Manchester rolls
The No. 1 public team showed why Friday night, as Manchester (5-0, 2-0 in Region 4-A, Division A) shut out previously-unbeaten Marion County (4-1, 1-1), 30-0. The Blue Devils led 16-0 at halftime and were never threatened. Kelvin Turner rushed for 187 yards and a touchdown, Deenizeo Gamble ran for two scores and Kalil Brawner added a 54-yard touchdown run. On the other side of the ball, the Manchester defense held Marion's Travon Mathews to just 41 yards rushing. "I'm extremely proud of our football team and our community. They came out and supported us, and it felt like football in the '90s at Manchester," Manchester head coach Evan Hochstetler told the Columbus Enquirer. "Our kids, we asked them to be accountable and play for each other, and they did that. They each did their job, went out there and good things happened."
Prince Avenue roars back
Prince Avenue trailed 14-7 at halftime, but scored 21-0 unanswered points in the second half to defeat George Walton, 28-14. PAC (5-0, 4-0 in Region 8-A), the No. 2 ranked private school team, got three touchdowns from senior RB/DB Christian Parrish, who also grabbed an interception late in the fourth quarter to help preserve the win.
Commerce stays unbeaten
The Tigers, ranked No. 6 in the public poll, are 4-0 for the first time since 2012 after a 35-0 thrashing of Athens Christian (1-3, 0-3 in Region 8-A). Dajuan Wood scored on a one-yard run and a 41-yard interception return for a touchdown. The win for the Tigers (4-0, 3-0) avenged a 21-14 loss last season to the Eagles.
Aquinas knocks of Calvary Day
The Irish got a big win Friday, and they used defense and a little trickery to do it. With a little less than five minutes remaining in the game and the scored tied at 3-3, Aquinas (2-2) executed a double pass – quarterback John Paul threw a backward pass into the flat to Joseph Douglas, who threw down field to John Parrish – for 25 yards down to the Cavalier 4-yard line. The next play Paul hit Bradley White with a touchdown pass give Aquinas a 9-3 lead that ended up being the final score (the PAT was blocked). Calvary Day (1-3) threatened on its final drive, moving inside the Irish 5-yard line with 30 seconds left in the game. But a bad snap and a fumble, recovered by Douglas, preserved the win.
Other key results were:
No. 2 (Public) Irwin County (4-1) 21, Telfair County (1-4) 14
No. 4 (Public) Macon County (3-1) 27, No. 3 (Public) Taylor County (3-0) 22
No. 3 (Private) Wesleyan (5-1) 42, Holy Innocents’ (1-4) 14
No. 5 (Public) Clinch County (3-2) 42, Wilcox County (1-3) 7
No. 5 (Private) Tattnall Square (4-0) 35, Washington-Wilkes (1-3) 30
No. 7 (Private) Athens Academy (4-0) 53, Towns County (2-3) 13
No. 10 (Public) Charlton County (4-0) 35, No. 8 (Public) Turner County (3-2) 14
No. 9 (Public) Emanuel County Institute (4-1) 48, Treutlen (1-4) 13
No. 9 (Private) Stratford Academy (4-0) 24, Lincoln County (1-3) 13
