ROSWELL, Ga. - The Hebron Christian Academy football team earned its third win of the season after defeating Georgia power Blessed Trinity 22-17 last Friday, Sept. 19.
Hebron, which played the visiting spoiler in Friday night's televised contest on the Peachtree Sports Network, ran out to a 15-0 lead in the opening quarter off of two long touchdown runs from senior running back and Mercer commit Devon Caldwell.
The two state contenders, Hebron the defending 2A champ and BT a 4A semi-finalist from last year, traded blows despite the Lions gaining the first edge. The Titans worked their way into a 22-14 deficit late in the fourth quarter. However, the Lion defense had made key stops all evening, and that continued through the final two drives when Blessed Trinity failed to grace the end zone, despite two red zone opportunities.
BT had one final chance to score and take the possible lead, but stalled after the Lions forced a turnover on downs, which was followed with a victory formation for the offense.
"It was just a total team win … offensively, defensively, on special teams, I thought even our kids on the sideline yelling for our dudes, our coaches working together, everything is just so new to us [that] it was just good to be in those situations against a great opponent," head coach Kenny Dallas said. "We're just trying to learn the truth coming out [of non-region play], but man, we learned something about our kids – that they will fight and they will fight hard."
It certainly was a "total team win", and there were plenty of amazing performances that came together to knock off the five-time state champion and 25th-best team in Georgia, but the biggest came from senior safety and Davidson commit Max Steve.
Steve was everywhere on the field, compiling 20 tackles (16 solo), two pass break-ups, two interceptions and even a two-point conversion. His overall effort earned him the Robbie Hunter MVP award from ScoreAtlanta, and the Defensive Player of the Week award from the Gwinnett Daily Post.
"Great players make great plays in big moments. There's one way to get stats, when you kind of run it up on teams that aren't very good, and another when you have a two interception night against a great program," Dallas said. "What's special about Max is his character, he's always there, he's always working hard and he never has a bad day. As much of a great player as he is, and he's an unbelievable impact tackler, it's just his leadership.
Steve's two interceptions gave the Lions plenty of juice back on the offensive side of the ball, and momentum to carry into a win, but earlier in the game, Steve was beaten on defense, allowing a Titan touchdown. However, he did not waste the opportunity to return the favor.
"It comes down to the preparation as a team … we lost to [Blessed Trinity] at our place, and we wanted to take it to them at their place, that pushed us in practice all week," Steve said. "I was just laser focused, came out and did my thing."
Along with the defensive heroics from Steve, senior linebacker Stroud Morris earned himself an interception, which sent the ball back to the Lions right after a fumble recovery for the Titans on a punt, earning him post-game recognition along with Caldwell, who had 150 yards-rushing on 18 carries with two scores. Morris also had five tackles on the night, along with a sack. Junior linebacker Albert Wilham added 10 tackles.
With just under 10 minutes left in the first quarter, Hebron got on the board in its first drive of the game, a 51-yard scamper to the endzone. Caldwell took the handoff from junior quarterback Jordan Green, who play-faked to senior wide receiver and Georgia Southern commit Jarvis Mathurin.
Steve muscled into the end zone for the two-point conversion, putting the Lions ahead 8-0.
After two stalled drives for Hebron and Blessed Trinity, Caldwell returned to the end zone, this score coming off a 75-yard run from Lion territory.
The Titans finally got on the board soon after, to head into the second quarter down 15-7.
It would take a full quarter and half of the third for the fans and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, who was in attendance, to see another score.
The score came from a connection between Greene and freshman Austen Kitchings for about 40 yards and the score. Greene fired a short pass to Kitchings along the Hebron sideline, Kitchings weaved through blockers and defenders to find an open space and green grass all the way to the end zone. With the successful point-after, that score put the Lions ahead 22-7.
The Titans added a touchdown score at the end of the third, and then a field goal on their second-to-last drive of the game, but that wasn't enough to overcome the stout Hebron defense, ending the game.
In the four games that the Lions have played, they have battled above their belt in three, one to the top-50 ranked McCallie (Tenn.), which defeated No. 6 national power Mission Viejo 25-14 last Friday. However, the effort and grit that the Lions have shown has pushed them to a 3-1 record at the end of a grueling non-region slate.
"What these seniors have done with the transition of losing a [head] coach [and] me coming in … I don't think I can say it enough, it doesn't happen unless the leaders choose to buy in and make some things happen. And so, I'm very appreciative to those seniors, and super proud for them," Dallas said. "I really felt like we could be good. I don't know when that's going to happen and I don't know if we're there right now … [beating Blessed Trinity] is a statement win … everybody knows that doesn't happen by accident. These kids have a lot invested in this … I'm just happy for them."
The Lions will finally return home after nearly a month of bye weeks and being on the road, to begin region play with East Jackson this Friday, Sept. 26. The Eagles are 5-0 and rank 10th in 2A, while the Lions sit at the top spot (MaxPreps). Kickoff for the top-10 match up is set for 7:30 p.m. at Burlingame Field.
