GAINESVILLE — Habersham Central faced two questions key questions on Friday.
How would the Raiders respond to their first loss of the season -- and how would they fare against another high-powered offense considering standout running back Michael Babers is still nusring an injury?
The answers: Just fine, thank you.
Habersham Central scored 20 first quarter points and then took advantage of five Chestatee turnovers to seal a 40-14 victory in Gainesville.
Babers played, rushing just five times for 10 yards and catching two passes for 20 yards, but the Raiders (4-1) showed they have plenty more playmakers, including quarterback Cole Wilbanks and receiver Jake Jones. Wilbanks completed 14 of 24 passes for 313 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Jones -- his only two receptions of the night, finishing with 128 yards. Trey Hurt also caught two passes, both scores as well, finishing with 53 yards.
Karl Fail also hauled in a scoring pass -- this one from Bryce Tanner, who entered the game as a "wildcat" quarterback and lofted a five-yard scoring pass to Fail to make it 20-6 in the first quarter. At that point the game resembled a track meet, yet both defenses took control in the second quarter, and Habersham entered the locker room wth the same lead intact.
Chestatee clawed its way closer in the third quarter, as Nick Lyles broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown run to pull within 20-12 (a 2-point conversion attempt failed).
It proved the high point for the Chestatee offense, however, as the War Eagles (3-3) became their own worst enemy in the second half, turning the ball over five times to stunt any offensive momentum.
Habersham was far from finished, however, as Hurt and Jones each caught touchdown passes in the second half. Brett Moore also added a 51-yard touchdown run to round out the Raiders scoring, as they rolled their way to 513 total yards.
Chestatee put up 318 yards, including 145 yards rushing for Lyles and 50 yards rushing for quarterback Storm Yarbrough. But the turnovers and a 1 of 11 conversion rate on third down proved too much to overcome.
The War Eagles will take a week off before plunging into Region 7-AAAA play on Oct. 7.
Habersham will also take a bye next week before beginning Region 8-AAAAAA play at Gainesville on Oct. 7.
