Friday Night High School Football Roundup: Gainesville rides Nigel Newkirk hat trick to 28-16 win over Milton in crucial Region 7-5A matchup

The Red Elephants remain at the top of the Region 7 standings after a big 28-16 road win, squashing Milton’s fourth-quarter comeback hopes with Nigel Newkirk’s third trip to the end zone and a game-sealing recovery of an Eagles fumble at the goal line by Demari Cheeks. The result snaps a 42-game win streak in region play for Milton and leaves Gainesville and Roswell as the only teams still perfect against Region 7 foes.

Milton was first on the board with an opening-frame field goal, but Gainesville quickly answered with Dwight Lewis’ touchdown on a short pass from junior quarterback Kharim Hughley. Newkirk then added a pair of rushing scores for a 21-3 Red Elephant edge late in the third quarter.

Eagles quarterback Ben Halevi connected with Mikey Dircks for Milton’s first touchdown of the night with 9:22 to go, and Bentley Hickman’s run cut Gainesville’s lead to five shortly after. Newkirk broke free for the insurance score just 20 seconds later, however, and Cheeks provided the dagger with his fumble recovery on the following Milton drive.

The 7-1 Red Elephants will host Chattahoochee and Roswell to finish out the regular season, while the 6-2 Eagles will have a bye to prepare for road trips to Johns Creek and Roswell.

DRIVE FOR THE GHSA STATE TITLE TV GAME (WATCH HERE): RIVER RIDGE LEADS EARLY BEFORE SPRAYBERRY SIEZES CONTROL, ROLLS TO 28-10 ROAD VICTORY

River Ridge and Sprayberry entered their Week 9 matchup as two of five teams in a tie at the top of the Region 6-AAAAA standings with one region loss apiece. Trailing the Knights 10-0 after a 36-yard field goal by Will Barry and Camden Cox’s touchdown run, the Yellow Jackets closed out the night with 28 unanswered points to improve to 7-1 on the year and 4-1 in the region.

“We’re trying to take this one game at a time,” said first-year head coach Pete Fominaya after the win. “This was a huge one for us, and I’m really proud of the way we executed. We’ve still got some things we need to clean up, but I’m happy with the outcome.”

“We need to be excited about this, but we’ve got to finish strong,” he added. “We have two big region games left.”

Sprayberry got touchdowns from Kealan Jones and Ian Hulbert in the second quarter, then added a scoring strike from Jaden Duckett to Jorden Edmonds and a Duckett keeper on back-to-back River Ridge turnovers to pull away for good.

“We all knew coming into this, Coach was telling us all week, we’re being physical,” emphasized senior defensive end Gabe Clarke, who earned Robbie Hunter MVP Award honors with multiple key plays on defense. “This was a business trip, and we just had to get it done. We knew it was going to be a hostile environment. They’re a very good football team. We just had to come in and dominate.”

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Check out the class-by-class glances below.

CLASS 6A: Valdosta (7-1, 2-1) bounced back from its first loss of the year — an 18-17 result against Colquitt County — with an emphatic 41-0 win over Richmond Hill in which running back Deron Foster broke 1000 yards rushing on the season before halftime. … North Forsyth got a much-needed win after dropping three of its last four, building a 10-0 first-quarter lead on a Noah Bourque touchdown pass set up by Cole Simpson’s fumble recovery and a Lucas Ricker field goal, then holding on for a 10-6 victory over North Atlanta. … Jayden Whiteside’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Brody Archie capped off a 19-0 fourth-quarter scoring run in Marietta’s 36-35 comeback win over North Cobb. The Blue Devils are now 4-0 in Region 5 play, while the Warriors drop to 2-1. … Collins Hill quarterback AJ Bush threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to force overtime in the Eagles’ Week 9 matchup with Mill Creek, but Carson Hurter’s interception and Jayde Beasley’s rushing score sealed the 20-14 Hawks victory.

CLASS 5A: Woodward Academy capitalized on multiple first-quarter turnovers by visiting Dunwoody to put up 21 points in the opening frame before coasting to a 42-13 final. Quarterback Ryan Harrigan threw a trio of touchdown passes to Langston Hakeem and one apiece to Josh Ison and Harlan Hubbs, and Allan Pickens added an 11-yard pick-six. The 6-2 War Eagles have now won five straight, all in Region 4 play, and will have their bye to prepare for Decatur’s visit in two weeks. … The Rome defense did not allow a first down for the entirety of the Wolves’ matchup with host Lithia Springs. Rome improves to 5-2 with the 65-0 rout and will look to extend its win streak to six games when it hosts South Paulding. … Will Rajecki’s rushing score from 65 yards out put Sequoyah up by two scores late in the fourth before Woodstock added one last touchdown for the 31-24 final.

CLASS 4A: Marist trailed visiting St. Pius X 14-3 at the break and 21-6 late in the third before completing the comeback for a 28-21 win. The War Eagles will look to extend their six-game win streak when they host Clarkston next week. … Senior quarterback Connor Langford and senior receiver Craig Dandridge teamed up for a trio of first-half touchdown completions in Cambridge’s 35-7 Region 6 win over Centennial. … Kell’s 49-0 win over Westminster marks the program’s third-straight shutout. The Longhorns are now 6-2 on the year and 2-0 in Region 6 and will travel to Centennial next week. … North Oconee survived a Week 9 thriller against host Eastside, leading 14-0 at halftime following touchdowns from Dallas Dickerson and Luke Burnett before hanging on for the 14-13 win with clutch plays on defense. … Southwest DeKalb nearly blew a 34-7 advantage after giving up 28 straight points to Tucker, but the Panthers reclaimed the lead in the game’s final moments to improve to 6-2 on the year and 5-1 in Region 5.

CLASS 3A: Dylan Barber contributed two fourth-quarter touchdown runs to keep LaGrange in front of Mary Persons Friday night, improving to 7-1 with the 28-21 victory. … North Clayton defeated Cedar Grove by a margin of 40-13, getting touchdown passes from Justin Murphy to Triston Maggit and Dre’von Glass, touchdown runs from Murphy, Javion Johnson and Elijah Hughes, and a pick-six from Cayden Burnett. … A 28-17 North Hall advantage over Greater Atlanta Christian heading into the final frame grew to a 49-38 victory for the Trojans after an offense-heavy fourth quarter in which North Hall never led by less than two scores.

CLASS 2A: Carver-Columbus led host Sumter County 2-0 at halftime, ultimately coming away with an 8-7 win in the defensive Region 1 battle to improve to 7-0 on the year. … Rockmart built a 38-0 first-half lead over host North Cobb Christian before coasting to a 44-6 Region 7 win. The Yellow Jackets have won four straight, all in region play, and will travel to Lakeview Ft. Oglethorpe next week. … North Murray’s 24-3 victory over Ringgold was bookended by touchdown runs from Hudson Hulett to start and close the night, with the latter coming from 54 yards out.

CLASS A - DIV. 1:  Freshman Brady Coley found the end zone for a 60-yard pick-six in Athens Academy’s 69-13 rout of host Providence Christian. The 7-1 Spartans are on a seven-game win streak and will host an Elbert County squad next week that is 4-0 in the region. … After dropping three straight games, Fitzgerald has won two in a row to improve to 4-3 on the year. The Purple Hurricane trailed host Thomasville 14-0 in the first half before going on a 24-0 scoring run to win 24-21 and will host a Berrien team still looking for its first region win next week.

CLASS A - DIV. 2: Clinch County remains undefeated following a 6-0 showdown with Brooks County. The Panthers and Trojans were still knotted at 0-0 in the final frame, but a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown, followed by Fred Causey’s game-sealing interception, secured the Clinch County victory. … The Savannah Blue Jackets defeated Claxton 19-6 under first-year head coach Moses Green, finally ending a 41-game losing streak that began at the start of the 2021 season.

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