Second-half spurt keeps Evans perfect

Evans came alive in the second half behind running back Jonathan Finch and quarterback Troy Griffith to pull away from Cross Creek 35-12 on Friday night and remain unbeaten.

Evans (9-0) led 7-6 at halftime, then went to work against the Razorbacks (2-7) in the Region 3-AAAA game.

Finch scored on touchdowns runs of 47 and 45 yards in the third quarter and Griffith hit Justin Black on a 70-yard touchdown pass as the Knights went up 28-6 after three quarters.

Finch had 217 yards rushing and Griffith passed for 142 yard and scored a rushing touchdown.

Evans 0 7 21 7 -- 35

Cross Creek 6 0 0 6 -- 12

First Quarter

CC--Terrell Wood 12 pass from Keenan Grissett (kick failed), 3:18

Second Quarter

E--Jamerson Turner 36 pass from Troy Griffith (Jamie Galven kick), 11:53

Third Quarter

E-Justin Black 70 pass from Griffith (Galven kick), 11:53

E--Jonathan Finch 47 run (Galven kick), 6:30

E--Finch 45 run (Galven run), 4:29

Fourth Quarter

CC--Pat White 40 block punt return (kick failed), 7:48

E--Griffith 30 run (Galven kick), 2:33

E CC

First Downs 10 10

Rushes-Yards 32-238 32-90

PASSING Yards 142 52

Comp.-Att.-Int. 7-13-0 6-13-1

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0

Punts-Yards 3-10 3-26.7

Penalties-Yards 7-50 5-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Evans: Jonathan Finch 20-217, Troy Griffith 4-7, Jamerson Turner 4-(-8), Hector Millar 3-22, Glenn Casey 1-0. Cross Creek: Keenan Grissett 7-21, William Mitchell 8-(-22), Alex McKeller 1-5, Terrell Wood 6-24, D.J. Faulker 9-62.

PASSING--Evans: Troy Griffith 7-13-0 142. Cross Creek: Keenan Grissett 5-9-1 37, William Mitchell 1-4-0 15.

RECEIVING--Evans: Sam Nichols 1-11, Tevin Nelson 3-15, Jamerson Turner 2-46, Justin Black 1-70. Cross Creek: Pat White 1-15, Terrell Wood 2-19, Jermaine Dooberry 1-4, D.J. Faulker 1-0, Richie Crayhall 1-14.

Records: Evans 9-0, Cross Creek 2-7. Next: Richmond Academy at Evans, 7:30 p.m., Friday.

Late TD pass lifts Jefferson past Screven

SYLVANIA, Ga. --- Chester Stone hit Derrell Hannah on a 50-yard scoring strike with just over a minute to play and Jefferson County edged Screven County 17-13 in a crucial Region 3-AA game Friday night.

The play came on a third-and-29, and set up Jefferson County for a showdown for the region title next week when Dublin visits. It also assured Jefferson County a home playoff game.

Screven County's Travis Coles led all rushers with 111 yards.

JEFFERSON COUNTY 17, SCREVEN COUNTY 13

Jefferson County 0 10 0 7 -- 17

Screven County 6 0 7 0 -- 13

First Quarter

SC--Rodderick Grace 11 run (kick failed), 7:06

Second Quarter

JC--A.J. Nelson 7 run (Tommy Pritchard kick), 5:38

JC--Pritchard 22 FG, 0:00

Third Quarter

SC--Travis Coles 1 run (Jim Freeman kick), 5:10

Fourth Quarter

JC--Derrell Hannah 50 pass from Chester Stone (Pritchard kick), 1:07

JC SC

First Downs 14 9

Rushes-Yards 39-116 35-154

PASSING Yards 153 44

Comp.-Att.-Int. 10-16-1 3-7-1

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0

Punts-Yards 3-34.0 5-30.0

Penalties-Yards 9-80 6-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Jefferson County: Nelson 14-81, B.J. Bostic 15-18, Stone 6-5, Hannah 4-12. Screven County: Coles 18-111, Cameron Abraham 8-20, Michael Johnson 4-8, Todd Scott 3-2, Grace 1-11, Ron Cail 1-2.

PASSING--Jefferson County: Bostic 6-8-0 64, Stone 4-8-1 89. Screven County: Johnson 3-6-1 44, Justin Ziegler 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING--Jefferson County: Tyler Daugherty 3-42, Terrance Smith 3-40, Hannah 4-71. Screven County: Abraham 2-38, Scott 1-6.

Records: Jefferson County 8-1 (6-4 Region 3-AA); Screven County 6-4 (6-4 Region 3-AA). Next: Dublin at Jefferson County next week for Region 3-AA championship.

Quarterback Brandon Paul got Aquinas started and Eric Andrews finished off the victory for the Irish.

Paul scored on a pair of 1-yard runs in the first quarter to put Aquinas up 14-0.

It went to 21-0 in the second quarter when Paul hit Garrett Pippen on a 10-yard scoring strike.

After that, it was all Andrews. He scored three second-half touchdowns, one on an 80-yard kickoff return. He also had TD runs of 36 and 1 yards.

The Irish improve to 3-6.

Hancock Central 0 0 0 6 -- 6

Aquinas 14 7 6 13 -- 40

First Quarter

A--Brandon Paul 1 run (Ethan Lapan kick)

A--Paul 1 run (Lapan kick)

Second Quarter

A--Garrett Pippen 10 pass from Paul (Lapan kick)

Third Quarter

A--Eric Andrews 36 run (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter

A--Andrews 1 run (Lapan kick)

A--Andrews 80 kickoff return (no attempt)

Records: Aquinas 3-6. Next: Aquinas at Washington-Wilkes, 7:30 p.m., Friday.

JOHNSTON, S.C. --- Maurice Brown rushed for 191 yards and scored three touchdowns on offense and one on defense as Strom Thurmond ran its record to 9-0 with the 3-AA victory.

Brown had scoring runs of 57, 56 and 5 yards and also returned a fumble 5 yards for another score.

Gilbert 7 0 0 21 -- 28

Strom Thurmond 21 10 7 14 -- 52

First Quarter

G--Maurice Anderson 72 run (Kick Fox kick)

ST--Maurice Brown 5 fumble return (Ren Fell kick)

ST--M. Brown 56 run (Fell kick)

ST--DeMarcus Smith 15 pass from Javon Brown (Fell kick)

Second Quarter

ST--Fell 42 FG

ST--M. Brown 57 run (Fell kick)

Third Quarter

ST--Raleigh Yeldell 8 run (Fell kick)

Fourth Quarter

G--Adam Spires 30 pass from Cameron Winchester (Fox kick)

ST--Yeldell 1 run (Fell kick)

G--Spires 30 pass from Winchester (Fox kick)

G--Spires 45 pass from Winchester (Fox kick)

ST--M. Brown 5 run (Sam Northrop kick)

G ST

First Downs 7 15

Rushes-Yards 27-126 36-286

PASSING Yards 228 119

Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-28-2 12-17-0

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1

Punts-Yards 4-36.0 3-37.6

Penalties-Yards 2-15 4-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Strom Thurmond: M. Brown 11-191, J. Brown 6-28, Nick Williamson 2-2, Anthony Hillary 4-28, Tra'ves Bush 1-5, Yeldell 12-32.

PASSING--Strom Thurmond: J. Brown 6-8-0 66, Yeldell 6-9-0 53.

RECEIVING--Strom Thurmond: Williamson 6-53, Smith 3-39, Terrence Butler 3-27.

Records: Strom Thurmond 9-0.

COLUMBIA --- Powerful Hammond jumped on Augusta Christian early and rolled to a victory in a game that decided the SCISA Region 1-AAA title.

Hammond (9-1) led 28-0 at halftime. The Lions drop to 8-3.

Augusta Christian 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Hammond 14 14 7 7 -- 42

H--10 pass (kick good)

H--10 run (kick good)

H--20 pass (kick good)

H--15 pass (kick good)

H--30 pass (kick good)

H--5 run (kick good)

AC H

First Downs 5 --

Rushes-Yards 28-136 --

PASSING Yards 125 --

Comp.-Att.-Int. 9-20-1 --

Penalties-Yards 5-40 3-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Augusta Christian: Cole Turner 9-52, William Banks 14-69, Christian Croft 2-7, Cameron Hoover 3-8.

PASSING--Augusta Christian: Banks 9-20-1 125.

RECEIVING--Augusta Christian: Evan Wells 5-53, Mike Robinson 2-33, Caleb Harmon 1-12, Corey Kupitz 1-11.

Note: Hammond wins the region title.

Records: Augusta Christian 8-3; Hammond 9-1. Next: Both teams start state playoffs next week.

JOHNSTON, S.C. --- Kevin Ginn caught three of Stephen Balentine's five touchdown passes as Wardlaw Academy closed out a perfect regular season.

The Patriots (10-0) have a first-round bye in the playoffs and will next play Nov. 14 in the playoff semifinals.

Long Cane 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Wardlaw 14 22 14 0 -- 50

W--Stephen Balentine 6 run (Tony Keenan pass from Balentine) 8:25

W--Kevin Ginn 26 pass from Balentine (run failed) 7:41

W--Balentine 9 run (Ginn run) 9:11

W--Ginn 6 pass from Balentine (Harrison Courtney pass from Balentine) 3:19

W--Jordan Faust 7 pass from Balentine (run failed) :01

W--Keenan 7 pass from Balentine (Keenan pass from Balentine) 9:09

W--Ginn 13 pass from Balentine (run failed) 3:50

LC W

First Downs 4 13

Rushes-Yards 31-81 37-219

PASSING Yards 0 117

Comp.-Att.-Int. 0-1-0 15-21-2

Fumbles-Lost 4-4 1-0

Punts-Yards 3-22 0

Penalties-Yards 6-75 3-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Long Cane: Jonathan Klegg 3-16, Zach Horne 10-4, Justin Law 6-32, Miles Scaglione 11-16, Travis Welch 1-3. Wardlaw: Stephen Balentine 18-86, Kevin Ginn 9-84, Jordan Faust 4-29, Jeffrey Holland 4-26, Dillon Thomas 4-12.

PASSING--Long Cane: Zach Horne 0-1-0 0. Wardlaw: Stephen Balentine 15-21-2 117.

RECEIVING--Wardlaw: Kevin Ginn 7-75, Harrison Courtney 2-6, Tony Keenan 4-27, Travis Gagnon 1-7, Jordan Faust 1-7.

Records: Wardlaw 10-0. Next: Wardlaw in state semifinals on Nov. 14 after first-round bye.