The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes defeated the Cambridge Bears 37-14 on Friday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the Class-5A GHSA State Playoffs.

Cartersville took an early lead and never looked back. Malachi Jeffries and Paul Gamble scored touchdowns on back-to-back Cartersville possessions to gain a 14-0 advantage. Cambridge was dealt a brutal blow in the game with Kase Adams hit quarterback Preston Clemmer, who left the game and did not return. Adams was hit with a targeting penalty, but stayed in the game. Will Taylor took over at quarterback, but was unable to get much traction against the Cartersville defense. Ben Ridenour scored for Cambridge to make it a one possession game, but that would be as close as the Bears would get.

Cartersville scored on a Gamble to Jeffries screen pass, as each also added an extra rushing touchdown apiece. Braylon Inman, Curtis Ryan, and Romo Pace had interceptions for the Canes, while Ryan Johnson kicked a field goal and was perfect on his PAT attempts.

Cartersville will next host Coffee in the third round of the playoffs next Friday night at 7:30 at Weinman Stadium. You can hear all of the action on WBHF with pregame coverage starting at 6:00 PM.