Cartersville Remains Perfect After 49-7 Lopsided Win Over Chapel Hill

The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes (8-0, 4-0) traveled to Chapel Hill in Douglasville Friday Night in Region play. With ambitions of a playoff birth and a state championship game within their grasp, the Purple Hurricanes set out to make a statement. The Chapel Hill Panthers who are (3-4-1, 1-3) looked to rise above the .500 mark with hopes to spoil the Canes perfect season. Head Coach Joey King of the Purple Hurricanes and starting Quarterback Trevor Lawrence set out on a mission from the very first drive of the game. Lawrence, the #1 recruit in the nation for the 2018 class rankings showed exactly why he's the #1 QB recruit. Coach King and the Purple Hurricanes scored 24 first quarter points in hopes of keeping their undefeated season intact. Cartersville, now 9-0 is in possession of the longest winning streak that the school has witnessed in its prestigious history. In the first quarter, Trevor Lawrence came out on fire.

Lawrence lead his team to 4 successful touchdown drives, 1 which was negated by a penalty. Passing for 3 touchdowns early on, Lawrence spread the ball fairly easy. Connecting with Trey Creamer, Trase Fezzia and Avery Showell for scores mid-way through the 1st quarter. Chapel Hill threw a costly interception that turned into points for Cartersville. Chapel Hill found its own rhythm early in the 2nd quarter. Running Back Tyree Shelton broke off a 40-yard run, slashing through the Hurricane defense, making several defenders miss, all to be ran out of bounds after the huge run. The Chapel Hill crowd woke up after witnessing Shelton, the 4th leading rusher in AAAA Region 5, move like that.

Quarterback Jadon Walker of Chapel Hill would finish the drive off with a little magic of his own. Scrambling and shaking his way through the Cartersville defense, scoring on a 40-yard run to put up the only points on the board for the Panthers that evening. After running close to 7 minutes off the clock in the 2nd quarter, Cartersville scored two touchdowns in a little under two minutes to close out the half. The Purple Hurricanes lead 41-7 over the Chapel Hill Panthers at that point. Both teams returned from the locker rooms looking very upbeat and prepared to compete in the 2nd half. Cartersville opened up the 3rd quarter with the ball first, and marched right down the field in 3 plays. Lawrence connected with Wide Receiver EJ Turner on a screen pass, and Turner turned on the jets, outrunning the entire Panther defense for the easy 55-yard score. That would be Trevor Lawrence's final series of the game. Lawrence would finish the night going 15-28 for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns. Both teams used their Junior Varsity players to finish out the game, which was a running clock in the 2nd half due to the Hurricanes being up by more than 30 points. By this time, Coach King of the Hurricanes showed a rather “lack luster” demeanor. The Panthers finished with a total of 107 yards, while the Hurricanes racked up over 350 yards of offense. The Hurricanes will enjoy a bye week before gearing up to battle the #2 team in AAAA Region 5, (7-1) Troup County, traveling from LaGrange, Georgia. This game is sure to be one for the ages!