Savannah football roundup: How blue chip recruits from Calvary excelled in dominating win

Here's a roundup of high school football action in Week 10 of play in the Greater Savannah area.

How Benedictine set up run for region title with win over top-10 Wayne County: How Benedictine set itself up to claim region title with impressive win over Wayne County

Final results: Follow the live action of Week 10 Savannah area high school football here

Schedule highlights: Four games to watch in Week 10 of the high school football season in Greater Savannah area

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Calvary Day 56, Savannah Country Day 13

The undefeated Cavaliers cruised to a victory over visiting crosstown rival Savannah Country Day in a Region 3-3A matchup behind big-time performances from several big-time college recruits.

Jake Merklinger, a four-star junior quarterback, threw for five touchdowns as the Cavs improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in region play.

Merklinger hooked up with another four-star prospect in his classmate, tight end Michael Smith, for three scoring passes.

Sophomore Doopah Coleman, who added an offer from South Carolina to his ever-growing list of Power 5 offers, had a touchdown catch and a scoring run for Calvary Day.

A.J. Butts had a 33-yard touchdown run and Chase Lucas scored a touchdown late for Calvary, which is set to host Long County next week. Calvary is ranked No. 2 among Class 3A schools in the state by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Johnson 40, Groves 6

The Atom Smashers dominated as they continue in their run to reach the playoffs for the third year in a row for the first time in school history.

Amarion Scott and Jaquay Foster had two rushing touchdowns each for Johnson, and Samari Dowdy and Malachi Bacon added scoring runs for the Atom Smashers (5-3, 3-2) who are on the road to face Savannah Country Day on Friday.

Savannah Christian 49, Beach 7

The Raiders cruised to a Region 3-3A win at Pooler Stadium and improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in region play.

Senior quarterback Paulus Zittrauer was 10-of-17 passing for 164 yards with a rushing score and a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Penrose, who also had a 7-yard scoring run.

Sophomore Zo Smalls had a pair of touchdown runs and Jayden Hester had a 6-yard scoring run, and added a second touchdown when he recovered a blocked punt for a score.

Junior David Bucey had three catches for 70 yards for the Raiders, who play at Groves on Friday.

Demetrius Holloway, the freshman quarterback for Beach, threw for more than 100 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Lovett, who had 90 yards receiving on the night.

Dakari Smith, also a freshman, had six tackles, including two for losses and 1.5 sacks for Beach (1-7, 1-4), which is set to play at Liberty County on Friday.

Liberty County 33, Long County 32

Sophomore kicker Trey Aiello connected on a 22-yard field goal with 10 seconds left for the winning margin as Liberty County won a critical Region 3-3A road game.

The Panthers improved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in region, sliding into the No. 4 slot in the region standings with two games left in the season. Long County is also 5-3 overall and 3-2 in region play.

Aiello also had a 32-yard field goal earlier in the game.

Senior running back Paul Brown had three rushing touchdowns, including one from 55 yards out, as he rushed for more than 150 yards, coach Tony Glazer said.

Junior quarterback Carlos Singleton had a 48-yard touchdown run for Liberty County, and senior defensive end Demarai Booker had several key tackles for losses.

Liberty County hosts Beach next week before closing out the regular season on the road against Savannah Christian.

Pinewood Christian 30, St. Andrew's 26

St. Andrew's gave host Pinewood Christian a great battle, but the Lions saw their four-game win streak come to an end in a GIAA Region 2-3A/4A matchup.

Zyere Edwards, Conner Cullen and Zayden Edwards all had short scoring runs for the Lions, who also got a short touchdown run from Hayward Pollard, a 280-pound junior lineman. Gordon Standing converted both of his extra-point tries, and the Lions nearly recovered an onside kick with 1:56 left.

Sophomore Zayden Edwards was 14-of-27 passing for 208 yards, and had 91 yards rushing with the touchdown. His older brother, senior Zyere Edwards, had 90 yards rushing with the touchdown and 56 yards receiving.

Pinewood Christian's Jake Rogers had an 85-yard kick return for a score and caught a two-point conversion from Banks Booth, who had a big game.

The sophomore quarterback had a pair of touchdown runs and connected with Walker Todd on a 24-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter for the Patriots (5-3, 1-0).

Richaard Williams had an interception for St. Andrew's (4-4, 0-1), which is set to host Bulloch Academy (3-5, 0-1) on Friday.

First quarter

SA—Zayden Edwards 3 run (Gordon Standing kick)

PC—Jake Rogers 85 kick return (Banks Booth run)

PC—Booth 3 run (Walker Todd pass from Booth)

Second quarter

SA—Cullen Conner 9 run (Standing kick)

Third quarter

PC—Booth 1 run (2 pt conversion failed)

Fourth quarter

SA—Hayward Pollard 2 run (2 pt conversion failed)

PC—Walker Todd 24 pass from Booth (Rogers pass from Booth)

SA—Zayden Edwards 3 run (2 pt conversion failed)

Statesboro 41, Bradwell Institute 14

Senior Jordan Lovett ran for 185 yards and three touchdowns for Statesboro in a Region 1-5A win for the Blue Devils, Josh Aubrey of the Statesboro Herald reported.

Junior Elijah Wells also went over 100 yards rushing with a pair of scores for Statesboro, which improved to 3-5 overall and 2-1 in region play.

Bradwell (0-8, 0-3) scored on a long pass from Christopher Garrett to Bryant Thomas in the first half. Marquise Frazier scored on an 8-yard run in the second half for the Tigers.

Other scores

Brunswick 42, South Effingham 3

Pierce County 49, Windsor Forest 14

Screven County 32, Savannah High 0

Thursday night

New Hampstead 48, Islands 7

New Hampstead was coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss on the road last week against Wayne County, but the Phoenix weren't hanging their heads Thursday night as they bounced back to clinch a playoff berth.

The Phoenix went on the road and beat Islands 48-7 in a Region 3-4A matchup that secured at least a No. 4 seed in the GHSA Class 4A playoffs.

New Hampstead quarterback Pauly Seeley, who has committed to play at Wofford, had another impressive performance. The senior completed 21 of 28 passes for 311 yards and five touchdowns.

He connected with junior Malachi Lonnon six times for 149 yards and three scores. It was the second week in a row that the duo scored a hat trick, as they combined for three touchdowns in the loss at Wayne County last week. Seeley also hit freshman tight end Nate Pearson for a 29-yard score and Jaylen Hampton for an 11-yard touchdown.

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Seeley has thrown for 1,469 yards on the season with 22 scoring passes and six interceptions. Lonnon, a transfer from Calvary Day, has been a touchdown-scoring specialist. He has 20 receptions on the year for 435 yards — with 11 going for scores.

"Malachi has worked so hard in the offseason; he's been improving every day since we started playing spring ball," Seeley said. "He's a playmaker, and when the going gets tough, he's a guy you want to get the ball to."

Seeley showed his playmaking ability all night. He scrambled for a 17-yard gain on a fourth-and-two to convert in the second quarter. He showed his mobility once again as he eluded a heavy pass rush and moved up in the pocket before finding Lonnon on a deep crossing pattern for a 74-yard touchdown at the end of the third quarter.

New Hampstead got a touchdown from Amari Bright when pounced on a loose ball in the end zone after a bad snap on a punt in the second quarter. He also had a key fumble recovery after teammate Jordan Sonnabend had a fumble on a runback after picking off a pass.

Islands got its touchdown on a short run by Ja'Mari Sanders that closed the gap to 21-7 at the half. The Sharks got an impressive performance by senior defensive lineman Sha'Ron McGert, who has several tackles for losses, a sack and a fumble recovery.

New Hampstead (6-2, 2-1 in region play) got strong play from its defense -- holding Islands to 50 yards rushing and 108 yards of total offense. The Phoenix close out the regular season at Burke County (6-1, 1-1) next Friday, and then at home against Benedictine (5-2, 2-0) on Thursday, Nov. 3.

Playoff picture: Where Savannah-area high school football teams currently stand in race for state playoffs

Other scores

Coffee 42, Jenkins 7

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Calvary Day's top recruits excelled in win over Savannah Country Day