Canes plow past Grangers; Adairsville, Cass, and Woodland drop region games
Only one of the four local high school football teams picked up a victory Friday night with Cartersville winning at LaGrange. Adairsville and Woodland dropped road region contests while Cass fell at home to Hiram.
CARTERSVILLE 45, LaGRANGE 2
The host Grangers opened with a recovered onside kickoff, punted to the Canes’ one yard line, and opened the scoring with a safety, but the Class AAAA top-ranked Hurricanes posted 45 unanswered points to remain undefeated on the season.
Cartersville quarterback Tee Webb threw four touchdown passes and rushed for another score as the Canes took control early. Webb had a 60-yard scoring strike to Devonte Ross (photo) and a 27-yarder to Kyler Johnson for a 14-2 lead after one quarter. Johnson finished with 125 receiving yards. Ross totaled 86 yards. Oscar Hernandez, who made six PATs, added a 21-yard field goal in the second quarter. That gave Cartersville a 17-2 lead before Webb connected on a 45-yard touchdown pass to Evan Slocum and ran in another score from four yards out for a 31-2 halftime lead. In the second half, Webb found Johnson for a 27-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter and backup quarterback Stratton Tripp contributed an 11-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. Webb finished 15-for-23 for 296 yards, five touchdowns (one rushing) and one interception.
The loss drops LaGrange to 2-4 for the season and 0-3 in Region 5-AAAA.
Cartersville (7-0, 3-0) will host 2nd-ranked Sandy Creek next Friday in an important region game at Weinman Stadium.
CALHOUN 39, ADAIRSVILLE 14
Jake Morrow threw for two touchdowns and Jerrian Hames ran for two scores as Calhoun defeated Adairsville 39-14.
Morrow had a second quarter, 30-yard scoring pass to Ethan Crump for a 10-0 lead and the same two connected again in the third quarter as the Yellow Jackets built a 39-7 lead. Hames scored on a six-yard run mid-second quarter as Calhoun went up 17-0 and sprinted in from 11 yards out late in the third quarter for a 32-7 advantage.
Eduardo Fajardo, who made four PAT kicks, gave Calhoun their first points with a 32-yard field goal in the opening quarter.
Cole Speer returned a punt 75 yards for a Calhoun touchdown just before the intermission and Clayton Long ran in a two-point conversion. The Yellow Jackets led 25-7 at halftime.
Adairsville committed five turnovers in the game to hamper the offense but did get touchdown receptions by Jaxson Owens (16 yards in the second quarter from Connor Crunkleton) and Wade Conduff (3 yards in the final minute of the third quarter from Courtney Slocum).
Crunkleton (photo) was 13-for-22 for 122 yards and one touchdown. Owens had five catches for 32 yards and a touchdown, while Conduff hauled in eight passes for 82 yards and one touchdown.
Calhoun (5-1, 3-1 in Region 6-AAA) travels to Murray County next Friday.
Adairsville (3-4, 2-3) has Sonoraville coming to Tigers’ Stadium next Friday.
HIRAM 31, CASS 0
Two crucial turnovers and Hiram’s control of the line of scrimmage led to three unanswered scores by Hiram in the third quarter Friday night as the Hornets defeated Cass at Doug Cochran Stadium, 31-0.
Following a scoreless first quarter with both defenses standing tall, Hiram scored the only points of the first half on a 72-yard pass from senior quarterback Zander May to senior wide receiver Dylan Stockunas.
The slant over the middle split two Cass defenders and Stockunas outran everyone to the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 8:10 remaining in the second quarter. The third quarter began much like the first half with a pair of punt exchanges, but a short punt by Hiram bounced off the back of a Cass player and Hiram recovered at the Colonels’ 47 yard line just under two minutes into the second half. On the next play, May connected with Demetrius Twine for a 47-yard scoring strike and the PAT by Dalton Moyse — his second of four PATs — gave the Hornets a 14-0 lead with 9:52 left in the third quarter. Cass was forced to punt on their next possession and Hiram successfully drove into the Colonels’ red zone, but settled for a 26-yard Moyse field goal and a 17-0 lead at the 5:11 mark of the period.
Following the ensuing kickoff and a Cass penalty, Hiram’s Dwight McKissack picked off a Logan Nelson deflected pass at the six yard line and returned it for a touchdown and a 24-0 Hiram lead with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter.
A fourth quarter touchdown run from five yards out capped a 67-yard drive by the Hornets to round out the scoring with 6:11 left in the game.
Hiram improves to 4-2 overall and 4-0 in Region 7-AAAA. They can clinch a state playoff berth next week with a win at home over Villa Rica. Cass (3-4, 2-3) travels to East Paulding who is 0-6 on the season and 0-4 in the region, but played Hiram to a 28-21 loss October 4. The Raiders other three region losses were to Carrollton, Rome, and Kell.
CARROLLTON 47, WOODLAND 0
The Class AAAAA 2nd-ranked Trojans raced to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and led 34-0 at halftime on their way to a home Region 7-AAAAA victory over Woodland Friday night in Carrollton.
Myles Morris and Mecose Todd both rushed for a touchdown and passed for a touchdown for the Trojans. Terrell Carmichael returned a punt for a touchdown and caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Nick Tuggle. Oliver Dudley also tossed a short touchdown pass to Connor Herriott in Carrollton’s win. The Trojans improved to 7-0 for the year and are now 5-0 in Region 7-AAAAA. Carrollton travels to Kell next Friday.
Woodland (1-6, 0-5) has a bye week before hosting Villa Rica October 25.
