CARTERSVILLE – The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes, looking very much like a team capable of repeating as state champions, overwhelmed the visiting LaGrange Grangers 52-7 on Friday in a Region 5-AAAA game.

Cartersville improved to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the region, while LaGrange (2-5 overall) fell to 1-2 in region play.

LaGrange hung in there early.

After Cartersville scored a pair of touchdowns to go up 14-0, LaGrange got a scoring run from Cornell Kendrick to make it a 14-7 game at the close of the first quarter.

Cartersville then scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 35-7 lead at the break.

The second half was all Cartersville.

With quarterback Trevor Lawrence making plays with his legs and his right arm, Cartersville scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter, and it also got a field goal to take a 52-7 lead.

The fourth quarter went quickly with a running clock.

LaGrange will look to rebound on Friday when it plays the rival Troup Tigers.

Troup (6-1), which was off last week, brings a perfect 2-0 region record into the game.

Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports