Heritage made history Friday night.

Its 35-18 win over Madison County wasn't exactly a ground-breaking victory, but it concluded a season that was already special. Add in a little help from Clarke Central and it became the best regular season in school history.

With Clarke Central's 38-35 win over Flowery Branch, the Patriots earned a share of the Region 8-AAAA championship - the first ever region football title in school history.

"It's amazing," Heritage quarterback Ryan Sutton said. "It's the best accomplishment Heritage High School football has ever had."

While Sutton celebrated Friday night, it wasn't anything even he could predict.

"I didn't think this would happen, to be honest with you," said Sutton when asked if he predicted a region title at the beginning of the year.

But of course, Sutton would have to go through spring practice, fall pre-season, nine wins, including a key come-from-behind victory over fellow co-champion Clarke Central, and his first snaps as a starting quarterback.

The Heritage sophomore found out he would guide the 2011 team from behind center late in his freshman season. Since then he has been at work, both making his game better and earning the confidence of his coaches and teammates.

A lot of that work was done in the offseason when Sutton was working out every day with his bigger, older offensive lineman.

"I'm really close to a lot of the players, a lot of the lineman," Sutton said. "I feel like they have my back."
They've had his back all season, allowing him not only to work the Patriots' option offense, but also to deliver some well-timed passes.

Against Madison County, Sutton was 7 of 9 for 121 yards through the air, and added 30 more on the ground.

Leading 21-0, Sutton made a key play in a Heritage drive, turning a broken play on fourth-and-27 into a 36-yard gain on the ground. That led to a missed field goal, but Sutton had already put his stamp on the game. He also put his stamp on a Red Raiders' player after deliver a block on the left sideline during a run, which set up Hakeem Lewis' 1-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.

At that point, Heritage was already on the scoreboard thanks to a terrifically placed pass up the middle to Quami Stanley for a 44-yard touchdown early in the first quarter.

After Lewis scored his second touchdown of the game, a 5-yard run three seconds into the second quarter, and the Patriots missed on the 41-yard field goal, Sutton showed why he's not a regular sophomore.

"His maturity is way out there," Heritage coach Chad Frazier said. "I've never had a sophomore kid to be that mature and that competitive."

With 1 minute left in the first half and at midfield, Sutton threw an 8-yard pass to Stanley, followed it up with a 26-yard one-handed catch by Steven Everson and finished the 2-minute drill with a 15-yard TD to Tyler Weaver. The Patriots then went into halftime leading 28-3.

"He's just gotten a little more accurate with his passes, a little better with his decision making and he's got a little more zip on it as he's gotten stronger," Frazier said of Sutton's improvement. "He's just got the confidence."

Sutton and the Patriots will look to carry that confidence into their second straight playoff appearance as they have locked up at least a No. 3 seed. Heritage will find out its fate today when the Heritage, Clarke Central and Flowery Branch coaches travel to Loganville to draw names out of a hat.

The first name picked will be the No. 1 seed and have the possibility of two home games, the second name picked will be the No. 2 seed with the first round at home, and the name left in the hat will be the third seed, traveling throughout the playoffs.

"It feels great," Frazier said. "I'm so happy for the kids. All the hard work they put in, the coaches, the administration and the parents. It just feels great."