Gwinnett Daily Post

Photo: Thinh D. Nguyen/Marietta Daily Journal. South Gwinnett's Jonathan Krause (4) tries to break a tackle on a kick return against Lassiter in the second round of AAAAA playoffs Friday.

MARIETTA -- Most football teams that put up 500 yards of total offense and 49 points win their games going away.

For South Gwinnett in Friday night's second-round Class AAAAA playoff game, that wasn't good enough.

Hutson Mason and Lassiter made sure of that.

The record-setting quarterback added two more records to his growing list with eight touchdown passes, along with his 526 passing yards, as the No. 8 state-ranked Trojans outscored the Comets 70-49 at Frank Fillmann Stadium.

"Obviously, they're a good offensive football team," South coach John Small understated about Lassiter after South's season came to an end at 10-2. "They got hot and got on a roll, and it kind of spiraled down for us at that point."

On most nights, South's offensive numbers -- including 17 of 38 passing for 300 yards and three TDs by Kent Rollins, four catches for 124 yards and two scores and 152 yards and two TDs on 21 carries on the ground by Trevon Walker -- would've been more than enough.

But Mason made sure it wasn't. The 6-3, 185-pound senior's eight touchdown passes tied a Georgia state single-game record set by Jeremy Privett of Charlton County in 2003. They also gave him 54 for the season, breaking Privett's single season state mark of 47.

And he had plenty of help from his receivers, including Griffin Roelle, who snagged 11 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, and Tyren Jones, who hauled in eight passes for 113 yards.

Friday's much-anticipated shootout lived up to its billing from the very first snap.

Mason led Lassiter on an eight-play, 88-yard march on the opening drive that took just 2:50 and ended with his 1-yard touchdown toss to Griffin Roelle.

It took South just two plays to answer, with Walker -- subbing for Aaron Wimberly -- bursting up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown run to pull the Comets even at 7-7 with 8:50 left in the first quarter.

Those opening drives ignited an offensive explosion that only ended when each team stopped itself with two turnovers apiece.

However, it was Lassiter that better took advantage.

The Trojans turned the first South miscue -- a fumble at its own 23 -- into a 12-yard scoring strike from Mason to Jimmy Mayer, and then cashed in an interception into a 5-yard TD pass form Mason to Charlie Hegedus in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the Comets could not capitalize on Lassiter's two turnovers.

They did turn a Wendell Williams interception into 56-yard touchdown pass from Kent Rollins to Jonathan Krause, pulling the Comets to within 21-14 with 4:55 left in the first quarter.

But South couldn't cash in on a fumble deep in Lassiter territory, which ended with the Comets being stopped inside the 1-yard line on downs with 1:51 left in the half, allowing the Trojans to take a safe 42-21 lead into intermission.

If that wasn't the turning point of the game, the second snap of the second half was.

Rollins' pass went off the hands of his intended receiver and into the hands of Coray Carlson, who took the interception back 10 yards for a score to make the score 49-21 just 40 seconds into the third quarter.

"We had some turnovers that hurt us," Small said. "We were really still in the ball game, but they picked us off and ran it in for touchdowns twice. That hurt."

Indeed, Lassiter's final score was also an interception for a score by Marcus Stokes before South got two more scores in the final frame.