Before the regular season begins, Carrollton took on the Cambridge Bears (Milton) Friday in a scrimmage, and although they did not keep official track of the score, the Trojans outscored the Bears 55-17.

After the game Coach Joey King had some comments on the scrimmage and the upcoming season.

“I thought we did ok… being our first time against some different competition,” said King. “I thought we got a lot of guys a lot of reps, and they were excited, flew around. I just told our guys in there [the locker room] that the first group in the first half, we played pretty clean, but pretty clean ain’t good enough.”

Cambridge finished 6-5 in the Class 5A Division. Carrollton is coming off a 9-1 season, but lost in the quarterfinals in the Class 7A Division tournament.

“We wanna shoot for excellent play, and I think that they’re ready to come in this weekend and re-group and get ready for next week,” King continued. “Our focus is being better tomorrow than we were today. So, we’re gonna try and do that. Put one foot in front of the other and try and stack days in order to be successful. We talk about two championships around here all the time, a region championship and a state championship. But, you get there by winning the days one day at a time.”

Carrollton was announced by Max Preps as the number-12 high school football team in the country. The even bigger story this season for Carrollton is their five star, senior quarterback Julian Lewis. Last August, Lewis announced his commitment to the University of Southern California. Lewis is ranked the number one player in the country in the class of 2025.

King also talked about what it is like to coach talent in high school like Julian Lewis and Trevor Lawrence (at Cartersville High School).

“They both make you a better coach,” said King. “Anytime you got guys that are that talented, you’ve got to make sure that you bring your A-game coaching everyday. But I coach those guys the same I do everybody else. I have learned a lot from them.”

Carrollton had some setbacks on their first drive. The game began with a Cambridge tackle for a loss, but Lewis kept composure and tossed multiple 10-plus yard passes, and an eight yard touchdown pass to Peyton Zachary made it 7-0 Trojans.

Cambridge’s first drive resulted in a penalty, three plays for no yards and a punt. Carrollton got the ball back and Lewis proceeded to lead the Carrollton offense down the field again, including a 39-yard pass. The drive ended with a Kimauri Farmer rushing touchdown, 14-0 Carrollton. Cambridge would once again be shut down and that would be the end of the first quarter.

Carrollton began the second quarter right where they left off, taking only three plays to score. This time, Lewis threw a 12 yard touchdown to Ryan Mosley to stretch the lead to 21-0 Carrollton.

On Cambridge’s third attempt they finally were able to drive down the field. A 45-yard pass and successful 4th down attempt led to a touchdown pass, 21-7 Carrollton.

After the Carrollton defense gave up a touchdown, the offense had their back. One play, 70 yards and another touchdown pass from Lewis to Zachary, and it was 28-7 Carrollton.

Punts by both teams marked the end of Lewis and Carrollton’s varsity starters in the scrimmage. Cambridge then proceeded to drive the ball down the field and score a 27-yard field goal right before halftime to cut the Trojan lead to 28-10.

Cambridge began the second half on offense, but their momentum did not return to the field. As they were struggling to move down the field, the Cambridge quarterback threw an interception to Carrollton’s Jay Hagan, which resulted in a touchdown.

Cambridge would again fail to get a first down and give Carrollton back the ball. The Carrollton backups continued right where the starters left off and drove down the field.

Dylan Bishop threw a 30-yard touchdown to Carson Heath. In an almost deja-vu moment, Cambridge once again failed to get a first down, and Bishop threw another passing touchdown. This time, a 19-yard play to Haydenn Downes, and it was 49-10 Carrollton.

Cambridge broke the fourth-quarter scoring drought with a rushing touchdown from their quarterback to make it 49-17. Carrollton would attack right back with their final score — a 37 yard rushing touchdown from Cameron Wood. The extra point missed, and both teams ran out the clock to finish the game.