The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes (11-0, 7-0) won their opening round of the GHSA Class 4-A Football Playoffs on Friday night with a 48-21 victory over the Pickens Dragons.
Cartersville came out firing in the first half of play, with four passing touchdowns from Trevor Lawrence. Rico Frye added a rushing score and Kaleb Chatman recovered EJ Turner’s fumble in the end zone to account for the sixth first-half score.
Turner had two touchdown receptions, while Jackson Lowe and TJ Horton had one each. With the four touchdown passes, Lawrence extended his state-best career passing scores mark to 160.
In the second half, Pickens scored on a scoop-and-score. Cartersville added more points on a 19-yard touchdown run by Marcus Gary.
Pickens scored twice more against Cartersville’s second-string defense, but by that point, the damage had been done.
Next up for Cartersville is Blessed Trinity, which defeated Oconee County Friday night. Next week’s game will be at Weinman Stadium and can be heard on WBHF with kickoff set for 7:30.