Two dominant backs in Jaiden Moore and Brycen Morris are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. After each having a week off, the Hillgrove Hawks and the North Paulding Wolfpack will shake off the rust and duke it out at 7:00 p.m. on the 14th. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 959 yards in their previous games.
It was a Battle of the Birds when Hillgrove faced off against South Cobb on Thursday. The Hawks blew past the Eagles, posting a 48-8 victory. With the Hawks ahead 41-0 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Jabari Green
| 10/30/25 @ South Cobb | 42 |
| 10/17/25 vs McEachern | 14 |
| 10/03/25 @ Paulding County | 23 |
| 09/12/25 vs Osborne | 24 |
| 09/05/25 @ Marietta | 8 |
| + 3 more games |
Hillgrove relied on the efforts of Jabari Green, who threw for 82 yards and two touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes, and Zion Williams, who rushed for 27 yards and three scores. What's more, Green racked up 42 rushing yards, the most he's had since back in November of 2024.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Hillgrove was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 338 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 152 rushing yards in nine consecutive games.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Hillgrove's defense and their six sacks. Leading the way was Jameson McCollough with two. Hillgrove got some further help from Caiden Gaddy: he picked up 1.5 sacks and made five total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, North Paulding entered their tilt with Marietta on Friday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They came within four points of losing the streak, but they secured a 28-24 W against the Blue Devils.
Hillgrove's record is now 8-2. As for North Paulding, their record now sits at an identical 8-2.
Friday's matchup might be decided on the ground. Hillgrove has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 231.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like North Paulding struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 254.7 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's contest turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Hillgrove might still be hurting after the 47-21 loss they got from North Paulding in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Wolfpack's Tyler Niehr, who threw for 295 yards and three TDs while completing 77.3% of his passes. Now that the Hawks know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
