Evans defeated Grovetown 42-15 at home Friday in the region opener for both teams. The Knights dominated every facet of the game as its offense racked up 339 total yards and scored touchdowns six of the seven times it possessed the football.
Every time Evans scored, sophomore kicking dynamo, Tyler Wallace followed with a successful extra point and then a touchback on the ensuing kickoff on five of his six opportunities.
Evans used a balanced attack that saw four different players reach the end zone. Senior running back Malachi Hardin rushed for two touchdowns and caught a short touchdown pass from quarterback DJ Walton.
Walton completed 9 of 17 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns in the game. He also ran for 33 yards and a touchdown.
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Walton’s other touchdown pass went to Jermichael Ambrose on a 21-yard jump ball that Ambrose caught in the corner of the end zone to put the Knights ahead 35-7 in the middle of the third quarter.
The final touchdown of the game was scored midway through the fourth quarter by Rayshaun King, who led the team in rushing with 75 yards on 7 carries.
King broke a 60-yard run with 2:52 left in the second quarter that set up Hardin’s second touchdown of the game less than a minute later, interrupting a brief bit of momentum gained by Grovetown when Joseph Jean scored on a 12-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 14-7 with just under three minutes remaining in the first half.
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When Hardin found the end zone after a short screen pass to give Evans a 21-7 lead with 1:17 left in the second quarter, Grovetown could find optimism in the idea that they would receive the third quarter kickoff. But Wallace surprised the Warriors by gently kicking the ball barely 10 yards and falling on it himself to give Evans the ball at mid field. After a 15-yard penalty on the Grovetown sideline and 4 plays from Evans offense, the Knights had taken a 28-7 lead after Hardin scored from 3 yards out.
The only other bright spot in the game for the Warriors came early in the fourth quarter when Jean scored on a 3-yard touchdown completion from Amare Clark to cap a 17-play, 85-yard drive that ate up 7 minutes of game clock.
Chad Cook has covered sports for several years under AugBball. Follow him on Instagram @AugBBall
