This article originally appeared in the Athens Banner-Herald on November 28, 2014 and can be found here..

OGART | Prince Avenue Christian Academy hosted a Class A quarterfinal playoff game on Friday night against Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy with hopes of advancing to the semifinals for the third time in four seasons but quickly found that their opponent was prepared to thwart the hopes of a feel-good story at home.

Guided by great plays from quarterback DJ Hammonds, the Chargers took control of the contest in the second quarter and never looked back, defeating the Wolverines 47-17 to end the Prince Avenue’s season with a tough loss at its home confines.

“Eagle’s Landing really beat us in every phase tonight,” Prince Avenue head coach Jeff Herron said. “They have a good football team, a good tradition, and are well-coached. They had more bullets in their gun tonight than we had in ours.”

The Chargers (6-6) posted the first points of the matchup early on in the first quarter. Following a three-and-out by Prince Avenue, Eagle’s Landing went to work quickly, scoring on an 8-yard touchdown pass by DJ Hammonds to Aaren Powell-Bright to put the Chargers on top 6-0 with 6:43 remaining in the first quarter.

Prince Avenue (9-3) responded with a touchdown of its own just over four minutes to go in the first period on a 20 yard rushing touchdown from Matthew Hill. Jarred Pringle’s extra point handed the Wolverines a 7-6 advantage.

The Wolverines held the ball for the remaining four minutes, but the Chargers found a spark in the second quarter. Eagle’s Landing regained the lead thanks to a 28 yard touchdown run by Cam Merritt, making it a 13-7 game with 11:20 left in the first half of competition.

Hammonds helped out his squad again with 8:51 showing on the clock, taking off on an 11-yard touchdown run that gave the Chargers a 20-7 lead.

Prince Avenue was in danger of falling too far behind following a missed field goal, but a fumble recovery in Chargers’ territory presented an excellent chance for the Wolverines to creep back into the game. Prince Avenue made the most of the turnover, finding the end zone on a play-action pass from Tyson Herron to a wide-open Noah Campbell for a 40-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 20-14 with 4:04 remaining in the second quarter of action.

Hammonds had the Wolverines’ secondary scrambling for answers on the next ELCA drive. The senior signal caller turned on the jets and took off for another touchdown, this one on a 2-yard run that made the score 27-14 with 2:15 left in the second quarter.

The Wolverines were in need of a response before halftime, and the offense was able to deliver thanks to a great kickoff return by running back Jonah Doster. Prince Avenue settled on a 25-yard field goal by Pringle, making the score 27-17 at halftime.

Eagle’s Landing started the game by deferring the ball, which meant the opening possession of the second half gave the Chargers a great chance to put the game away. Eagle’s Christian started the third quarter with a long eleven-play drive that took nearly ten minutes off of the clock. The drive ended with another Hammonds score, this one on a six yard scamper that increased the Chargers’ lead to 40-17.

The Chargers were not done posting points on this night. Aimed at running the remainder of the clock out, Eagle’s Landing put together another long drive that melted the majority of the clock, eventually scoring on a 40 yard touchdown pass from Hammonds to Powell-Bright for the second time on the night to create a 47-17 contest.

Hammonds had an outstanding night in Bogart, completing all 8 of his pass attempts for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Hammonds also had 14 carries for 82 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

The loss ends the Wolverines’ season at 9-3, which serves as the team’s fourth straight season with at least nine wins as well as the team’s fifth consecutive winning season.

With the win the Chargers reach .500 on the season and prepare to play the Calvary Day Cavaliers in the semifinals next Friday evening.