Corky Kell & Dave Hunter Classic Day Two Recap - Hebron over N. Atlanta, W. Forsyth downs Douglass

Hebron Christian 29, North Atlanta 22

Hebron Christian built a 14-7 lead at the half before holding on through the fourth quarter surge from North Atlanta to move to 1-0 on the season in the opening game of the second day of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic at West Forsyth.

“It’s gritty, it’s tough and it is early in the year,” Hebron head coach Kenny Dallas said laughing. “It is a 4:30 p.m. game on a Thursday afternoon. How do you really prepare for that? And it looked like it. Respect to North Atlanta, we appreciate that game. That ballgame could have gone either way.”

A fumble recovery with one minute left in the game by Class A-3A Private defending-champion Hebron thwarted a fourth-quarter comeback from North Atlanta.

“We are just proud of our guys for sticking in it and finding a way to win,” said Dallas, who coached Trinity Chrisitan from 2018-2024 before taking over after Jonathan Gess’ departure last season. Dallas coached Trinity to a state championship in 2021.

“There’s something to be said about finding a way to win,” he said.

Devon Caldwell was the offensive stalwart for Hebron with 26 carries for 114 yards and three touchdowns. He scored on runs of 13, 11 and three yards.

“Devon Caldwell and that offensive line,” Dallas said of the reason he went for the first down on a fourth-and-short situation in the first half. “It was tough tonight, we were missing an offensive lineman and missing a quarterback and our starting free safety. We were missing a few dudes and it was ugly, but you would rather win ugly than lose ugly at the end of it.”

Trailing 23-7 after a 28-yard field goal from Lucas Ardeu with seven seconds left in the third quarter, Bryce Little scored on an 11-yard run with 11:12 left in the game to narrow the margin. But Hebron’s Jarvis Mathurin returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to expand the margin to 29-15.

North Atlanta scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Weston Goodman to Josh McCullough, for the second time in the game, to trail 29-22 before Hebron forced and recovered a fumble with a minute left in the game.

See the recap from the nightcap game below

West Forsyth 27, Douglass-Atl. 0

Host West Forsyth was 0-1 after last year’s edition of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic, which was a thought that was not lost by Wolverines’ head coach Dave Svehla entering the contest against a talented Douglass-Atlanta team.

“I am glad to be 1-0,” he said. “We were 0-1 after this last year, but we have a long way to go. We had some guys really step up but we are just going to need to get better.”

Last year, the home team fell to Prince Avenue Christian 35-28 but after adjustments at halftime, despite a 13-0 lead, the Wolverines controlled all facets of the game to secure the victory.

“I think we were disjointed, which was the word I used on the offensive side,” said Svehla. “We never really got in a rhythm in the first half and never really put together a long drive.”

West Forsyth quarterback Max Walraven was 10-of-18 passing for 140 yards and two touchdowns, each to Page Mason.

Asher Mote kicked first-half field goals of 23 and 22 yards along with a six-yard reception from Walraven to Mason to put West ahead 13-0.

“I thought our defense played well,” Svehla said. “And our offense got downhill a little bit better and they responded to the message at halftime.”

Page caught a 16-yard pass from Walraven with 6:57 left in the third quarter to expand the lead and Logan Hawkins scored on a short run late in the third quarter to cap scoring.

See the full stats from each of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic games by following the link.

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