By Landen Todd
Monroe Area (3-0) takes care of the Raiders (1-2) 49-17 at the Purple Pit on a hot Friday night.
Habersham Central senior linebacker Griffen Cunningham recovered a fumble on Monroe Area’s 26-yard line on the Purple Hurricanes' first drive.
The Raiders moved downfield and chose to go for it on 4th-and-goal. Senior quarterback Paris Wilbanks rolled out right to get stuffed by Monroe Area’s defense with 7:31 left in the first quarter.
Wilbanks looked to suffer a leg injury on the run, but played the rest of the game partly limited with his legs.
The Purple Hurricanes were up 14-0 with 5:11 left in the first.
The Raiders' first points were from Wilbanks connecting with senior wide receiver Jay Feltus for a 20-plus-yard passing touchdown to make it 14-7 going into the second quarter.
Habersham Central allowed another touchdown and kicked a field goal to make it 21-10 at halftime.
The Raiders had some life early in the second half with some big stops on defense and Gus Ebers rushing in a touchdown to make it 21-17 with over eight minutes in the third quarter.
After that, the Raiders' inconsistent play had them fall back into a big hole for them to recover from.
With 7:39 left in the game, it was delayed when Habersham Central defender Ryder Cook was injured and taken away in an ambulance. He was conscious.
Habersham Central heads into its bye week next week.