Football in Gwinnett County was thrown for a loop last week when several region match-ups flipped the script on the Region 8-AAAAA standings. Brookwood, which had taken care of both Walton and Collins Hill with the running game, fell to Dacula as the Falcons played keep away from the No.9 team in the state. The Broncos received just 61 yards on eight carries (50 coming on one TD run) from Nick Tompkins and some negative yardage from Jamaal Cole. Both had averaged over 100 yards apiece entering the game. Andre “AJ” Sims, a member of the Score 44, had just one rush for eight yards and zero catches. Dacula meanwhile had 362 yards on 66 plays as QB Rocky Capobianco threw one TD in the third quarter and accounted for 164 total yards while Marcus Cox had 125 rushing yards and Dexter Walker contributed 70 yards. The Broncos fell to 2-1 with the 24-14 loss.
Norcross meanwhile improved to 3-0 after a 20-14 win thanks to Kendrix Huitt’s 100 yards rushing and QB Matt Poole’s 107 passing yards. Poole sneaked one score in while also connecting with Bradley Coleman on a 12-yard scoring strike late in the first half. Chris Bingham had two field goals for the Blue Devils, in prime position for a playoff run after missing the postseason last year.
In what may have been the biggest win of the weekend though, No.3 Peachtree Ridge traveled to Coweta County and rolled up No.4 Newnan 27-17. Dewayne Brooks got the Lions on the board with a 6-yard scoring scamper in the second quarter after the Newnan Cougars went up 14-0 early. Three-way standout Justin Watts made a 40-yard field goal to trim the lead to 14-10 and then really turned the game on its head by returning an interception 56 yards to give the Lions a 17-14 lead. Diandre Atwater, who did not play in the first half, capped a 97-yard scoring drive with a one-yard plunge to make it 24-14. After a field goal from Newnan, Peachtree Ridge finished off the scoring with another Watts field goal, this one from 19 yards out to achieve the final margin. Angelo Whatley, a member of the Score 44, was very active at Tight End while playing in key spots on defense, even sacking Newnan’s quarterback on an important 3rd down play late in the comeback. Coach Bill Ballard of Peachtree Ridge said of his South Carolina-bound phenom, “He’s very athletic. Quick hands and a good second step. He’s a very talented young man all the way around.”
South Gwinnett captured a victory in region play over Shiloh with a 45-12 win. Kent Rollins did most of his damage early before finishing 11-23 for 176 yards and one touchdown. He also picked up six on a 59 yard bootleg in the first quarter. Trevon Walker rushed for 110 yards and Aaron Wimberly tacked on a TD with a 2-yard dive in the first.
Other standout performances included Collins Hill’s Taylor Heinicke as he threw five TDs, including three to Jeff Glover in a 43-36 loss to ML King and the entire Grayson offense for banging out 55 against Archer. GAC (3-0) tripled its 2009 win total with a 49-10 win over Holy Innocents’ and Buford rebounded from a 14-0 loss last week to notch 16 fourth-quarter points in a 32-10 victory over Westminster. Duluth also dropped its first game of the year with a 44-7 loss to Alpharetta.
Finally, Wesleyan whitewashed Twiggs County 33-0 in what continues to be part of “the toughest early schedule in my five years here,” according to head coach Franklin Pridgen. The coach, whose squad is ranked in the top three of Class A, applauds the teams such as North Gwinnett, Camden County and Lowndes for playing out of state teams. “It’s what we’re trying to do.”
In news outside of the gridiron, North Gwinnett shut out Duluth 8-0 on the softball diamond behind Alex McDavid’s 3-3 night with four RBI recently. Caroline Rogers had two runs batted in on two hits to support Emily Wood’s complete game victory. Collins Hill dispatched Peachtree Ridge by the same score. Kayla Floor allowed just one hit while stiking out nine in the shutout win. Brookwood dispatch South Gwinnett 9-1 thanks in large part to Jenny Blackwell’s 3-3 afternoon.
And on the recruiting front, Norcross’s Josiah Moore recently pledged to play basketball at the next level at Nebraska. Moore is ranked as the 15th best prospect in Georgia by Scout.com and last season averaged 9ppg as a combo-guard/small forward.
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