DACULA, Ga. - In a contest of region-tied Lions, the Hebron Christian Academy football team defeated Franklin County 47-0 at home this past Friday, Oct. 24.

The host Lions moved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the region after the shutout, while the visiting Pride dropped to 6-3 and 1-3 in AA Region 8. 

"That was as complete of a game as we've played all year," head coach Kenny Dallas said. "At the end of the year, you want to have momentum, I believe in it … part of that is what's the [level] of energy that guys bring [to practice] every day. We had four practices this week that kind of looked like tonight, and if those guys bring that type of energy every day, they're going to be hard to beat." 

Dallas said the high energy at practice, and on Friday nights, was paced by the 11 seniors, who were honored pregame for their contributions to the program and HCA. Those seniors are Masen Hardy, Max Steve, Jarvis Mathurin, Tanner Bowen, Grayton Costello, Stroud Morris, Devon Caldwell, Anthony Ponzio, Jack Mostiler, Morgan Jordan Jr. and Fletcher Turk. 

"It's a special group of boys," Dallas said of his seniors. "Everything rises and falls on your senior class, and I'm a big believer … that the best players gotta give the best effort, and everything is right on a team, so that kind of comes down to your seniors, and I think they've done a tremendous job leading us with effort in practice, being very vocal, having great body language – all those little things that go a long way." 

Hebron didn't draw first blood until just under three minutes remained in the first quarter, but that deep touchdown connection between quarterback Costello and Mathurin got the ball rolling. 

Mathurin got the initial score, which started a 131-yard, two touchdown night for the Georgia Southern commit, but Caldwell scored the next four, powered by 150 yards on the ground and 33 yards-receiving. 

Three of the Mercer commit's scores, in fact, were on the ground, the longest being a 56-yard scamper. He also snagged a touchdown catch from junior quarterback Jordan Greene. 

Steve added 69 yards-receiving on three catches, backing the 75-yard performance a week ago. Freshman wide out Austen Kitchings added four catches for 21 yards, while Hardy had two catches for 18 yards. 

Costello got the start under center, slinging for 153 yards on eight completions with two touchdowns, while rushing for 26 on two carries. Greene came in to relieve the senior, completing six of eight passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. 

Fellow junior gunslinger Michael Kyles Jr.  also earned a couple of reps, completing all three of his passes for 22 yards. 

Overall, it was a near 500-yard night for the Lions, as they amounted 472 yards on offense, allowing just 44 total yards on defense. 

Steve led the way with nine tackles, three for a loss. Junior linebacker Albert Wilham had seven, Bowen had six, while Mostiler, Morris and Beau Bennett each had five tackles in the defensive effort. Morris, Bennett and Fred Moses Jr. each had a tackle-for-loss as well. 

Hebron has just one game left in the regular season, that being against that team up the road in Bogart, Ga., Prince Avenue, which was the victor in this meeting a year ago. The Lions ultimately returned the favor in the state championship, but want to settle things in next week's game on Friday, Oct. 31, which will be the region championship. 

The Wolverines (7-2)  took a surprising loss to Hart County a few weeks ago, but have since been on a roll, winning three in a row, and eyeing another region title. 

"It's always exciting when you play the last game of the year against a school rival, and it's for something [region title] on the line," Dallas said. "Our kids, they're super excited about [playing Prince Avenue]. There's certain games that don't have to add a lot of emotion to it for kids to be excited about it. They've earned the right to play a big game next Friday night."