In the first round of the AAAA State Playoffs, the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes trounced the White County Warriors by a score of 54-0 on Friday night. Cartersville entered the game as a 1-seed, while White County entered as a 3-seed. The Cartersville defense opened up the scoring in the first quarter, after White County had a safety on a botched punt inside their own territory. On the ensuing Cartersville possession, the Canes tacked on three-more points by a Jonathan Cruz field goal. Following a White County punt, Kalin Heath, a Kansas State commit, scored the first of his four touchdowns on the evening; a 65-yard touchdown run. Heath scored the next two touchdowns for the Canes, both 4-yard runs. One of the most exciting plays happened when Malik Mitchell ran 93-yards on a pitch from Trevor Lawrence, which brought the Cartersville lead to 40-0. Heath scored once more and Trey Creamer added a rushing touchdown to give the Canes a 54-0 final for their opening round victory.
The Canes defense continued their outstanding work in the 2014 season, despite missing one of their star players, Tyler Reed, to injury. The first string defense has not allowed a touchdown since a 52-27 victory of Gilmer on September 26th.
Next week Cartersville will host Baldwin, who beat Worth County 17-7 on Friday night. Baldwin is a 3-seed in the playoffs and boasts a Mississippi State commit at running back, Kentavious Thomas.