Close wins at the "Battle of the Big Chicken"

POWDER SPRINGS-Fans who attended the “Battle of the Big Chicken” high school football doubleheader at McEachern High’s Cantrell Stadium Friday night definitely got their money’s worth and a whole lot more.

In the opening contest, the Lassiter Trojans took advantage of a variety of miscues by the Hillgrove Hawks in the first half to take a 37-0 lead but had to hold off a rally by the latter to escape with a 37-29 victory.

“I was disappointed with our second half especially the special teams. Hillgrove has a good team,” Trojans head coach Jep Irwin said in an interview. “Our hats are off to them. There are lessons to be learned about tonight but I am happy with the win.”

As for the nightcap that ended at 1:00 in the morning, Tyren Jones rushed for a school record 332 yards and scored four touchdowns, but it was a 43-yard field by Anthony Price with 25.2 seconds remaining in regulation that gave the Walton Raiders a 37-35 victory over the host Indians.

In the opener, the Trojans wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as Robert Dowling intercepted a Troy Thompson pass and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown in the first minute of the game.

Lassiter added to the lead with approximately nine minutes remaining when Lane Jackman took a reverse handoff and raced 20 yards to paydirt and the lead was 14-0 after the extra point.

The Trojans didn’t need to go far as a bad snap occurred while the Hawks were in punt format and the ball was downed at their eight yard line.

Two plays later Josh Danforth scored on a one yard run with 2:12 remaining in the first period.

The game didn’t get any better in the second period for Hillgrove as Lassiter quarter Eddie Printz connected with Willie Police on a 38-yard touchdown pass with 10:28 remaining in the period.

The Trojans took a 34-0 lead with 7:39 remaining as Blake Wilson scored on a 13 yard run that ended a drive that featured a 36-yard pass from Printz to Ryan Jenkins.

Luke Hardin converted a 30-yard field goal with 3:55 remaining in the half and that would bring an end to the scoring for the Trojans.

The second half belonged to the Hawks as they scored for the first time with 7:11 remaining in the third period as Aaron Bailey scored on a two-yard run and cut the margin to 37-14 after a one-yard run by Thompson with 44 seconds left in the stanza.

An 83-yard run by Korbin Sanders with 4:56 left in the game cut the margin to 37-21 and after an onside kick, the score was 37-29 after an 18-yard run by Richardre  Bagley and subsequent two-point conversion with 4:00 remaining in the game.

The Hawks were unable to get any closer as the Trojans’ defense regained some of the swagger that aided them in the first half.

In the finale, McEachern had a 13-7 lead at the end of the first period and took a 20-13 lead to the locker room at the half.

Walton controlled the bulk of the third period and tied the game at 20-20 on a one-yard run and took a 27-20 lead with 9:09 left in the game on a 16-yard run by the future Alabama player.

The Indians eventually took a 35-34 lead with 2:15 remaining before the Raiders took possession and eventually converted the winning field goal.