Friday Night High School Football Roundup - Cartersville survives furious fourth-quarter rally from visiting Calhoun in 38-35 thriller

Cartersville, the Class 4A powerhouse, withstood a two-hour weather delay and back-to-back-to-back fourth-quarter scores by visiting Calhoun to secure a 38-35 victory over the Yellow Jackets. The Purple Hurricanes appeared to be pulling away for good over the top-ranked team in Class 3A when Braylon Hill’s second touchdown of the night gave them a 35-14 edge heading into the final frame. A rushing score from Isiah Nalls and a quarterback sneak from sophomore Trace Hawkins soon brought Calhoun within a touchdown, however, and the ensuing recovery of an onside kick set up Hudson Chadwick’s game-tying run with 3:48 remaining.

Junior wide receiver and UGA-commit Brady Marchese, who finished with two touchdowns and 191 yards on nine receptions, came up with another big catch on Cartersville’s final drive, bringing the Purple Hurricanes within field goal range. Senior Ramsey Rowell sent a 26-yarder through the uprights with 26 seconds on the clock, and Calhoun’s Hail Mary was broken up to seal the 38-35 final.

Cartersville also got scores from sophomore Tripp Chatmon and freshman Athens Davenport in the first half. Meanwhile, 294-lb lineman Sager Quinn and senior receiver Justin Beasley hauled in first-half touchdown passes for Calhoun.

The 2-1 Yellow Jackets will look to get their season back on track next week against visiting Cambridge, while the 4-0 Hurricanes will open up Region 7 play at Dalton.

DRIVE FOR THE GHSA STATE TITLE TV GAME: TYRIQ GREEN, DAYTON RAIOLA SHINE AT HOME AS BUFORD ROUTS ROSWELL 65-21

Roswell came out of an extensive weather delay with a burst of energy, cutting host Buford’s lead to 28-21 with a trio of consecutive scores before the Wolves closed out the night with 37 unanswered points for an emphatic 65-21 victory.

“We looked like we were a little too loose, because we came out flat,” said Buford head coach Bryant Appling about keeping his players focused during the long break. “We try to just leave them alone, but you’ve got to talk to them a little bit about the game plan, about any adjustments we need to make. It’s kind of like an extra halftime. But honestly, the last two games, we haven’t come out very well, so that’s something we can fix.”

Senior Tyriq Green earned the Robbie Hunter MVP Award for his hat trick, scoring on a run, a pick-six and a kickoff return. Nebraska commit Dayton Raiola threw touchdown passes to Seven Rashad, Dylan McCoy, Braylon Williams and Torre Costin, and the Wolves got additional rushing scores from Jameer Cantrell and Bryce Thompson.

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Check out the Class-by-class look at Friday Night below

CLASS 6A: Hillgrove improved to 3-0 with a 34-6 victory over visiting Marietta, getting touchdown passes from Donovan Mack to Michael Shelby, Grant Stang and EJ Parchment, as well as a rushing score by Mack and a pair of field goals from Carter Genchi. The Hawks open Region 3 play next week against Osborne. … Lowndes is now 4-0 following an emphatic 42-7 win over Florida school Manatee. The Vikings triggered a running clock with a 42-0 halftime lead and will host Class 4A’s Kell in Week 5. … Archer evened its record ahead of next week’s bye with a  44-20 win over visiting Eastside. The Tigers trailed the Class 4A Eagles by a margin of 20-14 before closing the game with 30 unanswered points. … Reigning Class 6A champion Grayson followed up last week’s overtime win over Alabama powerhouse Thompson with a 50-point rout of North Carolina’s Mallard Creek. The 63-13 win puts the Rams at 4-0 ahead of Region 4 play, which they’ll begin on the road at Grovetown after a Week 5 bye. … Walton evened its record at 2-2 ahead of next week’s Region 5 opener with a 24-21 victory in a back-and-forth battle over host Norcross. Sophomore quarterback Christion Peacock’s second score of the night came on a pass to Noriega Thompson to put the Raiders up 17-7 before the Blue Devils answered with a pair of touchdowns. Peacock reclaimed the lead with a scoring strike to brother Jordan Peacock late in the fourth, however, and the defense stood strong to seal the win. … Collins Hill gave up a quick Parkview touchdown before outscoring the visiting Panthers 38-0 the rest of the way. The Eagles are now 2-2 and will have their bye week to prepare for their Region 8 opener at Central Gwinnett.

CLASS 5A: Thomas County Central’s 55 points over visiting Thomasville are a season low for the Yellow Jackets, which improved to 4-0 with the 55-7 win. Quarterback Jaylen Johnson threw a trio of touchdowns and ran for another in the opening half, after which TCC led 45-7, then connected with Rodney Dunbar for the pair’s second score to start the third quarter. … Rome got its first win of the season in a 49-28 effort over Toombs County out of Class A Div I. The Wolves trailed through much of the first half but pulled away following a lengthy lightning delay. … Creekview’s 48-30 victory over Lassiter was both the Grizzlies’ first win of the season and the Trojans’ first loss. Both teams will continue Region 6 play next week, with Creekview hosting Riverwood and Lassiter hosting Woodstock.

CLASS 4A: Cass improved to 3-1 with a big road win over Class 6A’s North Cobb. Quarterback Brodie McWhorter had a trio of touchdown passes in the 35-27 victory, which also included 21 points off of Warriors turnovers. … North Oconee got a trio of touchdown passes from Harrison Faulkner — two to Dallas Dickerson and another to Khamari Brooks — along with a rushing score by JT Doster and a pick-six from Luke Burnett for a 37-0 halftime edge before coasting to a 40-0 shutout of host Clarke Central out of Class 5A. The Kell Longhorns responded to last week's loss to Sequoyah with a 42-28 win over Wheeler. The Wildcats got within a score on several occasions, but plays like Brock Burrus' kick return for a touchdown to close the opening half kept Kell on top.

CLASS 3A: Douglass defeated visiting Columbia out of Class 2A by a margin of 19-0 — its second straight shutout victory following an 0-2 start to the season. The Astros pulled away from the Eagles with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and will kick off Region 5 play at home against Cedar Grove after next week’s bye. … Greater Atlanta Christian improved to 2-1 ahead of next week’s Region 6 opener with a 31-14 victory over visiting Westminster out of Class 4A. The Spartans led 24-0 at the break and 31-0 after three before the Wildcats got on the board with a pair of fourth-quarter scores. … Quarterback Dylan Barber sealed the 35-23 win for LaGrange over visiting Trinity Christian with a 24-yard keeper in the fourth. The Grangers are now 1-1 in Region 2 play and will host Fayette County next week

CLASS 2A: The Lovett Lions got their third straight win with a 16-0 shutout of Class 4A’s Pace Academy, thanks to a trio of field goals by Burns Crotty and a touchdown pass from Sam Abney to Thomas Strang. Lovett will kick off Region 5 play at home against KIPP Atlanta following its bye next week. … Callaway got its first win of the season, defeating Cook County by a margin of 17-3 thanks to a pair of touchdowns from Blake Harrington and a Jayden Bailey field goal. … A missed Rockmart field goal sent the Yellow Jackets’ matchup with Ringgold into overtime, but Cortez Wright’s fumble recovery and Devin McCoy’s touchdown run secured the 38-32 Rockmart victory.

CLASS A - DIVISION I: Rabun County improved to 3-0 on the year with a big 49-42 win over Class 4A opponent Dalton. The Wildcats knotted the game at 42-42 with a Lake Evans rushing score, then took the lead with a 22-yard run by Reid Giles before Evans sealed the victory with an interception on Dalton’s final drive. … Worth County remains undefeated at 4-0 after a convincing 44-25 win over visiting Brooks County. The Rams will face their first Div I opponent in two weeks when they host Fitzgerald. … ACE Charter led visiting Dodge County 20-9 before the Indians cut the deficit with one last score in the game’s final minute. The Gryphons are now 3-0 in Div I play and will host Wilkinson County next week.

CLASS A - DIVISION II: Wheeler County is now 3-0 for the first time since 2003. The Bulldogs defeated Twiggs County, 39-14, and will face Atkinson County next week as they look for their first 4-0 start since 1998. … Taylor County got its first win of the year at home over Georgia Military Prep. The Vikings will try to get a streak started next week at Montgomery County, while the 0-4 Bulldogs will seek their first win against 11-Man opponent Creekside Christian.

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