Thomasville started the scoring early with a 33-yard rushing touchdown from Cam Hill with 10:15 left in the first quarter to go up 7-0. The Yellow Jackets then tied the game with 9:30 left in the second quarter. The Bulldogs regained the lead with 1:38 left in the half on a 42-yard field goal by Camden Christian, going into the break up 10-7. Thomasville scored first in the second half with a 30-yard touchdown run from Lavonte Cole with 7:19 left in the third quarter. The game turned defensive for much of the second half until, with 3:33 remaining, Hill scored his second touchdown of the day, extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 24-7. Thomasville added one final score on a 25-yard touchdown by Ant Anderson with 1:22 remaining, defeating the Yellow Jackets 31-7.
Bacon County 51, Berrien 12
Bacon County won its first region game of the season on Wednesday night as the Red Raiders defeated Berrien 51-12 for their fourth win on the season. Keyundric Dixon began the night’s scoring with a 78-yard rushing touchdown, giving the Red Raiders the early advantage. Aiden Cothern followed Dixon’s long run with a highlight of his own, returning a punt for a touchdown to take a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. After a Berrien fumble, the Red Raiders offense was able to capitalize with a 40-yard touchdown throw from Knox Ledbetter to Cothern for his second score of the night to take a 21-0 first half lead. Dixon scored his second touchdown right before the half followed by another Berrien fumble as Aki Brown’s scoop-and-score gave the Red Raiders a 35-0 advantage. Travion Richardson continued the night’s scoring with another Bacon County rushing touchdown to extend the lead to 42-0 in the third before a Berrien score got the Rebels on the board. Following a 23-yard field goal, Bacon County got the ball back and scored on a 55-yard touchdown from Jamin Ellis to put the nail in the coffin as the Red Raiders handled the Rebels on Wednesday night.
Class A Division II
Brooks County 49, Turner County 0
Brooks County started region play with a dominant 49-0 win over Turner County. The Trojans started fast with two early touchdowns in the first quarter, taking a 14-0 lead. With six minutes left in the first, Brooks County scored again on a 21-yard touchdown pass, extending the lead to 21-0. Later in the quarter, the Trojans increased their lead with a 6-yard touchdown pass, going into the second quarter up 28-0. The second quarter was more of the same, with a 5-yard touchdown pass with 11 minutes left in the half and a 3-yard rushing touchdown with seven minutes remaining. In the second half, Brooks County slowed down, scoring only once on a fumble return for a touchdown with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. The rest of the game was quiet, with neither team scoring before the game was called with five minutes left after a fight broke out at midfield.
Seminole County 28, Early County 12
The Seminole County Indians rode a 14-point first quarter outing to victory as they took down Early County 28-12 to improve to 4-2 on the season. The Indians let up 12 points in the second quarter to take a two-point, 14-12 lead at the half before holding the Bobcats scoreless through the next two quarters. The Indians scored 14 more in the second half, giving them the 28-12 victory. Seminole County senior quarterback Drew Hornsby threw for 82 yards with one touchdown on just two completions. The Indians rushed for 126 yards on the ground with senior running back Devin Gale leading the way with 77 yards and senior running back Terry Daniels adding two rushing scores. Junior wideout Zakari Henderson led the receiving core with a touchdown reception of 59 yards, his only reception of the game.
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