Roswell Throttles Lassiter; Sets Sights On Walton

By Mike Blum

ROSWELL, GA — Roswell did not get caught looking ahead to its upcoming showdown with Walton, as the Hornets rolled to a 56-13 victory at home Friday against an outmatched Lassiter team. The Hornets will play Oct. 19 at Walton, ranked second in the state in Class AAAAAAA, with the winner almost certain to capture the Region 7 championship. Both teams are 2-0 in region play with Walton 7-0 overall and the Hornets 6-1.

Lassiter gave Walton a game last week, rallying from a 31-0 deficit before losing 38-24. The Hornets on Friday, however, immediately took control of the game, scoring in the first 25 seconds, and led 35-0 midway through the second quarter.

After the Trojans scored in the closing seconds of the first half to close within 35-6, the Hornets expanded their lead on an interception return for a touchdown, and tacked on two more touchdowns by backup running backs before Lassiter scored a meaningless last minute touchdown on a fumble return. Last week, the Hornets blew open their game against Cherokee with four touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and did their damage early against Lassiter with three scores in the opening period.

“Some games we start fast and sometimes we come on at the end,” Roswell coach Matt Kemper said. “We need to put four quarters together against Walton.”

The Hornets have not faced a team as potent as Walton, which sports an array of talent including one of
the state’s top prospects in wide receiver/defensive back Dominick Blaylock. None of the Raiders’ opponents have slowed them down offensively, and Kemper hopes his team can match Walton on the scoreboard.

“They’re a little inexperienced on defense,” the coach observed. “But their offense is so explosive.”

Roswell put on an explosive offensive display Friday night, but it came at the expense of a 1-6 Lassiter team that has struggled defensively against a rugged schedule. Until the late stages of the game when the Hornets went deep into their roster of reserves, Roswell was averaging more than 10 yards per play, and scored seven offensive touchdowns on eight possessions despite running just one play the entire game from inside the Lassiter 20.

The Hornets scored on plays of 78, 15, 40, 21, 33, 23 and 37 yards, with Khaleed Mobley returning an interception for 25 yards and a score early in the fourth period, Roswell’s fourth defensive touchdown in
the last two games. After a penalty on the game’s first play from scrimmage, Roswell’s Kamonty Jett broke loose for 78 yards and a score with just 25 seconds elapsed. Jett carried 14 times for 124 yards.

The Hornets made it 14-0 on a 15-yard run by quarterback Ethan Roberts, capping their only sustained
drove of the game (11 plays, 71 yards). Roberts’ scoring run was the only play the Roswell offense ran
from inside the Lassiter 20.

Roswell’s next three scores came on passes of 40, 21 and 33 yards from Roberts to Jacob Jarrett. Roberts attempted only three other passes in the game, finishing 4 of 6 for 99 yards. He has passed for 15 touchdowns this season, at least two in six of Roswell’s seven games. The Hornets scored on all five of their first half possessions to take a 35-0 lead, and at that point had allowed just 20 yards of offense by the Trojans, with both their first downs coming on penalties. With the aid of 35 yards in penalties against the Hornets, Lassiter scored with 14 seconds on the clock to make it 35-6 at the half.

The Trojans drove to the Roswell 25 to start the second half, but were stopped on downs. Roswell punted for the only time all night after its first possession of the third quarter, but the defense put points on the scoreboard with Mobley’s interception. The Hornets closed out their scoring on runs of 23 yards by Jeremy Slaughter and 37 yards by Savion McCrary, amassing 234 yards on 27 attempts prior to their final series.

The Roswell defense limited the Trojans to 109 yards total offense, 58 on the ground and 51 through the
air. Roswell and Walton are the only unbeaten teams in 4-AAAAAAA, with Cherokee the lone team with one
region loss. Roswell defeated Cherokee 48-21 last week and is in strong position to finish second in the region and earn a first round state playoff game at home, even if with a loss to Walton.

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