DACULA, Ga. - The touchdowns came in droves at Burlingame Field as Hebron Christian Academy defended home turf against undefeated region foe East Jackson, routing the Eagles 55-7 on Friday, Sept. 26. On the back of seven offensive touchdowns, the No. 1-ranked Lions (3A-A Private) tallied nearly 400 yards of offense against the No. 10 Eagles (2A), while adding nearly a 70-yard scoop-and- score on defense.
Hebron didn't waste any time growing an early lead in their first region contest of the season, hanging 28 unanswered points on East in the very first quarter. From there, the Lions continued to assert their dominance, adding two more scores in the second frame, another in the third and two more for good measure in the fourth.
The Eagles did their best to combat the quick attacks from Hebron, gaining over 200 yards behind Army commit Drew Richardson, but they fell short, taking their first loss of the season.
"You can't conquer others, unless you first conquer yourself, so that's all we're trying to do," head coach Kenny Dallas said. "The big focus for us is we feel [that] we can play offensively, defensively and on special teams, so we want to assert pressure … on every single snap with our tempo, the physicality of defense, but I feel like we [are] pretty strong [on] special teams too."
Dallas made sure to give praise to kicker Lucas Ardeu, who nailed two field goals on Friday night, one being a last second strike before half, with the clock ticking down from 11 seconds.
The urgency was there for the Lions, as each of their eight touchdowns gained at least 23 yards.
"I attribute that to great players who play hard, but the thing is, what we ask our great players to do, we say 'the best players have got to give the best effort in practice', and I think that's what we're getting, and that's what we're seeing on Friday night," Dallas said.
Two of Dallas' "great" players tonight were running back Devon Caldwell (Mercer) and wide receiver Jarvis Mathurin (Georgia Southern). The duo combined for 285 of Hebron's 377 yards, scoring five touchdowns, one which was a kickoff return for a touchdown by Mathurin. Mathurin added 140 return yards to his tape against the Eagles, with two receiving touchdowns. Caldwell had 140 yards on the ground with two scores.
However, those two were fueled by strong quarterback play from quarterbacks Jordan Greene and Gray Costello, who combined for 149 yards-passing and 60 yards-rushing. Greene had two touchdown passes in the win, both to Mathurin.
Greene started the game, after his first-ever varsity start last week against Blessed Trinity. He was relieved by Costello later in the game. Both played well under the lights.
"We've got a great quarterback coach in Michael Davis, our offensive coordinator, and I think he's done a great job with those guys. Adding a little bit of a drop-back game [and] adding a little bit of a progression game is something that these guys haven't done a whole lot of, and so I think Mike is doing a good job, step-by-step [and] growing in that," Dallas said. "I'm so happy for a kid like Jordan … to see him be successful. [And] a kid like Gray who's going into his senior season and gets hurt … to get to see him get back out there, that's special. All of the kids, you could tell, were really yelling for him."
The offense had many opportunities to score, and made the most of them, but many of those chances were enabled by forced turnovers on the other side of the ball. The Lions forced four Eagle turnovers, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries (FR).
Linebacker Beau Bennett had the initial FR, and defensive lineman Fred Moses had the electric scoop-and-score, which was started by a huge tackle from linebacker Stroud Morris. Defensive back (DB) Jai'lil Goley had the first pick, a high-flying grab over an east receiver, saving a red-zone opportunity. Fellow DB Dylan Hudson had the next, who returned the snag over half the length of the field.
The Lions have now forced 18 turnovers on defense this season.
"Danny Mejia [defensive coordinator], and [assistant head/linebacker coach] Terrance Melton, they just do an incredible job with our defense, all of our defensive coaches do," Dallas said. "They stress attacking the ball in practice, and I think you see that. When you give great effort on every single snap, you kind of earn the right to make a big play."
For the first time this season, Hebron will look to defend its home turf in back-to-back games, as the Lions take on Hart County next week at home on Friday, Oct. 3. The Bulldogs (2-4) are reeling after a 31-28 upset win over top-ranked Prince Avenue Christian, and will join the 4-1 Lions on Homecoming.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
