High School Football: Hornets, Eagles Prepare For Key Region Games

By Mike Blum

After scoring key wins in their region openers last week, the Roswell Hornets and Milton Eagles each play at home Friday night against unbeaten teams in games that could very well determine the champions in both regions.

Roswell, coming off its second overtime win of the season Oct. 6 against Lassiter, hosts unbeaten and state-ranked Walton. Milton got past West Forsyth last week, and could gain a strong grip on a possible region title with a victory at home Friday against South Forsyth, which is unbeaten but has not yet convinced most of the state’s polling groups that it merits a top-10 ranking in AAAAAAA.

The Hornets let a 23-0 halftime lead against Lassiter slip away, with the Trojans scoring 16 points in the
final four minutes to force overtime. Lassiter tied the game with about 1:20 to play and blocked a Roswell punt to set up what would have been a game-winning field goal, but missed from short range (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app).

The Trojans missed another field goal to start overtime and Roswell capitalized, with Kamonty Jett
scoring his third touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run to give the Hornets a 36-30 victory. The Hornets dominated the game with their rushing attack, with Jett and quarterback Cordel Littlejohn combining for 363 yards and all five Roswell touchdowns. Littlejohn attempted only six passes and completed two, both to Jett for 41 yards. Littlejohn’s two scores came on runs of 75 and 33 yards, while Jett had a 20-yarder among his three scores.

After Lassiter scored to close within 30-22 late in the game, the Trojans recovered a Jett fumble, leading to the game-tying touchdown and two-pointer. The Hornets’ defense was dominant in the first half but the Trojans came back with a strong offensive showing in the final two periods. Jett and Littlejohn have been the offensive leaders for the Hornets (2-4 overall) this season, with Jett gaining 825 yards with eight touchdowns in six games. He has exceeded 200 yards rushing in both Roswell wins. Littlejohn has amassed 1,050 yards of offense, passing for 675 yards and rushing for 375 with a combined 10 touchdowns.

To this point, the Hornets have not gotten much production from receiver Tyneil Hopper, one of only two returning regulars from last year’s state runner-up team. Other than a big game against Archer by converted quarterback Walt Warren, the Hornets’ receivers have not put up impressive numbers, and Roswell will need a more effective passing game to hang with the unbeaten Raiders.

Littlejohn has passed for more than 150 yards just once this season, with the Hornets finishing with fewer than 80 yards through the air in three of six games. Roswell’s defense has faced a string of outstanding offenses and Walton will be no exception. The Raiders are averaging 40 points and opened the season with wins over state-ranked North Gwinnett and Brookwood, but have not been tested since their second game.

Roswell, Walton and Woodstock are all 1-0 in Region 4-AAAAAAA, with Lassiter and Etowah, the other
two potential playoff qualifiers, both losing their region openers. The Walton-Roswell winner will be a
strong favorite to win the region, with the loser still in good position to earn a home game in the first
round of the playoffs.

A late goal-line stand by the Eagles preserved last week’s 17-13 win over West Forsyth, which improved Milton’s record to 5-1. South Forsyth is 6-0 but has not played an especially difficult schedule, with
three of its four wins against AAAAAAA opponents coming against teams with losing records. South Forsyth opened the season with an overtime victory over Roswell, which lost to Milton 40-7 two weeks ago.

The Eagles have played well on both sides of the football this season apart from a poor second half
defensively in its only loss to state-ranked North Gwinnett. Milton sports a strong running game led by Solomon Van Horse and a big, veteran line. Vanhorse has rushed for 670 yards with five straight games of 100-plus yards. He has rushed for four touchdowns, has two touchdown receptions and threw a touchdown pass to quarterback Jordan Yates, as head coach Adam Clack has displayed a willingness to utilize trick plays and take fourth down gambles in his first season with the Eagles after coming to Milton from West Forsyth.

Yates has had an excellent season throwing the football, passing for 1055 yards and 11 touchdowns against only two interceptions in 118 attempts. He also has four touchdowns rushing and gives the Eagles a legitimate running threat on the read-option. Dash Hairston has been his primary receiver, averaging more than 20 yards per reception with four touchdown catches. End Justin Blanks, the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year in Region 5-AAAAAAA, leads an experience unit that has held four of six opponents to 13 points or less.

With its victory last week over West Forsyth, Milton will be in extremely strong position to win Region 5-
AAAAAAA with a win Friday night. Even if the Eagles lose, they should finish no worse than second in the
region, which would result in a first round playoff game at home.

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