Murfreesboro Oakland proved why it is considered to be one of the best prep football teams in the nation, scoring 42 straight points after falling behind briefly in whipping South Pittsburg 49-10 on Thursday night.
The Patriots, last season's TSSAA Class 6A state champions and currently ranked No. 1 in the state and 24th nationally by USA Today, earned their 24th consecutive victory in convincing fashion.
South Pittsburg (5-2), ranked No. 3 in 1A, struck first after De'Andre Kelly returned an interception to the Oakland 24 and, two plays later, Richard Hunter connected with his twin brother Reginald on an 18-yard touchdown pass.
But the visiting Patriots (9-0) needed just two plays to respond as running back Jordan James, who is committed to Georgia, raced 65 yards to the Pirates' 3, then scored on the next snap. Oakland then used an interception and two blocked punts to begin pulling away, extending its lead to 20-7 on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kate Hewitt to Miami commitment Isaiah Horton and building a 35-7 advantage by halftime.
Oakland outgained the Pirates 385-225 in total yards. South Pittsburg's Kelly finished with 80 rushing yards and Richard Hunter completed 12 of 20 passes for 89 yards.
Heritage 31, LFO 0: The Generals (5-2) earned the nonregion win at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (0-8) with a dominating defensive performance that began with Drew Dietz's pick-six to start the game. Kaden Swope had a touchdown pass to Payton Newman and Paxton McCrary added a short touchdown run to make it 21-0 at halftime. The game was delayed nearly two hours due to inclement weather, and when it resumed J.D. Black returned the second half's opening kickoff 90 yards for the Generals.
Trion 48, Armuchee 7: In a game halted at halftime due to weather, the Bulldogs (7-1, 2-1 GHSA Region 6-A public) rode senior Rob Brown's six touchdowns to victory. Brown, who rushed for 308 yards on 15 carries, had scoring runs of 39, 37, 73 and 55 yards to go with a pair of 32-yard touchdown catches.
Compiled by Stephen Hargis and Lindsey Young. Contact Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis. Contact Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.