Hapeville leans on QB3 Zion Crawford to defeat Carver for region title

The Hapeville Hornets found themselves in a familiar place as they hosted the Carver Atlanta Panthers for rights to the Georgia High School Association Class 2A Region 5 title and number one seed heading into the state championship tournament, however unfortunately for the Hornets they entered the night with cornerback, Zion Crawford under center.

And while it would take Crawford and the Hornets offense some time to get going, the Hapeville defense looked to set the tone early as they would come up with two interceptions in the first quarter, including one on the first play of the game as Zach Smith would pick off Carver quarterback Montavious Banks.

As the opening period continued and both defenses held steady majority of the first quarter, the Hornets would gain some momentum late in the quarter, which would carry over into the second quarter as Crawford would throw his first touchdown of the night, to Kaleb Jackson helping Hapeville take a 7-0 lead.

But the Panthers would respond on the ensuing kickoff as Terrious Favors would return the ball for a touchdown. The Panthers would fail on the two-point conversion and trailed the Hornets 7-6. With momentum seemingly in favor of Carver, the Panthers would strike again in the third quarter as Latavious Stepp Jr. would give them a 12-7 lead after a 12-yard rushing touchdown.

In the fourth quarter both defenses would come up with back to back key plays that appeared to shift momentum back in favor of the Hornets. Having driven down field to the Carver one-yard line, the Panthers' defense would stop the Hornets on a fourth and goal play, setting them selves up with a first and ten at their own one-yard line. But on the first play of the drive, the Hornets' defense would force a safety to cut into the Panthers lead as they trailed 12-9.

The two teams would then exchange a pair of punts, but it would be the Hornets capitalizing as Crawford would connect with Jah'nai Weaver for his second touchdown of the night, allowing Hapeville to regain the lead as they would go up 15-12 after the extra point.

And it would be the Hornets' defense forcing a fumble and recovery on the ensuing Carver possession, then after punting the ball back to the Panthers, Hapeville would once again stop the Panthers drive after batting down a Banks fourth down pass to seal the game.

"I'm happy for the kids," Hapeville head coach, Winston Gordon said after their win on Friday as he praised his players for how much they "fought" this season and in previous seasons and in particularly spoke highly of Crawford for being able to step in and fill the void at quarterback.

"Well you know, Zion is a champion, so he just stepped into the play," Gordon said, crediting Crawford and his teammates for "doing everything we ask them to do and that's why they're champions," Gordon said. Hapeville will host Shaw in the opening round of the playoffs next Friday.