Model earns 1st win of season

The Model Blue Devils picked up their first win of the 2018 season in style on Friday night, beating the visiting Dade County Wolverines 34-12 at WoodardTuggle Stadium in Shannon. The Blue Devils improved to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in Region 7-AA.

With under a minute to play before halftime, Model quarterback Silver turned a broken play into a highlight, fielding a bad snap on fourth-and-8 from the Dade County 13 yard line, rolling to his left and throwing a touchdown strike to Cole Couey giving the Blue Devils a 14-0 lead at the half.

The Blue Devils recovered a Dade County fumble with 8:54 left in the third quarter and put together an eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive that culminated with Jabari Burge taking the snap and finding the end zone from 7 yards out. Matthew Syverson’s extra point was good and Model held a commanding 21-0 lead.

Model hits the road next Friday to play at Floyd County rival Armuchee, while Dade County returns home to host Region 7-AA leader Rockmart.

Pepperell 28, Gordon Central 27

CALHOUN — In a wild fourth quarter, it was Pepperell who had the final huge play to make the difference in a 28-27 victory on the road at Gordon Central in the Region 7-AA opener for both teams.

Trailing 27-21 with less than three minutes to play, the Dragons (2-2, 1-0) put together a game-winning drive that culminated with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Gage Moses to Payton Rhoades with nine seconds to play. Ramiro Alanis’ extra point put his team in the lead for good.

Moses finished with 179 yards passing on 18 of 29 throws with two touchdowns and one interception, and Rhoades had nine catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Pepperell’s Darien Pasley led his team in rushing with 93 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown.

The Dragons trailed 14-13 at the half, but put together and efficient drive that ended with Pasley’s three-yard touchdown run and coupled with the twopoint pass from Moses to Josh Ross made it 21-14 Pepperell.

Gordon Central scored two straight defensive touchdowns late in the fourth quarter on a 67-yard fumble return by Seth Wolfe and a 41-yard interception return by Nelson Gravitt to put the Warriors (1-3, 0-1) ahead 27-21 before the final Pepperell drive.

Gravitt scored three of the Warriors’ four touchdowns, rushing for a 1-yard and 9-yard touchdown in the first half. He led the team with 93 yards on 19 carries.

Pepperell drew within one point at the break thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run by Chris Barner and a 5-yard touchdown connection from Moses to Rhoades, both in the second quarter.

Pepperell’s defense forced three turnovers, all coming on fumble recoveries, including one by Camron Miles in the fourth quarter.

Pepperell is back home next Friday to host Coosa in another region matchup,

while Gordon Central goes on the road to take on Chattooga.

Calhoun 34, North Murray 10

CHATSWORTH — The Calhoun Yellow Jackets were resilient and efficient, roaring back from a 10-0 halftime deficit to top the North Murray Mountaineers 34-10 on Friday in a Region 6-3A matchup.

After a scoreless second half, Calhoun (4-0, 2-0) wasted no time bouncing back against the Mountaineers (2-2, 1-1) after the break. Brannon Spector sparked the rally by snagging a 49-yard grab from quarterback Gavin Gray to set up an 8-yard rushing score by Zack Fuller.

The Jackets continued snatching the momentum when Greg Carr pounced on a squib-like kickoff that would later set into motion a 19-yard scoring play off a screen pass to Collin Baggett.

Luke Moseley then helped Calhoun cement the comeback, contributing two highlight-worthy grabs. Moseley blazed past the opposing cornerback to snag an 80-yard touchdown in the late third, before hauling in a pass at the back of the end zone for a 22-yard score.

Sandwiched in between Moseley’s grabs was a oneyard rushing touchdown by Gray. He finished with over 280 yards passing.

The Jackets will be on the road again next Friday when they visit Ringgold.