Cedar Shoals football remains in playoff contention, Commerce's special season continues
There were plenty of lopsided scores Friday as Prince Avenue Christian, Cedar Shoals, North Oconee, Jefferson, Athens Academy, Commerce, Madison County, Bethlehem Christian and Westminster Christian all won with margins of three touchdowns or more. North Oconee, Jefferson and Bethlehem Christian remained undefeated and Commerce won perhaps the most exciting game of the night, upsetting Elbert County 49-21 in a game of Class A Division 1 top-10 teams.
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PRINCE AVENUE CHRISTIAN 49, OGLETHORPE COUNTY 0: At Lexington, the Wolverines – ranked No. 1 in Class A Division 1 – showed no ill effects from two consecutive weeks off as they recorded their second shutout of the season and won their Region 5-A Division 1 opener.
Quarterback Aaron Philo – who came into Friday’s game with 2,180 passing yards – threw five touchdown passes and ran for two scores to highlight Prince Avenue Christian’s offensive attack.
After rushing 65 yards in the first quarter for the Wolverines’ first touchdown, Philo threw a 3-yard scoring pass to Jake Bobo (Bobo’s first reception of the season) and hit C.J. Dockery on a 3-yard pass with one second left in the first half.
Philo ran 3 yards for another touchdown early in the third quarter and then threw a 41-yard scoring pass to Hudson Hill with 6:03 remaining to give Prince Avenue a 35-0 lead going into the final quarter. With about three minutes remaining in the third, Wolverines coach Greg Vandagriff was ejected from the game.
In the fourth quarter, Philo found Brody Rogers open for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 7:43 left and then closed out the night with a 10-yard connection to Hill.
Prince Avenue (7-1, 1-0) will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Jasper County. Oglethorpe County (3-5, 0-1) suffered its first shutout since 2020; the Patriots will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Social Circle.
CEDAR SHOALS 45, CHESTATEE 21: At Chestatee Stadium in Gainesville, the Jaguars won their second consecutive game and remained in the hunt for a playoff berth with a Region 8-4A victory over the winless War Eagles.
Cedar Shoals’ win was highlighted by two pick-sixes by Kayden Scott. He picked off one pass and returned it 15 yards for a score with 10 minutes left in the second quarter and his second interception was returned 38 yards for a touchdown with 2:30 left in the third quarter.
Geo Barrera got the Jaguars (4-5, 4-3) on the board with a field goal in the first quarter. With 11:43 left in the second quarter, Devin Hester gave Cedar Shoals the lead with a 15-yard rush. After Scott’s first pick-six, A.J. Hubbard tossed a 33-yard scoring pass to Hester with 4:49 remaining and with 2:55 left hit Taiwan Green on a 35-yard connection.
With 4:19 left in the third quarter, Hubbard threw an 11-yard scoring strike to Jakare Hill and Scott had his second interception return to give Cedar Shoals a 45-14 victory and Chestatee – which led 7-0 in the first quarter – scored with 2:55 left in the game.
The Jaguars will close out the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Friday, hosting North Hall.
JEFFERSON 56, LOGANVILLE 20: At Red Devil Stadium, the Dragons – ranked No. 3 in Class 5A – flattened another opponent, this one coached by former Jefferson leader Gene Cathcart, who coached the Dragons from 2017 to 2021 and joined the Loganville staff this year.
As has been the case for much of the season, Jefferson’s Sammy Brown – who came into Friday’s game with 1,025 rushing yards – did much of the damage, scoring four touchdowns. He scored three times in the first quarter as Jefferson (8-0, 4-0 in Region 8-5A) constructed a 28-7 lead after 12 minutes. Brown scored on a 71-yard run with 10:28 left, a 5-yard run with 6:18 remaining and a 42-yard run with 1:28 remaining. Brown also scored on a 17-yard dash with 6:48 left in the second quarter.
Gavin Markey threw three touchdown passes, connecting with Brown, Zay Minish and Talan Childress and also ran for a score. The Dragons also got a rushing touchdown from Mikey Roberts, who returned a Loganville kickoff 93 yards to open the second half.
Winners of 14 consecutive games dating back to 2022, Jefferson will host Heritage-Conyers at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
ATHENS ACADEMY 56, BANKS COUNTY 27: At Leopard Stadium in Homer, the Spartans – ranked No. 10 in Class 2A – bounced back from their lopsided loss to No. 9 Fellowship Christian with a Region 8-2A beatdown of Banks County, which opened the season with four consecutive wins and has now lost four in a row.
Hampton Johnson – who came into Friday’s game with 1,777 passing yards – threw touchdown passes to Keyon Standifer (66 yards with 3:52 left in the first quarter), Noah Prior (43 yards with 10 seconds left in the first) and Austin McGee (63 yards with 7:10 left in the second quarter) as Athens Academy improved to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in the region.
Prior also rushed 6 yards for a score with 3:35 left in the first quarter, a play set up by an interception from K.J. Whitehead. Preston Darden ran in from 25 yards out with less than a minute before halftime to put Athens Academy up 35-7.
The second half belonged to Jeremiah Wingfield as he scored on a 20-yard run with 10 minutes left in the third quarter and on a 15-yard run with 9:34 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Union County.
COMMERCE 49, ELBERT COUNTY 21: At the Granite Bowl in Elberton, the Tigers – ranked No. 7 in Class A Divison 1 – pulled off the upset of the No. 4 Blue Devils to win at least a share of the Region 8-A Division 1 title.
Jaiden Daniels – who came into the game with 1,060 rushing yards – gained in excess of 300 yards and scored four touchdowns from scrimmage and another touchdown on a kickoff return. On the first play from scrimmage, he ran 76 yards for a score with 11:42 left in the quarter. His second touchdown came at the end of an 83-yard dash with 8:52 left in the first quarter and he scored again two minutes later on a 13-yard run.
Daniels reached the end zone on a 3-yard fourth-down run with 2:27 left in the third quarter to put the Tigers up 42-7 and posted the team’s final score on a 93-yard kickoff return with 9:52 left in the game.
Tysean Wiggins – who came into the game with 1,002 rushing yards – added a 3-yard scoring run at the end of an 11-play, eight-minute drive at 5:26 in the second quarter and Jacari Huff scored on a 90-yard run with 27 seconds before halftime.
Commerce – which evened its all-time record with Elbert County at 22 – will host Rabun County (ranked No. 5 in Class A Division 1).
MADISON COUNTY 50, EAST FORSYTH 34: At Danielsville, the Red Raiders hit a season high in points and won a critical Region 8-4A game to grab a share of second place in the league with North Hall (6-2, 4-2), which was idle on Friday.
Quarterback Camden Smith – who came into Friday’s game with 940 rushing yards – had touchdown runs of 65 yards (first quarter), 53 yards (third quarter) and 58 yards (fourth quarter) and threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to xxxxx in the second quarter.
The Red Raiders – who scored three touchdowns on fourth down – also got three touchdown runs from Zahkari Shiflet (who came into the game with 885 rushing yards). Shiflet scored on a 29-yard run in the first quarter, a 1-yard run in the third quarter and a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Madison County (6-2, 4-2) will host Walnut Grove at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
OCONEE COUNTY 14, MONROE AREA 7: At Warrior Stadium in Watkinsville, Oconee County upset the Purple Hurricanes – ranked No. 10 in Class 3A – in a Region 8-3A game.
After Monroe Area (4-4, 1-2) scored its only touchdown in the first quarter, Titus Watkins ran 58 yards for a score in the second quarter. Caiden Wood tallied the game-winner on a 2-yard run in the third quarter and Harrison Kilzi preserved the victory with an interception on the last play of the game.
The Warriors (3-5, 2-1) will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Stephens County (ranked No. 2 in Class 3A) to end the regular season.
BETHLEHEM CHRISTIAN 48, LOGANVILLE CHRISTIAN 3: At Loganville, the Knights remained unbeaten and posted their third shutout of the season with a squash of the Lions in a GIAA Region 4-4A/3A game.
Josh Adams led Bethlehem Christian (9-0, 2-0) with four touchdown runs. He was followed by Tristan Puckett, Caedmon Geddings and Zeke Clanton, who each scored a touchdown.
Place-kicker Bennett Logan was 6-for-6 on his extra point attempts.
The Knights are off Friday and will close out the regular season at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3, hosting George Walton.
WESTMINSTER CHRISTIAN 49, DOMINION CHRISTIAN 20: At Watkinsville, the Lions rolled up more than 400 yards of offense with a decisive victory over the visiting Knights.
Westminster Christian (3-5) scored 27 first-quarter points as Dee Moore rushed in from 49 and 48 yards, Andrew Costello had a 22-yard scoring run and Owen Davis caught a 65-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Townsend.
In the second quarter Costello scored on a 40-yard run as the Lions led 34-13 at the half. In the third quarter, Costello reached the end zone on a 51-yard run and Davis kicked a 25-yard field goal. The final score came in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard run by Moore.
Westminster Christian is off Friday and will host Johnson Ferry Christian Academy at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3.
HERITAGE-CONYERS 40, WINDER-BARROW 21: At Evans Stadium in Conyers, Heritage-Conyers snapped a four-game losing streak (which included a 42-0 loss last week at Clarke Central) and won their first Region 8-5A game with an upset over the Bulldoggs.
Winder-Barrow (4-4, 1-3) got a touchdown run from M.J. Dowdy, a scoring reception from J.J. Carlyle and a pick-six from Ryan McNally.
The Bulldoggs will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, hosting Eastside.
UNION COUNTY 48, EAST JACKSON 28: At Commerce, the Eagles, who opened the season with six consecutive wins, sustained their second loss in a row as the visiting Panthers won the Region 8-2A contest.
East Jackson (6-2, 1-2) got two touchdowns from Talan Jackson. Quay Hill and Braxton Goolsby also scored touchdowns.
The Eagles will host Providence Christian at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
LANIER 31, JACKSON COUNTY 7: At Sugar Hill, the Panthers’ postseason hopes took a hit as they were defeated by Lanier (7-2, 4-2) in a Region 8-6A game.
Jackson County (4-5, 2-3) scored first on a 16-yard pass from R.J. Knapp to Jaydan Hibbert (who came into the game with 535 receiving yards).
Knapp led the offense with 135 passing yards and 36 rushing yards. Hibbert had seven catches for 102 yards but left the game in the second quarter due to an injury and did not return.
The Panthers are off Friday and will host Gainesville – ranked No. 1 in Class 6A – at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3.
RABUN COUNTY 38, ATHENS CHRISTIAN 0: At Eagle Stadium, winless Athens Christian had another long night as the Wildcats – ranked No. 5 in Class A Division 1 – posted a Region 8-A Division shutout.
The Eagles (0-8, 0-2) will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Elbert County.
FROM THURSDAY
EASTSIDE 14, CLARKE CENTRAL 7: At Sharp Stadium in Covington, the Gladiators’ shot to reach the state playoffs for the eighth consecutive season took a serious shot as the Eagles intercepted four Clarke Central passes and slipped by with the Region 8-5A victory.
The Gladiators fell to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in region play; Clarke Central’s four league losses were by a combined 19 points. Eastside improves to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the region with games against Winder-Barrow (Oct. 27) and state-ranked Jefferson (Nov. 2) remaining.
After the Eagles scored two second-quarter touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead at the half, Clarke Central posted its only score on the night with 8:18 remaining in the third quarter when Chase Berrong threw a touchdown pass to Xavier Berry.
The Gladiators’ defense made some big plays in the second half as Leon Tate intercepted an Eastside pass with four minutes left in the third quarter, and the Eagles were stopped on downs in the fourth quarter on the Clarke Central 11-yard line.
But the Gladiators – who had never lost to Eastside in eight previous games dating back to 2002 – had two interceptions of their own late in the game, one in the Eagles’ end zone with six minutes left and the other on the Eastside 3-yard line with 2:30 remaining.
After taking next Friday off, Clarke Central will close out the season hosting Winder-Barrow on Nov. 3.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Clarke Central football's playoff bid fades with another close loss
