No. 50 Rome tops No. 57 Marietta in Georgia Showdown

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In a game that started Thursday night and ended early Friday morning, two-time defending Georgia state champ Rome defeated Marietta 51-41 in a battle between two teams in the Preseason 100. Rome, which extended its win streak to 28 straight, entered the game ranked No. 50, while Marietta checked-in at No. 57.

The game was the second part of a doubleheader for the season-opening Corky Kell Classic and didn’t start until a little after 9 P.M. Eastern Time. Because of plenty of points, passing and penalties, the game ended just before 1 A.M.

Related: Georgia Preseason Top 25

With two of the state’s top quarterbacks at the helm, this had all the makings of a high-scoring affair and Rome’s Knox Kadum and Marietta’s Harrison Bailey didn’t disappoint.

Knox was 13-of-19 for 218 yards with three touchdowns, while Bailey, ranked the No. 54 overall college football prospect in the Class of 2020 in the 247Sports composite rankings, was 36 of 51 with 443 yards and six touchdowns.

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Marietta scored on its first drive to take a 7-0 nothing lead, but then Rome reeled-off 21 unanswered points.

Kadum’s passing was balanced with a great performance by Jamious Griffin, a NC State recruit, who ran for 162 yards and three scores. Griffin also caught a touchdown pass.

Tennessee recruit Ramel Keyton caught 14 of Bailey passes for 191 yards and four touchdowns, while 5-star recruit Arik Gilbert also had 14 grabs for 170 yards and a score.

Rome will be idle next week, while Marietta will play nationally-ranked Good Counsel from Maryland. The Falcons are ranked No. 7 in our Preseason 100.

The first in-season, High School Football America 100 will be released Sunday.

*All of our football highlights are shot on my iPhone 8.

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.