CARTERSVILLE — Trevor Lawrence showed why he is worth all the hype.
The nation's top junior recruit and Georgia-commit, Lawrence tossed seven touchdown passes, including four in a 35-point first quarter, to lead Cartersville to a 77-14 win over Chestatee Friday in the opening round of the Class AAAA state playoffs.
He was 13-of-17 for 260 yards for the game for the Hurricanes (11-0), all before halftime. He had three touchdown passes in a 1:08 span as the Hurricanes led 21-0 less than four minutes into the game.
Chestatee (4-7) was poised to cut into the lead midway through the first quarter but Cartersville intercepted Storm Yarbrough and returned it 95-yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead. The War Eagles finally did break through getting a 10-yard touchdown pass from Yarbrough to Reggie James with 1:21 left in the first quarter to trim the lead to 28-7.
But the Hurricanes scored moments later on a 76-yard TD pass by Lawrence, who added three more touchdown passes in the second quarter.
The War Eagles' Nick Lyles, who came in among the state's leading rushers, was held to just 60 yards on 23 carries. Baylee Camp, who was in the top 15 receivers in the state, had just 4 catches for 56 yards. Yarbrough finished 14-of-29 for 138 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Chestatee's other score came in the third quarter off a blocked punt.
Chestatee was making its first playoff appearance in three seasons. The War Eagles had a remarkable turnaround after going 0-10 in 2015 and winning just one game in 2014.
