Local high school football roundup: Tigers win critical road game, King becomes fastest to 50 wins i
The Adairsvile Tigers won an important Region 6-AAA-South game at Sonoraville and Coach Joey King of the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes became the fastest in GHSA history to win 50 games Friday night.
TIGERS WIN CRITICAL ROAD SUB-REGION GAME
The Adairsville Tigers won an important Region 6-AAA South battle Friday night at Sonoraville to improve they region playoff positioning.
Adairsville scored four second quarter touchdowns to take a 28-12 lead in the first half and eventually held off the Phoenix, 35-25.
Sonoraville used a heavy dose of running back Tristan Key on the game’s opening drive to take a 6-0 lead. Key, who rushed for more than 200 yards in the game, capped the 11-play, 90-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run. The PAT attempt failed.
The visiting Tigers took their first lead with an 89-yard drive on six plays that culminated on the first play of the second quarter. Christian Steele, who rushed for 139 yards on 20 carries, found the end zone on a seven yard run and the first of five Josh Honea PAT kicks gave Adairsville a 7-6 lead.
On the Tigers’ next possesion, they added to their lead with a bit a trickery from the Sonoraville 48-yard line.
Quarterback Mason Boswell threw a lateral pass to wide receiver Cody Henderson who then tossed the ball downfield to connect with Bryce Burgess. Burgess made the catch at the 10 yard line and escaped the Phoenix defenders to reach paydirt on a 48-yard double-pass touchdown play and a 14-6 lead.
Sonoraville cut the lead to 14-12 on a 55-yard Key touchdown run. His 2-point PAT run attempt failed.
On the ensuing kickoff, Adairsville’s Travon Branch burst up the middle with a long return that set up another Tigers’ score at the 11 yard line. Two plays later, Burgess scored on a 7-yard run for a 21-12 Adairsville lead.
The Tigers added another first half touchdown with only 0:16 remaining in the second quarter.
Burgess punched it in from the one yard line to cap off a 74-yard drive that took eight plays and gave Adairsville a 28-12 halftime lead.
An interception early in the third quarter set up Sonoraville for a 23-yard scoring drive to cut the lead to 28-18. Key scored on a 10-yard run but was unsuccessful on a 2-point conversion run attempt.
Adairsville started its final scoring drive late in the third quarter and finished it with 10:47 remaining in the game. The 11-play, 84 yard march was completed with a fourth-and-goal, 2-yard run for touchdown by Boswell to give the Tigers a 35-18 lead.
The final scoring play was a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by Sonoraville’s Blade Bryant. Adairsville had driven into the Phoenix red zone, but Bryant’s pick six made it a two-score game with 2:39 remaining.
Sonoraville drove deep into Adairsville territory in the final minute, but a field goal attempt was blocked by the Tigers to seal a 35-25 victory.
The Phoenix slipped to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in Region 6-AAA-South.
Adairsville (4-4, 1-1) hosts 6th-ranked Bremen (7-0, 2-0) next Friday.
KING FASTEST TO 50 WINS AS CANES CRUISE
Cartersville Purple Hurricanes’ head coach Joey King became the fastest coach to reach 50 career wins in GHSA football history Friday night as his team overpowered visiting Sandy Creek 63-0.
The win was also the 38th consecutive victory for the two-time defending state champions in Class AAAA over the past three seasons.
Trevor Lawrence — known more for his arm — scampered 77 yards on the Canes’ first snap of the night to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Terry Berdin. On Cartersville’s next possession, Lawrence tossed a scoring pass to J’Kobe Orr and running back Rico Frye added another 1-yard touchdown run later in the first quarter as the Purple Hurricanes took a 21-0 lead.
E.J. Turner hauled in a 36-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the second quarter. T.J. Horton had two touchdown receptions of 30 and 3 yards, and Frye added two more rushing touchdowns as the Canes took a 56-0 halftime lead.
Lawrence finished 15-for-19 for 295 yards with four touchdowns. He also ran for 81 yards on four attempts.
Turner and Horton both had four receptions combining for 148 yards and three scores. Frye contributed 44 yards on 11 carries with three touchdowns.
Cartersville head coach Joey King is now 50-2 in the midst of his fourth season with the Hurricanes. That mark makes him the fastest head coach to 50 wins in Georgia High School Association football history.
Cartersville (8-0, 4-0) hosts Chapel Hill next Friday at Weinman Stadium.
EAST PAULDING MARCHES PAST WOODLAND, 41-21
Woodland fullback Justice Carter scored on a 48-yard touchdown run on the Wildcats’ opening possession, but East Paulding answered with four straight touchdowns on their way to a convincing win in Dallas.
Raiders’ running back Tyrell Robinson scored on touchdown runs of 12 and 24 yards in the first half and John Estes threw a touchdown pass to Cole Brown for a 19-6 East Paulding lead at halftime.
After East Paulding took a 27-6 lead on a 9-yard touchdown run by Jhalil Daniels, Woodland quarterback Brody Williams scored on a 4-yard run to culminate the Wildcats’ first drive of second half. He later added another touchdown run with less than three minutes remaining in the game and Titus Jones completed the Woodland scoring with a two-point conversion run.
Raiders’ quarterback John Estes and Dominic Burnham had touchdown runs of 11 and 26 yards in the third quarter that gave East Paulding a 34-13 lead at the time.
Carter totaled 130 yards on 22 carries and Demarcus Williams had 75 yards on 23 attempts for Woodland. Brody Williams had 42 yards rushing.
East Paulding improved to 3-4 overall and stayed firmly in contention for a state playoff berth with a 3-2 mark in Region 7-AAAAA. The Raiders play at Hiram next Friday.
Woodland (3-5, 2-4) hosts Kell next Friday night.
CASS BLANKED AT TOP-RANKED ROME
The top-ranked and Class AAAAA defending state champion Rome Wolves extended their winning streak to 19 straight games Friday night at Barron Stadium with a 49-0 blanking of Cass.
Wolves quarterback Knox Kadum was a perfect 11-of-11 passing for 172 yards as Rome totaled over 450 yards of offense on the night.
Jalynn Sykes rushed for three touchdowns and Jamious Griffin ran for two touchdowns in the first half as the Wolves took a 42-0 lead at the intermission.
Rome improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in Region 7-AAAAA.
Cass (0-7, 0-5) travels to Paulding County next Friday.
