Langston Hughes (Georgia) beats Carrollton in thriller

Panthers surrender 22 first quarter points, but rally as the offense surges behind quarterback Air Noland

Gary Adornato | Aug 18, 2023

Langston Hughes (Georgia) beats Carrollton in thriller /

CARROLLTON, GEORGIA – Georgia power Langston Hughes got a pair of touchdown passes from senior quarterback Air Noland, including the game-winner in the final minute of play, as the Panthers, ranked No. 19 in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national football rankings, rallied for a tight 39-34 win over host Carrollton.

Senior running backs Dorian tre Page and Justus Savage also had big nights for Langston Hughes, combining for 240 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns each.

Carrollton, a honorable mention choice in our Power 25, started like a house on fire, offensively, scoring 22 first quarter points, including a long kickoff return for a touchdown to take a 22-7 lead with one minute to play in the first quarter.

The Panthers started their comeback with a 6-yard rushing TD by tre Page, in the final seconds of the opening quarter, starting a run of 26 consecutive points to take a 33-22 lead on a 5-yard score by Savage with six-minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Kimauri Farmer responded with consecutive touchdowns, one in the third quarter and one early in the fourth, to push Carrollton back on top, 34-33. The Trojans clung to that lead until the final minute of the contest when Air Noland rallied his squad to victory with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jovanni McGee.

Published Aug 18, 2023

GARY ADORNATO

Gary Adornato began covering high school sports with the Baltimore Sun in 1982, while still a mass communications major at Towson University, and in 2003 became one of the first journalists to cover high school sports online while operating MIAASports.com, the official website of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association. Later, Adornato pioneered market-wide coverage of high school sports with DigitalSports.com, introducing video highlights and player interviews while assembling an award-winning editorial staff. In 2010, he launched VarsitySportsNetwork.com which became the premier source of high school media coverage in the state of Maryland. In 2022, he sold VSN to The Baltimore Banner and joined SBLive Sports as the company's East Coast Managing Editor.