TOCCOA, Ga. - Football notched its fourth-straight victory and its third-straight 50-plus point performance in last Friday's 51-24 win over Stephens County. That made the Lions 6-1 and 3-0 in region play, heading into the final two games of the regular season.
"The first half was just sluggish, it was tough ... it happens sometimes ... Not only [did] we face a little adversity in the first half, we gave up that kickoff return [at the start of the second half]. If you look at it, we outscored them by almost 30 [points] after that, so I'm proud of the way those guys responded, because you're going to have to deal with adversity, the ball is not always going to bounce your way."
As of Sunday, October 19, Hebron ranks No. 1 in Class 3A-A Private across all notable rankings, per Georgia high School Football Daily. The Lions are trailed by No. 2 Fellowship Christian, which is 6-1, the lone loss coming from the Lions.
Against Stephens, Hebron had 539 yards of total offense, 305 rushing and 234 passing. Senior running back Devon Caldwell led the ground game with 238 yards on 29 carries with two touchdowns. Junior quarterback Jordan Greene had 50 yards on the ground, while senior wideout Jarvis Mathurin added 20 with a score. Beau Bennett also had a touchdown run in the win.
Greene threw the ball efficiently, slinging for 156 yards on a 9-13 clip, passing for three scores with one interception. Senior quarterback Gray Costello came in during the second half, completing seven of nine passes for 78 yards.
Mathurin amounted the bulk of Hebron's yards through the air, with 90 yards on five receptions with two touchdown snags. Senior Max Steve had 75 yards receiving on three catches with a 48-yard touchdown, and freshman receiver Austen Kitchings had six catches for 60 yards.
On defense, the Lions forced three turnovers, all interceptions to slow a strong effort from Stephens County's offense. Senior Masen Hardy and sophomores Jai'lil Goley and Holden Meers had the three picks, giving Hebron defensive back's 10 interceptions on the season.
"In the first half, I thought we hit the quarterback really hard a couple of times ... really got to him. I love what our DB's did, obviously in great positions to make a few of those picks, but it also had to do with what those guys were doing up front - putting some pressure [on the quarterback]."
Junior linebacker Albert Wilham had 10 tackles with one pass breakup (PBU), Steve had nine tackles, one for a loss and two PBU's, Tanner Bowen and Bennett each had eight tackles, while Stroud Morris and Jack Mostiler each had seven.
Stephens did put up a strong fight against the Lions, especially in the first half. After Hebron took an early 13-0 lead, the Indians added a touchdown to end the first quarter down 13-7.
Hebron added two more scores in the second frame to take a 27-7 lead, but Stephens had the next three scores, one being before the halftime break, and the next two in the third quarter. Stephen's first second-half score came on the opening kickoff.
However, Hebron's defense settled in and the offense had the next four scores, to shift the close game into more of a blowout.
The Lions will next play Franklin County at home next Friday, October 24. The Lions are 6-2 and are coming off of a 45-14 loss to Prince Avenue Christian.
"You want to finish [the season] strong, everybody is a big believer in momentum [and] you want to have momentum going into the playoffs. I think tonight was the type of night we needed, we needed to face a little adversity. We needed to get punched in the mouth and see how we would respond. I think our kids did great. We've got two huge region games the next two weeks, the kids should be excited, I know I'm excited about it."
