Jace Blackshear accounted for seven touchdowns — three on the ground and four through the air — as Hilton Head Christian Academy remained unbeaten with a 53-12 rout of host John Paul II on Thursday in Hardeeville.
Blackshear opened the scoring with a 2-yard TD run and capped the night with a 12-yard scoring scamper, and he added a 35-yard TD run and a quartet of TD passes in between in another masterful performance by the senior quarterback.
Joseph “Speedy” Robinson added a TD run and a pair of touchdown grabs for the Eagles, and Jackson Lanier and Peter Nodelman Jr. also hauled in TD passes from Blackshear.
Blackshear scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the first quarter to make it 12-0 before JPII’s Christian Tilton hit Jackson Ogden for the first of two touchdown connections on the night to cut it to 12-6. Blackshear found Robinson for a 52-yard TD pass before Robinson broke off a 25-yard TD run to make it 26-6.
The duo hooked up again for a 12-yard TD a play after Blackshear connected with Riley Shinn, who had a big night at receiver, then Blackshear hit Nodelman for a 35-yard TD to make it 39-6 at halftime.
Lanier got in on the action with a 12-yard TD reception, and after Tilton’s second TD pass to Ogden, Blackshear capped off the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run.
The Eagles bottled up JPII’s running backs, but Tilton rushed for 122 yards on 17 carries and was 5-for-7 passing for 58 yards and two TDs, and he added four tackles, a blocked PAT, and a forced fumble. Mark Knight added six tackles on defense, and Sebastian Slusne had five tackles and a fumble recovery.
HHCA (8-0, 3-0) hosts Beaufort Academy next Friday with first place in the region on the line. John Paul II (2-4, 2-1) hosts Hilton Head Prep in a pivotal matchup that will help determine the playoff seeding in SCISA Region 1-2A.
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