It took a couple of series before the Cherokee offense began clicking, but once quarterback AJ Swann and Company got rolling, there was no stopping the Warriors in a 52-6 win over Mays in the Corky Kell Classic at West Forsyth High School Wednesday night.
Swann, a Maryland-recruit, tossed four touchdown passes to three different receivers in the first half. He completed 14-of-18 for 247 yards.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the 1st quarter on a Joel Stahl 29-yard field, Swann hooked-up with Caleb Richardson on a 40-yard touchdown that gave the Warriors a 10-0 lead with 10:54 to go in the half.
Defensive end Toby Thompson, who has given his verbal commitment to Army, made it 17-0 when he converted a Mays’ fumble into a score.
After Mays cut the lead to 17-6, Swann connected with Aidan Moore on the first of two touchdowns to extend the lead to 31-6.
Swann’s final touchdown was a 15-yard strike to Utah-recruit Adarrius Harshaw to give the Warriors a 38-6 halftime lead. Harshaw led the team with four catches for 41 yards.
Junior running back Zi Johnson had a solid game with 35 yards rushing and two catches for 47 yards.
Defensively, linebacker Tyler Goddard led the way with six tackles, five unassisted. Defensive lineman Morgan Cox and linebacker Kyan Simmons had five tackles each.
Head coach Josh Shaw was able to get his backups valuable time in the second half.
High School Football America Podcast with Josh Shaw
During the podcast talked about Harhaw’s athletic back-flip to bring his teammates onto the field. Check it out below.
| Score by Quarters | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score |
| Mays | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Cherokee | 3 | 35 | 14 | 0 | 52 |
Scoring Summary
| 1st | 05:48 | CHEROKEE | Joel Stahl 29 yd field goal | |
| 4 plays, 2 yards, TOP 1:15 | 0 – 3 | |||
| 2nd | 10:54 | CHEROKEE | C. Richardson 40 yd pass from AJ Swann (Joel Stahl kick) | |
| 2 plays, 31 yards, TOP 0:52 | 0 – 10 | |||
| 09:29 | CHEROKEE | Toby Thompson 5 yd fumble recovery (Joel Stahl kick) | ||
| 0 – 17 | ||||
| 07:01 | MAYS | Saulamon Evans 17 yd pass from Q. Johnson (Q. Johnson rush failed) | ||
| 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:28 | 6 – 17 | |||
| 05:35 | CHEROKEE | Aidan Moore 36 yd pass from AJ Swann (Joel Stahl kick) | ||
| 5 plays, 70 yards, TOP 1:18 | 6 – 24 | |||
| 03:32 | CHEROKEE | Aidan Moore 24 yd pass from AJ Swann (Joel Stahl kick) | ||
| 2 plays, 38 yards, TOP 0:29 | 6 – 31 | |||
| 02:30 | CHEROKEE | A. Harshaw 15 yd pass from AJ Swann (Joel Stahl kick) | ||
| 1 play, 15 yards, TOP 0:07 | 6 – 38 | |||
| 3rd | 06:30 | CHEROKEE | Zi Johnson 2 yd run (Joel Stahl kick) | |
| 9 plays, 71 yards, TOP 3:31 | 6 – 45 | |||
| 02:31 | CHEROKEE | Pops Jameson 26 yd pass from Aidan Moore (Joel Stahl kick) | ||
| 2 plays, 20 yards, TOP 0:49 | 6 – 52 |
Team Statistics (Final)
2021 Corky Kell Classic
Mays vs Cherokee (08/18/2021 at West Forsyth)
| Team Totals | MAYS | CHEROKEE |
| FIRST DOWNS | 13 | 15 |
| Rushing | 6 | 2 |
| Passing | 5 | 12 |
| Penalty | 2 | 1 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 15 | 55 |
| Rushing Attempts | 30 | 22 |
| Average Per Rush | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 0 | 1 |
| Yards Gained Rushing | 115 | 64 |
| Yards Lost Rushing | 100 | 9 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 170 | 288 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 12-31-1 | 16-22-1 |
| Average Per Attempt | 5.5 | 13.1 |
| Average Per Completion | 14.2 | 18.0 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 1 | 5 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS | 185 | 343 |
| Total offense plays | 61 | 44 |
| Average Gain Per Play | 3.0 | 7.8 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 5-2 | 1-1 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 11-87 | 11-105 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 6-145 | 3-79 |
| Average Yards Per Punt | 24.2 | 26.3 |
| Net Yards Per Punt | 13.7 | 22.0 |
| Inside 20 | 0 | 1 |
| 50+ Yards | 0 | 1 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Fair catch | 1 | 0 |
| KICKOFFS-YARDS | 2-80 | 9-510 |
| Average Yards Per Kickoff | 40.0 | 56.7 |
| Net Yards Per Kickoff | 26.5 | 38.9 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 8 |
| Fair Catch Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD | 1-13-0 | 4-63-0 |
| Average Per Return | 13.0 | 15.8 |
| Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD | 0-0-0 | 2-27-0 |
| Average Per Return | 0.0 | 13.5 |
| Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD | 1-0-0 | 1-4-0 |
| Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD | 1-27-0 | 2-13-1 |
| Miscellaneous Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Possession Time | 26:50 | 21:10 |
| 1st Quarter | 6:21 | 5:39 |
| 2nd Quarter | 7:55 | 4:05 |
| 3rd Quarter | 5:52 | 6:08 |
| 4th Quarter | 6:42 | 5:18 |
| Third-Down Conversions | 4 of 15 | 4 of 9 |
| Fourth-Down Conversions | 0 of 4 | 0 of 0 |
| Red-Zone Scores-Chances | 1-3 | 3-3 |
| Touchdowns | 1-3 | 2-3 |
| Field goals | 0-3 | 1-3 |
| Sacks By: Number-Yards | 1-3 | 2-10 |
| PAT Kicks | 0-0 | 7-7 |
| Field Goals | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Points off turnovers | 0 | 14 |
Individual Statistics (Final)
2021 Corky Kell Classic
Mays vs Cherokee (08/18/2021 at West Forsyth)
| FUMBLES: Mays-TEAM 5-2. Cherokee-TEAM 1-1. |
RUSHING: Mays-Q. Johnson 11-67; Triston Morgan 8-17; Saulamon Evans 4-10; Jalen Campbell 1-3; Jamel Thompson 1-minus 12; TEAM 5-minus 70. Cherokee-Zi Johnson 8-35; Larry Dasher 4-12; Tre Walton 2-7; D. Jordan 4-3; TEAM 1-2; AJ Swann 2-0; Morgan Cox 1-minus 4. PASSING: Mays-Q. Johnson 11-27-1-162; Saulamon Evans 1-4-0-8. Cherokee-AJ Swann 14-18-1-247; Aidan Moore 2-4-0-41. RECEIVING: Mays-Nicolas King 5-53; Saulamon Evans 3-60; Travis Terrell 1-49; Devyon Clark 1-10; J. Carroll 1-2; J. Alexander 1-minus 4. Cherokee-A. Harshaw 4-41; Aidan Moore 3-71; Zi Johnson 2-47; Pops Jameson 2-33; C. Richardson 1-40; Toby Thompson 1-17; Conor Gilleland 1-15; Adam Fullen 1-14; Joel Stahl 1-10. INTERCEPTIONS: Mays-Travis Terrell 1-0. Cherokee-Jayce Jones 1-4.
