Creekside 35, Kennesaw Mountain 23
Reigning Region 5 Class 5A champion Creekside kicked off its season with a 35-23 victory over Kennesaw Mountain in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic, building a cushion with a 21-0 run over the second and third quarters and holding on through the fourth quarter.
The two programs traded defensive scores in the opening quarter — a 26-yard scoop-and-score from Kevon Gray for Creekside and Tysen Price’s 33-yard pick-six for Kennesaw Mountain — before the Seminole offense found its rhythm. Senior quarterback Vinson Berry connected with Shane Kelley for touchdowns of 40 yards and 57 yards, bookending a 12-yard rushing score from Roderick McCrary and giving Creekside a 28-7 edge early in the second half. A 26-yard completion from Tyson Harmon to Kobe Lewis gave the Mustang offense its first touchdown of the day shortly after, but Travis Terrell’s 71-yard trip to the end zone again made it a three-score game.
The Mustangs made another push in the fourth when Michael Bell took a pass 60 yards for a final Kennesaw Mountain score. The ensuing onside kick was unsuccessful, however, and Terrell batted down Harmon’s fourth-down pass to end the following Mustang drive as well. Christian Winston’s sack put the ball back in Harmon’s hands one last time, but after an apparent interception from Terrell was called back for DPI, Fenix Harper’s pick sealed the win for the Seminoles.
Head coach Maurice Dixon praised his players’ performance following an offseason he says was all about “consistency,” and issued a warning regarding his star RB/CB, who finished the game with 203 all-purpose yards (including 167 yards on 18 carries) and three solo tackles: “I think Travis Terrell is the best player in 5A, and he’s going to prove it every Friday.” He’ll get another opportunity to do so next week when he and his teammates face St Peter’s Prep out of Jersey City.
Rome 34, Cass 0
Reece Fountain was 19-of-24 passing for 202 yards and three touchdowns to lead host Rome past Cass 34-0 in the nightcap game of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic at Rome’s historic Barron Stadium.
“That was a great start,” said head coach John Reid. “I think we wore them out a little bit, some of those guys played both sides of the ball so they didn’t have as much quickness in the second half as in the first. I think we pursued well and just continued to get after it.”
Fountain passed to three different receivers for touchdowns – DeKaylon Daniel, Toot Stallings and Jarvious McDearmont.
“I just think there’s so much to take from it,” Reid said.
Stallings caught a 21-yard pass with 6:31 in the first quarter, McDearmont caught a 5-yard pass with 11:16 left in the first half and Daniel caught a 17-yard touchdown pass with 9:10 in the third quarter. On the ground, the Wolves were led by Chance Arthur, who had 22 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. McDearmont added 66 yards and one touchdown run on 16 carries. “We had to keep finding a way to run the football,” Reid said. “So we tried a different combination of blocking. What we were trying coming in wasn’t as good as what we adjusted to.”
Fellowship Christian 38, Mount Pisgah 3
Fellowship Christian has little trouble building and maintaining a lead against Mount Pisgah in the first of three games in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic Friday.
“We were physical early on both sides of the line of scrimmage,” Thompson told Adam Krohn, who covered the game for the AJC. “They really played well, and I just liked the way we did things…Overall, I’m really pleased.”
CJ Givers scored on runs of 92, eight and six yards to give the Paladins a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“CJ can take it to the house on any given play,” Thompson told Krohn. “He played physical and ran hard.”
Nathan Champman kicked a 22-yard field goal to expand the margin for Fellowship. Mount Pisgah got on the board with a 32-yard field goal from Bryce Barton but Fellowship responded with a 22-yard pass from Jonathan Granby to Josh Milhollin to put the game away.
“Jonathan really showed he’s going to be a weapon running the football,” Thompson told Krohn. “That’s a new advantage of what our offense can do.”
