Turnovers are supposed to be game-changing plays, and while that was the case in Cartersville's 21-14 win over Calhoun with the GHSA Region 7-AAAAA football championship on the line Friday night at Weinman Stadium, the turnover in question backfired.
Calhoun scored midway through the third quarter to cut host Cartersville's lead to seven when Cole Speer intercepted a Cartersville pass. The senior caught the ball at the 1, and his momentum carried him into the end zone, where he took a knee. Officials marked the ball at the 1, Calhoun was forced to punt four plays later, and the Purple Hurricanes made it a two-touchdown lead with a short drive.
The Jackets (8-2, 4-1) never recovered and will settle for the region runner-up spot. After an open date next week as Georgia's regular season wraps up, they will host a first-round playoff game. Cartersville (9-0, 5-0) will carry a 62-game regular-season winning streak into the playoffs.
"We got momentum in the second half and then got the interception, but Cole was called down at the 1 and we couldn't get out and had to punt," Calhoun coach Clay Stephenson said. "This one is going to sting, but the guys never folded and that says a lot."
A steady rain hampered the usually productive Calhoun passing attack in the first half as quarterback Christian Lewis completed only two of eight passes and had several slip out of his hand. Meanwhile, Cartersville's cat-quick running back, Amari White, had no trouble with the wet conditions.
White ran for 176 yards and consistently broke tackles at the line. His 17-yard touchdown catch on a Jake Parker pass late in the first quarter produced the game's first points. Still, Calhoun, which managed only 70 yards in the first half, was within seven before Parker connected with Jacob Ray on a 41-yard touchdown with 20 seconds to go in the half.
The Jackets, the rain now gone, went 61 yards on the opening drive of the second half, with Caden Williams scoring on a three-yard run to get back within seven, but the Canes took advantage of the short field on the punt after Speer's interception to go up 21-7 on Malachi Jeffries' short run.
Calhoun scored with just more than five minutes to play when Lewis hit a streaking Speer on a 76-yard touchdown pass, but Cartersville, behind White, ran out the clock to secure the region title.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Lafayette football coach Andy Scott's Ramblers lost a close game with Rockmart on Friday night in GHSA Region 6-AAA competition.Trion 61, Mount Zion-Carroll 28: A week after rushing for six touchdowns, Trion's Rob Brown scored seven times and put up 441 yards on the ground as the Bulldogs (8-1, 3-1 Region 6-A public) cruised. Brown, who now has 1,824 yards this season, had scoring runs of 12, 16, 57, 20, 51, 46 and 24 yards as Trion piled up 618 total yards.
Gordon Lee 16, Armuchee 14: Nate Dunfee rushed for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the winning Trojans (5-4, 2-2 Region 6-A public). Dunfee had scoring runs of 28 and 17 yards, and Montgomery Kephart added a 29-yard field goal. Austin Stacy had 121 yards and a touchdown run for the Indians (5-3, 1-3).
Heritage 24, Pickens 14: Paxton McCrary ran for a pair of touchdowns as the Generals (6-2, 3-1 Region 7-AAAA) clinched a berth in the state playoffs. Kaden Swope scored the game's first touchdown on a 2-yard run after J.D. Black returned the opening kickoff 60 yards, and Anderson Britton added a 41-yard field goal.
Adairsville 47, North Murray 18: Eli Agnew ran for three touchdowns and Chris Roper two, including a 71-yarder, as the Tigers (7-2, 5-2 Region 6-AAA) clinched a No. 3 playoff seed. Seth Griffin had a pair of touchdown passes for the Mountaineers (6-3, 4-3), who need a win next week against LaFayette to clinch a playoff berth.
Rockmart 38, LaFayette 30: The Ramblers (4-5, 3-4 Region 6-AAA) led 27-17 after Austin Tucker's 24-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter, but the Yellow Jackets (8-1, 7-0) scored the next 21 points to set up next week's region championship showdown with fellow league unbeaten Ringgold, which beat Sonoraville on Friday.
J.D. Davis ran for one score and passed for another, with Cam Ferguson and Keyshaun McCullough adding touchdown runs for Rockmart. Zach Barrett had a 64-yard scoring pass to Sam Hall for LaFayette, which faces North Murray next week with a possible playoff berth on the line.
Dade County 61, Gordon Central 0: Cody Williams ran for 167 yards as the Wolverines (7-2, 4-1 Region 7-AA) set up a title showdown against Fannin County next week.
Pepperell 35, Chattooga 14: D.J. Rogers rushed for four touchdowns for the winning Dragons (4-5, 3-2 Region 7-AA). Devon Herock had a 50-yard touchdown run and Lashaun Lester added an 11-yard score for the Indians (5-4, 4-2), who have clinched a playoff berth.
Paulding County 23, Dalton 22: Clay Watkins hit a field goal at the final gun Thursday night to sink the Catamounts. Dalton's Brady Pendley passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns, one each to Karim Page (112 receiving yards) and Journey Boston (83).
Northwest Georgia scores:
Southeast Whitfield 28, East Forsyth 21
Northwest Whitfield 49, Ridgeland 21
Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 31, Murray County 14 (Thursday)
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.