Prince Avenue football's winning streak snapped, Commerce pulls off a come back and more

Prince Avenue’s long winning streak came to an end at the hands of Mary Persons on Friday, leaving North Oconee, Jefferson, East Jackson and Bethlehem Christian as the area’s only unbeaten teams.

Commerce recorded an impressive come-from-behind victory while Jackson County played in its third overtime game of the year. Athens Christian and Apalachee are still looking for their first wins of the season.

More: Cedar Shoals football lacks the discipline it takes to win, coach says

MARY PERSONS 45, PRINCE AVENUE CHRISTIAN 28: At Dan Pitts Stadium at Mitchell Field in Forsyth, in Forsyth, the Wolverines’ 20-game winning streak came to a halt as Prince Avenue Christian – ranked No. 1 in Class A Division 1 committed five turnovers and lost to the Bulldogs, ranked No. 6 in Class 3A.

After falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, the Wolverines (6-1) got a 15-yard touchdown run from Connor Causby to cut the lead in half early in the second quarter. Mac Bradley rushed for a touchdown with 2:20 left and Aaron Philo – who came into the game with nearly 2,000 passing yards on the season – threw a touchdown pass to Peyton Talmadge to make it 35-21 at the half.

Mary Persons scored 10 points before Philo threw a 63-yard scoring pass to Hudson Hill with 7:12 remaining in the game to complete the scoring.

The Wolverines, who have played six top-10 opponents thus far this season (three out of state), are off for two weeks and will open Region 5-A Division 1 play at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 22 at Oglethorpe County.

NORTH OCONEE 52, NORTH HALL 7: At The Brickyard in Gainesville, the Titans – ranked No. 2 in Class 4A – squashed North Hall’s high-powered offense (the No. 10 Trojans averaged almost 39 points per game) to take a convincing Region 8-4A victory.

J.J. Poole tallied North Oconee’s first points with a 35-yard field goal with 6:55 left in the first quarter. Tate Titshaw scored on a 2-yard run with one second left in the first quarter to give the Titans an 11-0 lead. In the second quarter, Poole kicked field goals of 28 and 48 yards (coming off a Brooks Thompson interception) and Max Wilson hit Landon Roldan on a touchdown pass as the Titans led 24-0 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Wilson and Roldan connected again, this time on a 56-yard touchdown pass with 10:02 left. Titshaw rushed in from 5 yards out with eight minutes remaining and Wilson scored on a touchdown run with 2:50 left to put North Oconee (5-0, 3-0) up 45-0 going to the fourth quarter.

A.J. Fick scored on a 2-yard rush with 9:20 to go and North Hall (5-1, 2-1) scored its only touchdown with six minutes remaining.

The Titans, who have won 19 consecutive region games, will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Cedar Shoals.

JEFFERSON 44, WINDER-BARROW 0: At W. Clair Harris Stadium in Winder, the undefeated Dragons – ranked No. 3 in Class 5A – improved to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in Region 8-5A with their second shutout of the season.

Rett Hemphill recorded an early safety and Gavin Markey scored on a 1-yard run to put Jefferson up 9-0 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Aiden Jackson caused a Winder-Barrow fumble that was recovered by Kelan Butler, who returned it for a touchdown and Sammy Brown blocked a Bulldogs punt attempt and later scored on a touchdown run. Markey threw an 18-yard scoring pass to Talan Childres as the Dragons led 30-0 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Zay Minish rushed for a touchdown and Mickell Pittman ran for a score in the fourth quarter.

Jefferson is off Friday and will host Flowery Branch at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13. Winder-Barrow (4-1, 1-1) will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Winder-Barrow.

OCONEE COUNTY 28, HEBRON CHRISTIAN 21: At Warrior Stadium in Watkinsville, Oconee County snapped a two-game losing streak and handed Hebron Christian its third consecutive loss in a Region 8-3A battle.

Mac Ricks accounted for all four of the Warriors’ touchdowns, scoring once in the first quarter and three times in the third quarter. He also had a forced fumble and recovery and Oconee County tallied a safety in the second quarter.

The Warriors (2-4, 1-0) will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Hart County.

COMMERCE 28, FIRST PRESBYTERIAN DAY 14: At Tiger Field at Ray Lamb Stadium in Commerce, the Tigers fell behind 14-0 but scored 28 unanswered points to win their third consecutive game and improve to 5-1.

Commerce was led by the rushing of Jaiden Daniels and Tysean Wiggins as Daniels carried the ball 16 times for 185 yards and two touchdowns and Wiggins ran 17 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

On defense, the Tigers were led by Caden McWilliams, who recorded eight tackles.

Commerce will host Social Circle at 7:30 p.m. Friday in its last non-region game.

MADISON COUNTY 48, CHESTATEE 15: At War Eagles Stadium in Gainesville, the Red Raiders bounced back from their 38-8 loss last weekend to North Oconee with a beatdown over winless Chestatee.

Camden Smith, who came into the game with 545 rushing yards for the year, ran for two touchdowns and tossed scoring passes to Peyton Owenby and Zach Esters.

DeShun Brown added two rushing touchdowns and Zahkari Shiflet rushed for a score.

The Red Raiders (4-1, 2-1 in Region 8-4A) will host North Hall at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

EAST JACKSON 41, BANKS COUNTY 0: At Leopard Stadium in Homer, the Eagles improved to 6-0 and won their Region 8-2A opener with their second consecutive shutout.

JaZeil Lester ran for East Jackson’s first two touchdowns and Drew Richardson threw a touchdown pass to Brady Saunders as the Eagles led 20-0 at the half. Branturan Callahan rushed for a third-quarter touchdown and Richardson ran for another touchdown and Javon Huff returned an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

With Friday’s victory, coach Cameron Pettus now has the record for most coaching victories in school history. He’s 18-28 in four-plus seasons. The previous record was held by Frank Caputo, who went 17-21 from 2007 to 2010.

East Jackson will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Fellowship Christian in Roswell.

BETHLEHEM CHRISTIAN 41, LAKEVIEW ACADEMY 8: At Gainesville, the Knights improved to 7-0 overall and won their GIAA Region 4-4A/3A opener.

Josh Adams led the way with three rushing touchdowns and was followed by Zeke Clanton, Tristan Puckett and Johnny Blue, who scored one touchdown each. Place-kicker Bennett Logan was 5-for-6 on extra point attempts.

Bethlehem Christian is off Friday and will host Riverside Military Academy at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13.

FLOWERY BRANCH 41, CLARKE CENTRAL 38: At Billy Henderson Stadium, Flowery Branch outscored the Gladiators 15-6 in the fourth quarter to escape with a Region 8-5A victory and hand Clarke Central its second region loss.

Trailing 7-2 after the first quarter, the Gladiators (4-2, 0-2) scored three times in the second quarter as Corey Watkins scored on a 10-yard run, Kendrick Curry had a 4-yard rush and Skylier Walter connected with Nehemiah Jones on an 80-yard touchdown pass to go up 21-17 at the half.

In the third quarter, Watkins scored again on a 35-yard run and Cooper Evans kicked a 32-yard field goal as Clarke Central led 32-26 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Gladiators retook the lead at 38-33 when Chase Berrong hit Jamarion Davis on a 60-yard touchdown pass, but Flowery Branch (3-3, 1-1) scored on a touchdown pass with less than a minute remaining to prevail.

Clarke Central will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Loganville.

HABERSHAM CENTRAL 34, JACKSON COUNTY 27 (2 OT): At Raiders Stadium in Mt. Airy, the Panthers played in their third overtime game of the season and came away a little short as they fell to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in Region 8-6A.

Corey McClure scored Jackson County’s overtime touchdown and M.J. Spurling added a rushing score.

The Panthers will host Shiloh at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

SECKINGER 43, OGLETHORPE COUNTY 22: At Buford, the Jaguars scored a school-record 43 points, won their first varsity game in school history and avenged a 35-0 loss to the Patriots last year as Oglethorpe County fell to 2-4.

The Patriots went up 15-0 on a 40-yard touchdown run by Jake Turner and a 30-yard scoring scamper by Quentin Nash. Seckinger (1-5) scored the next 22 points before Turner ran in from 45 yards out to tie the game at 22-22 with 7:09 left in the third quarter. Seckinger then scored 21 unanswered points to post its first victory in its second season of varsity football.

Oglethorpe County will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Athens Christian.

SHILOH 42, APALACHEE 13: At R. Harold Harrison Stadium in Bethlehem, the Wildcats remained winless as the visiting Generals claimed the Regin 8-6A victory.

After recording a second-quarter safety, Apalachee (0-7, 0-3) got a 31-yard field goal from Jacob Galomo and a fumble recovery in the end zone by Norman Robinson. Howard Holloway ran in for the two-point conversion.

The Wildcats are off Friday and will host Lanier at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12.

LOGANVILLE CHRISTIAN 42, ATHENS CHRISTIAN 0: At Eagles Stadium, the Eagles were shut out for the third consecutive game and fell to 0-5.

Athens Christian will host Oglethorpe County at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: How Prince Avenue Christian football's winning streak was snapped