Trevor Lawrence continued to make the case that he is perhaps the country’s best quarterback Friday night.
The senior quarterback and Clemson commit threw for five touchdowns and was on the bench by the end of the third quarter as Cartersville (Ga.) cruised to a 55-6 win over Carroll Central (Carrollton, Ga.). The win was the 36th straight for the two-time defending Class AAAA champion Purple Hurricanes.
Lawrence entered Friday third in Georgia in passing yards with 1,538, and finished the night with 1,846 yards after going 16-for-23 (6-for-6 in the second half) for 308 yards and those five TDs.
In the first half, Lawrence was 10-for-17 for 171 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with two more touchdown passes to lift Cartersville to 6-0 on the year.
For the season, Lawrence is now 91-for-128 (71%) for 20 touchdowns and one interception. Lawrence now needs 728 yards and 21 touchdown passes to break the Georgia records of 13,077 and 159 held by Gainesville (Ga.) and Clemson great Deshaun Watson.
Lawrence hit Kaleb Chatmon for a 54-yard touchdown early in the first quarter for an early 7-0 lead. Just three minutes later, he found Jackson Lowe for a 15-yard score and a 14-0 advantage after the extra point.
Later in the first, Chatmon made a great catch for a 49-yard gain, and Lawrence quickly capitalized by hitting T.J. Horton for a 14-yard TD. The Purple Hurricanes led 21-0 with over two minutes still to go in the first quarter.
With the score 28-0, Lawrence hit Horton with a screen that the receiver took 64 yards to make it 35-6 early in the third quarter. Lawrence capped off his performance with a 7-yard slant for a TD to Horton, making it 49-7 with 5:48 to go in the third quarter. Of Lawrence’s five TD tosses, three were to Horton.
Lawrence was relieved by backup QB TJ Webb with two minutes to play in the third quarter.
Next up for Lawrence and Cartersville is a visit to LaGrange next Friday night.