PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Pelham makes history in victory over Thomasville

THOMASVILLE — History was made in Pelham Friday night and Thomasville was on the very wrong side of it.

For the first time in 21 meetings spanning 93 years, the Pelham Hornets defeated neighbor Thomasville, 20-13, behind quarterback James Fackler’s 183 total yards.

The Bulldogs (1-5, 1-2 Region 1-AA) had a chance to complete a comeback after falling behind 12-0 at the half to their old offensive coordinator and first-year Pelham coach, Dondrial Pinkins.

Trailing by a touchdown, quarterback JT Rice hit Ford Faulk with a 16-yard pass that put the Dogs in the red zone with seven minutes left in the game. He followed it with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Holton to trail 20-13.

They had a chance to drive down the field from their own 27 to take a shot at the tie with four minutes left after forcing a three-and-out. But a holding penalty and back-to-back false starts put them in a hole that this time they couldn’t recover from.

Pelham (4-2, 1-1 Region 1-AA) totaled 296 yards of offense, only 69 yards more than Thomasville, but the Bulldogs missed tackles and let opportunities slip away. They began the fourth quarter three yards away from scoring, yet turned the ball over on downs. A pass to an open receiver at the goal line missed and the Hornets stopped Sapp on the fourth down try.

Sapp rushed for 129 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown.

The Bulldog defense held firm on Pelham’s opening second half possession and forced a fourth-and-12 near midfield. The snap flew over Fackler’s head and he tried to chase it to pick it up, but it kept escaping him all the way down to the 5-yard line. Sapp rushed left to the outside for the score.

Fackler got his team started early with a 55-yard run up that middle past all 11 Bulldogs on the Hornets’ first possession of the game after a Bulldog three-and-out. It set the Hornets up at the 5-yard line and Javoris Williams scored his first of two short-yardage touchdowns. The extra point was no good.

He scored on a 4-yard run on the next possession after the Bulldogs again failed to get a first down. Williams had seven carries for 26 yards and Kobe Russell had 10 carries for 83 yards.

Fackler connected with Cassius Allen immediately after Sapp scored for a 45-yard touchdown pass that came on a fourth-and-5. The senior was 11-for-19 for 125 yards with the touchdown and an interception in the end zone that ended the first half.

DEERFIELD-WINDSOR 34, SOUTHLAND 13: Deerfield-Windsor sprinted out to a 34-point advantage and thumped Southland.

The Knights (6-2, 4-0 GISA Region 3-AAA) won their fourth straight and kept Southland (1-6, 0-3) winless in region play.

Deerfield-Windsor quarterback Tyler Lowe threw two touchdown passes — one to Charles Crosby and another to John Jacobs — and ran for another. Cameron McCook and Garrett Jones added rushing touchdowns as the Knights built a comfortable lead early.

“We played with a lot of energy and got off to a good start,” DWS coach Allen Lowe said. “We mixed up our offense by running and throwing and the defense played very well too.”

COVENANT 41, SHERWOOD CHRISTIAN 0: Sherwood Christian fell to 0-7 and 0-3 in GICAA play following a shutout loss against Covenant. The game was played at Mercer University.

RANDOLPH-CLAY 30, CALHOUN COUNTY 0: Randolph-Clay kept Calhoun County winless on the season. The Cougars (0-7, 0-2 Region 1-A) are idle next week.