HAPEVILLE CHARTER 30, CHATTOOGA 21
The star: Hapeville Charter quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams passed for 215 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 79 yards as the Hornets ended Chattooga’s season.Up next: Hapeville will play Fitzgerald in next week’s GHSA Class AA semifinals.
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - Hajj-Malik Williams didn't need to show off to impress Chattooga football coach Charlie Hammon, but the Hapeville Charter quarterback did so anyway.
Williams, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior, and his bevy of talented receivers were too much for Hammon's Indians in a well-contested GHSA Class AA quarterfinal game Friday night at Banneker High School. Williams was 12-for-20 for 215 yards, rushed for 79 yards and clearly lived up to his pregame hype as the Hornets eliminated the Indians, 30-21.
"People thought I was crazy when I compared him to Cam Newton, but he's really good and proved it tonight," Hammon said. "Where they were bettter at than I thought was the offensive front. I thought we could get some pressure on them, but we were just stalemated all night. They were precise at their routes, and we just couldn't cover them for that long."
Chattooga (8-5), though, did what it usually does and rode the Foster twins to the near upset. Quarterback Isaac and running back Isaiah combined for 274 yards, but an injury to Isaac Foster near the end of a mammoth third-quarter drive handicapped the Indians after they tied the game at 21.
"That really hurt us, but these kids never quit and we had our shots," Hammon said. "They just made a few more plays than we did."
Chattooga ran 66 offensive plays to just 40 for Hapeville (10-3), all but 12 of the Indians' plays on the ground. The Hornets, however, had six pass plays of 25 or more yards, with Rory Starkey making six catches for 106 yards.
Chattooga put together scoring drives of 55 and 76 yards, with Isaac Foster scoring from 1 and 41 yards. Hapeville scored its three touchdowns on drives that took four, seven and five plays. Williams was the key in each, including 3-for-3 passing for 61 yards on the second drive and 2-for-2 for 50 yards on the final first-half possession as the Hornets took a 21-14 lead into halftime.
Chattooga tied it with a 19-play, 77-yard drive to open the second half, all on the ground and featuring the hard running of the Fosters. However, Isaac Foster was injured on a 5-yard run that reached the 10. He limped off the field, and though he returned for a few plays late, the ankle injury was too much to overcome.
The Indians scored three plays later on C.J. Martin's 1-yard sneak to tie the game.
"It was great to run that clock down and get a score," Isaac Foster said. "We thought we were going to come back and get the win, but it just didn't happen."
Hapeville drove to the Chattooga 16, but the drive stalled and Adam Barrett kicked a 33-yard field goal to end the third quarter. The Indians, after Isaiah Foster returned the kickoff to midfield, reached the 16, but a second-down Isaiah Foster run was stuffed in the backfield for an 8-yard loss. Martin attempted to tie the game with a 46-yard field goal, but it was wide left.
The Hornets then used three quick Williams passes to get to the Chattooga 15, where Marcus Carroll scored his third touchdown, this time from 15 yards to ice the victory.
"That group is a special group," Hammon said. "They bought into what we do and they started caring about other people and caring about how they acted and presented themselves. Those are the things that make good daddies, good employees and good people. It's just a super special bunch, and I hate that it's over."