Canes dominate Titans; Colonels, Tigers pick up important region wins

Cartersville, Adairsville, and Cass all collected important region victories Friday night and each put themselves in prime position for the state playoffs with their wins.

Canes stake claim at No. 1 with dominant win at Blessed Trinity

Malachi Jefferies rushed for 66 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries Friday during Cartersville's dominant win at Blessed Trinity.

Cartersville (7-0, 3-0) raced to a 28-0 lead and led 35-7 at halftime on their way to a 49-21 Region 7-AAAAA win in Roswell.

In the victory, Cartersville scored on seven of its first eight drives with the passing attack doing its damage in the first half and the ground game closing out the win.

Jake Parker was 7 for 12 for 151 yards and three touchdowns -- all in the first half. He also finished the night with 32 rushing yards to lead the victory. Amari White, who had 148 yards rushing on 17 carries with two touchdowns led the ground attack. He also had a 32 yard touchdown reception. Malachi Jefferies finished with 66 yards on 16 carries and one score with Paul Gamble added a second half touchdown run for the Hurricanes in relief at quarterback.

Kendric Price was on the receiving end of a 22-yard touchdown pass from Parker on the Hurricanes' opening drive touchdown. Parker's two other scoring strikes went to White on a screen pass and a deeper throw to Brynen Wilkins. Those scoring passes covered 32 yards each. Cartersville will likely vault to the No. 1 ranking when the new polls are released. No. 1 Warner Robins lost at Ware County Friday night 29-21 to open that door. Cartersville plays at Woodland next Friday.

Tigers rally in fourth quarter to beat Sonoraville

Grayson Belcher

The Adairsville Tigers rallied for 21 fourth quarter points Friday night at home in a thrilling comeback win over Region 6-AAA foe Sonoraville.

The Phoenix ground attack was dominant in the first half with Sonoraville taking a 14-0 lead and the two teams played a scoreless third quarter.

Sonoraville led 7-0 in the second period following a 15-play, 93-yard drive. The scoring march was culminated with 27-yard touchdown strike from Jaxon Pate to Nicholas Beddington with 5:22 remaining in the first half. The Phoenix added to their lead in the final minute of the first half on a three-yard run.

Following a scoreless third quarter, the Tigers offense came to life along with their special teams. Adairsville's first score broke the ice, then the Tigers recovered an onside kickoff attempt leading to another touchdown and blocked a short Sonoraville field goal attempt late that led to the go-ahead score. Adairsville quarterback Jonathan Gough had touchdown passes to Grayson Belcher and Evan Sanders. The connection with Belcher was a 9-yard toss that made the score 14-6. After the onside kick recovery, Gough hit Sanders on a 13-yard end zone fade that tied the game 14-14 when the Tigers converted an ensuing two-point play.

Sonoraville methodically drove down the field late in the game, reaching the Adairsville 10-yard line to set up a short field goal attempt. The Tigers blocked the attempt however and recovered at the 49-yard line to set up the go-ahead drive.

This time Gough found Belcher for a 24-yard touchdown pass with just 10 seconds remaining and the Tigers escaped with a 21-14 win.

The loss drops Sonoraville to 4-3 on the season and 2-3 in Region 6-AAA.

Adairsville now sits alone in third place in Region 6-AAA with a 6-1 overall record and a 4-1 region mark. The Tigers play at Rockmart (6-1, 5-0) Friday.

Colonels secure state playoff berth with win over Hiram, 34-24

Sacovie White makes his way through traffic.

Devin Henderson ran for two touchdowns and connected with Sacovie White for a third score as the Colonels defeated visiting Hiram 34-24.

White added a spectacular 25-yard touchdown run just before the end of the first half to put Cass ahead 28-24 at the time. Freddi Gbadie also had a first quarter touchdown run that cut an early Hiram lead to 10-7.

The Cass defense forced three punts, two turnovers on downs and an interception in Hiram’s six second-half possessions to keep the Hornets off the scoreboard in the final 24 minutes. The only score of the second half was Devin Henderson's 11-yard touchdown sprint in the final minute of the third quarter.

Cass (5-3, 2-1) is firmly in control of a state playoff berth for the first time in 15 seasons with three weeks remaining in the regular season. The Colonels travel to No. 6 Calhoun Friday night and close the regular season the following week at home against Blessed Trinity. Cass, along with the rest of Region 7-AAAAA, has a bye week November 5 with the state playoffs beginning November 12.