It was a strong start to the football season for schools inside Bartow County Friday night, as all four began their 2026 campaigns 1-0.
The Woodland Wildcats defeated the Pope Greyhounds 28-10. Pope struck first in the second quarter with a field goal to grab an early lead. Woodland then scored 28-straight points before Pope added a late touchdown to cap off the victory.
The Adairsville Tigers won a hard-fought game against the Sonoraville Phoenix 13-0. Adairsville scored all of its points in the first half. A 10-play, 80 yard drive late in the first quarter was capped with a 20-yard touchdown pass. Jake Barszcz recovered a fumble on a Sonoraville drive in the second quarter. The Tigers converted the turnover into points with a 2-yard rushing score.
The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes defeated the Hiram Hornets 48-0. The Canes scored all of their points in the opening half. Tyon Coe got the scoring started with a short, rushing touchdown. Cole Crawford hauled in a touchdown pass from Harris Turner while CJ McClendon added a rushing score of his own. Turner threw two more touchdowns to Maddox Davis and Kaiden Kent to give him three, passing touchdowns on the day. Brayden Doss added two, rushing touchdowns to cap the Canes scoring.
The Cass Colonels thumped the Flowery Branch Falcons 46-27 to complete the county’s sweep. The Falcons duo of QB Rex Greene and WR Tyler Robinson combined for four, touchdown connections. Cass had its own threat as Kalil Charles scored four, rushing touchdowns. QB Noah Rogers found Jahlil Abdullah-Kortey for a touchdown pass, while Kalel Charles added a score of his own. Cass trailed 7-0 early and 20-19 in the second quarter. However, the Colonels scored a touchdown before the half and never looked back. The only blemish for Cass was that the special teams unit missed four PATs. The offense proved potent and the defense forced multiple turnovers in a sloppy game that the Colonels found a way to dominate.