Carver closes regular season with 35-6 victory over Hardaway

The Carver Tigers, having already wrapped up the Region 1-AAAAA championship the week before, cruised to a 35-6 win over Hardaway on Thursday night in the last game at the helm for Hawks head coach Jeff Battles.

It took a while for Carver to find the cruise control button, however.

On the opening kickoff of the game, Hardaway recovered a perfectly placed kick over the heads of the front linemen and in front of the Carver receivers. However, the Hawks couldn't take advantage as they had three straight negative yardage plays from scrimmage and an illegal procedure penalty to boot.

The Tigers took the ball and managed to find the end zone on their first drive as Jawon Pass floated a swing pass to Darius Love that turned into a 40-yard touchdown. The ensuing point after attempt was no good, giving the Tigers a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

At one point early in the second quarter, Pass was 1 of 9 passing, but he and the Carver offense managed to find a rhythm later in the quarter while at the same time stymieing the Hardaway offense. The defense held the Hawks to just 10 first-quarter yards and just 34 overall in the first half.

"We didn't execute well. We came out a little flat. Coach Battles had his team ready to play, and they did a good job fighting," Carver coach Joe Kegler said.

Cameron Jessie gave the Tigers a two touchdown lead with a 24-yard scamper late in the quarter and a successful Pass run for two, and Pass found Juvantae Martin for a 17-yard reception with just three seconds left in the first half to send Carver to the locker room up 21-0.

After both teams exchanged a three and out on offense in the third quarter, Us Beasley took a Hardaway punt 35 yards into the end zone for a 28-0 lead, ending the night for Pass and many of the Carver starters. Pass would finish 4 of 15 passing on the night for 75 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Carver rushing attack stole the show in the first three quarters, finishing with a total of 225 yards in the contest.

Seventy-six of those yards came on one play from Love as his touchdown with 23 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Tigers a 35-0 lead. Love finished with 159 yards of total offense with 119 on the ground with a touchdown and the 40-yard first quarter touchdown reception.

"It's always good to be able to take the starters out," Kegler said. "That means you're doing something right.

"We got them out, so they wouldn't get nicked up, and they're pretty healthy and ready to go for the playoff run."

The Hawks would find the end zone once in the fourth quarter on a Marco Lee 11-yard scamper, but the ensuing two-point play failed, providing the final score of the game. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock per Georgia High School Association rule with a team leading by 30 or more points.

Battles acknowledged the never quit attitude of his team with the late score.

"That's the one thing I'm proud of this season. Even through a tough season, they go hard every day and they're not going to lay down when it gets tough," said Battles.

After the final buzzer of his final game as the Hawks' head football coach, Battles had a chance to reflect on his eight-year career at Hardaway.

"When I came in, my goal was to make these guys better young men for when they entered the real world after high school," he said. "I think over my career here, I've helped several guys. I think the stamp (I put) here is teaching them hard work and that you may not see immediate results, but down the line, you're going to see it and it's going to pay off."

Whoever takes the helm of the Hawks next season will not find a bare cupboard in the eyes of Battles.

"Offensively, we get every skill player back," he said.

"That's a big thing. We started a freshman center tonight, and he held his own. The next coach is going to inherit some good hard-working men who will show up, fight, and do the things he asks them to."

The two teams finished the regular season with polar opposite records. Carver finished the year 9-1 with a spotless 6-0 region record, while Hardaway completed the season 1-9 and a winless 0-6 in the region.

While Hardaway's season comes to a close, the second season begins for Carver as they play a yet to be determined opponent in the first round of the GHSA playoffs on Nov. 13 at Memorial Stadium.

"We've gotta get better every day in practice and see what happens next Friday night," Kegler said.Thursday at Kinnett StadiumHardaway 0 0 0 6 --6

Carver 6 15 14 0--35First Quarter

C--Darius Love 40 pass from Jawon Pass (kick failed), 6:23Second QuarterC--Cameron Jessie 24 run (Pass run), 3:57

C--Javontay Martin 17 pass from Pass (Christian Hernandez kick), 0:03Third QuarterC--Us Beasley 35 punt return (Hernandez kick), 6:45

C--Love 76 run (Jairo Moreno-Fraile kick), 0:23Fourth QuarterH--Marco Lee 11 run (run failed), 2:32

Team records: Hardaway 1-9, 0-6 Region 1-AAAAA. Carver 9-1, 6-0. Next: Hardaway, season over. Carver, Nov. 13, at Memorial, vs. TBD, 7:30 p.m., first round of GHSA state playoffs

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 10:49 PM with the headline "Carver closes regular season with 35-6 victory over Hardaway ."