The Roswell Hornets opened region play with a dominant 42-10 win over the Seckinger Jaguars on Friday at Ray Manus Stadium.
The Hornets, ranked No. 7 in 5A, improve to 4-1, 1-0 in Region 7 and will head into a bye next week. They’ve won two straight since losing to 6A’s No. 2 Buford on Sept. 6.
With 9:41 left in the third quarter, Hornets senior receiver Grant Cook returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-3, which seemingly put the game out of reach. A few yards into his run, he found himself surrounded by Jaguars, but spun around, reversed field and dashed to the end zone.
Cook also had three catches for 53 yards.
“That loss against Buford really woke us up,” Cook said. “We know we need to be locked in at all times in practice, never taking a single day off. We’ll use the bye to try and get healthy, come back and get ready for a playoff run.”
Three plays into the game’s opening drive, Hornets junior quarterback Trey Smith broke a 56-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 with 10:45 into the first. The Jaguars’ first drive lasted three plays, ending with Hornets lineman Danny Harris’ strip-sack, which was recovered by Roswell at the Seckinger 31. Four plays later, Smith had his second touchdown run, this from 1 yard out.
Jaguars kicker Nick Bernal hit a 22-yard field goal with 4:25 left in the second, and the Hornets took a 14-3 lead into halftime.
Smith finished with 62 yards on five carries, and junior Nick Peal had three touchdowns and 89 yards on three carries. Junior Kaiden Perry had 75 yards on 17 carries.
The Jaguars (4-1, 0-1), a third-year school, were playing in their first-ever region game. They’ve already set the program record for wins in a season and will play top-ranked Milton next week in another stiff region contest. Their lone touchdown was a 90-yard kickoff return by junior Kyree Todd, which made it 35-10 with 9:46 left.
Seckinger 0 3 0 7 - 10
Roswell 14 0 14 14 - 42
R — Trey Smith 56 run (Balint Vorosmarty kick)
R — Smith 1 run (Vororsmarty kick)
S — Nick Bernal 22 FG
R — Grant Cook 55 punt return (Vorosmarty kick)
R — Nick Peal 1 run (Vorosmarty kick)
R — Peal 8 run (Vorosmarty kick)
S — Kyree Todd 90 kickoff return (Bernal kick)
R — Peal 18 run (Vorosmarty kick)
About the Author
