Canes humble Villa Rica, 58-0 | Friday Night Lights

Harris Turner completed 13 of 14 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns as Cartersville overwhelmed Villa Rica with 58 first-half points in a 58-0 homecoming win at Weinman Stadium.

The Canes scored in all facets, adding a 45-yard Cooper Melvin pick-six and Jordan Akins special teams safety to seven offensive possessions that ended with a touchdown. Jaden Navarrez connected on all eight extra-point attempts. The offense totaled 454 yards, 175 on the ground and 279 through the air.

The win improves the top-ranked Canes to 5-0 and 1-0 in Region 7, with a scoring average of 51.6 a game while giving up only 5.4 per contest.

That kind of success could lead a team to rest on its laurels. It hasn’t been the case, said head coach Conor Foster.

“We didn’t start as fast last time out, so we had a little bit of a chip on our shoulder,” he said. “The kids played hard and prepared well, so it was a lot of fun. It was a big night, with the Go Gold emphasis and it being homecoming, so I’m really proud of them staying focused.”

Cartersville travels to rival Cass Friday, Oct. 2, for its biggest test of the season in a battle of unbeatens. The Colonels, 6-0 and ranked fifth in 5A by MaxPreps, won their second region game on Friday with a 42-21 victory at Woodland.

“We’ll be focused,” said Foster.

On Friday, 10 Canes receivers caught at least one pass, led by Madoxx Davis’ 75 yards on five receptions, three of which went for scores. Kaiden Kent had three catches for 52 yards and a score.

Brayden Doss was the leading rusher at 89 yards on five carries and one touchdown. Tyon Coe only had three carries, but two went to the end zone as he finished with 46 yards.

Cartersville’s defense continued its season-long dominance, holding Villa Rica to only 48 first-half yards and 126 for the game. The Wildcats’ leading rusher, Emmanuel Ajayi, began the night averaging 140 yards per game, but finished with 43. The shutout was the Canes’ third of the season.

Quarterbacks Turner and Doss had plenty of time to find receivers. And when they didn’t throw, it was typically because of the massive hole opened up by their line for a big gainer on the ground.

“[The offensive line] has been getting better every week,” said Foster. “They work hard, and they’re humble. They also have to go against our defense in practice, so iron sharpens iron and they make each other better.”

Left guard Jorian Bailey is the only returner from last year’s senior-heavy line.

“We’ve been progressing ever since the summer and preparing every week,” he said. “It’s all about getting better. We work on our steps every day. That’s Coach Mac’s favorite thing — steps. Show up. Dominate. Execute the job.

“We’ll dial in,” he added about the game with Cass. “The goal is a state championship, but you need to worry about what’s in front of you.”

Coach Mac is Shane McPherson, whose 20 of 21 years as a coach have focused on the offensive line.

“Jorian is our leader up front,” he said. “He’s a three-year starter and has gone from just hoping to survive to easily being the best we have.”

Villa Rica attempted to catch Cartersville off guard with an onside pooch kick to start the game, but instead, Noah Kearney’s fair catch started the offense at the Canes’ 36-yard line. Five plays later, Coe took a handoff up the middle and kept his feet for a 28-yard touchdown. An 18-yard run by Doss helped set up Coe’s 7-yard punisher of a run to end the next drive and make the score 14-0 with 6:22 left in the first quarter.

On Cartersville’s third possession, Turner connected with KT Blackwell for 14 yards and Lance Tippett for 28 more. Then, from 21 yards out, the junior dropped a beauty between the corner and safety in the back left corner of the end zone for Davis and a 21-0 lead.

The Wildcats got their second first down of the night on the next drive, but after Grayson Warmack collected his second tackle for a loss to set up a second-and-long, Melvin snatched an errant pass at the Villa Rica 45 and took it to the house for a 28-0 advantage with 41 seconds left in the first quarter.

After forcing another Wildcat punt, the Canes covered 78 yards in four plays to score again. Doss carried three times, including a 56-yarder down to the 19. His 7-yard run stretched the lead to 35-0.

Cartersville’s next possession ended with Turner stepping up in the pocket from the 25 and finding a wide-open Kent for the score. Villa Rica’s ensuing drive finished with Akins’ tackle on the punter in the end zone as he attempted to pick up a fumbled low snap.

The Canes’ final two scores of the half — and the night — came from drives all on Turner’s arm.

Starting at his own 36, Turner found Davis for 9 yards before turning to Cole Crawford for 12. A bubble screen back to Davis ended with the four-star receiver jetting across the field for a 44-yard touchdown.

The final score needed two plays to go 43 yards. After a Turner-to-Coe screen pass that covered 38 yards, Turner rolled right before finding Davis for the final four and a 58-0 lead with a minute to play in the half.