Central Georgia Sports ReportComment

HS roundup: A game-winning conversion with no time left, road win in OT, manhandling a No. 1, defense wins an offensive showdown, Howard's heartbreak, and more, more, more

Central Georgia Sports ReportComment
HS roundup: A game-winning conversion with no time left, road win in OT, manhandling a No. 1, defense wins an offensive showdown, Howard's heartbreak, and more, more, more

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Updated at 11 a.m. for Mary Persons, Lamar County

🏈 Any update will be around 11 a.m. Saturday, based on new information contributions from teams over night. Thanks to Northside for a box score, and Jasper County and ACE for information.

🏈 Dear coaches and teams: PLEASE UPDATE YOUR MAXPREPS ROSTERS, so kids can accurately be credited for doing good things. Ditto schedules, results, and stats.

🏈 Teams: Please email game information – stats (offense and defense), names, big plays, etc. – to centralgasports@gmail.com by 10:30 a.m. Saturday for addition in Central Georgia’s only roundup.

🏈 Thanks to ACE, FPD, John Milledge, and Northside for sending box scores Friday night.

Class 6A
No. 6 Lee County 44, No. 3 Houston County 35
          In a major shootout, defense won the game. The two powers slugged it out with big play after big play, but Lee County’s defense started bowing up late. The Trojans went up 42-35 on a stunning 7-yard run by standout Ousmane Kromah, taking advantage of sloppy tackling and attempts to strip the ball, emerging from a scrum to score and put the Trojans on top with 1:10 left, having already passed 300 yards rushing. Good coverage put Houston County on the 11. Lineman Leroy Jackson disrupted the passing game yet again, and came up with two sacks, then teaming with Devin Collier to dump AJ Hill for a safety on third and 21.  

Northside 35, Tift County 34, OT
          Northside kept having to score to tie Tift County, and did so at the most clutch time with 4:11 left when Jarris Coney went in from two yards out, Noe Yanez-Roblies drilling the massively important PAT. The Blue Devils were on target to retake the lead right after that when they found a hole in the defense for a long pass, a Tift County receiver seemingly headed for a score only for Northside’s Michael Clayton to not give up and chase the receiver down and punch the ball out around the 5. Northside got it on the 20, but overtime was calling. Jarris Coney scoring from the 1 and Yanez-Roblies added the PAT. Tift County scored on third down from the 3, and then the teams traded timeouts. The pass was incomplete, and Northside – battling discipline issues from scuffles after last week’s loss at Crisp County – got a huge road win.

No. 2 Thomas County Central 52, Veterans 0
          The Yellow Jackets (6-0/1-0) were in control early, storming out to a 28-0 lead after one and 49-0 at halftime en route to giving the host Warhawks – in Perry – a second straight loss. Veterans (3-3/0-1) had an early chance to avoid the shutout and perhaps make it interesting for awhile, but missed a field goal on the possession following TCC’s first touchdown. A fumble on the Veterans’ 20 set up the Yellow Jackets’ second touchdown.

Class 5A
Jones County 48, Eagle’s Landing 15
          Devin Edmonds passed for 261 yards and two touchdowns, two passes for 129 yards and those scores going to Tyler Stewart, as the Greyhounds cruised. Eight different players caught passes for Jones County (4-2/2-0). Andrew Mullis and Jaylen Dekle each scored twice on the ground, part of the Greyhounds’ 147-yard night on 19 carries.

No. 11 Warner Robins 28, No. 9 Ola 27
          The comeback Demons struck again. Warner Robins trailed until tying it on a long completion from Judd Anderson to Myles Joyner early in the fourth, Ola retaking the lead three minutes later. Rasean Dinkins knotting it up again from the 8, Ola going back on top with 1:01 left after a 15-play drive. Ola’s kickoff went out of bounds, and Warner Robins took over on its 30 after the second kick. The short passing game worked, and despite a hold nullifying a nice gain, Warner Robins reached the 11 with two seconds left. Anderson threw backward to receiver and former QB Isiah Canion, who then returned the favor and hit Anderson with a touchdown on the last play to make it 27-26. Pass interference on an incomplete pass gave the Demons 18 more inches and another chance. Dinkins took the snap in the wildcat and bulled forward for the game-winning conversion.

Class 4A
Baldwin 20, Howard 19
          Some losses leave more of a bruise than others, and Howard will feel this one for awhile. The Huskies led 10-6, and took the lead back with a field goal early in the fourth, their second of the game. The Braves, aided by an offsides on a fourth down, drove 65 yards and got a TD pass from Lamar Pounds to Jaylen King, and then, after an offensive penalty, a conversion run by Pounds to take the lead with about four minutes left. The Huskies (3-3/0-2) responded, taking over with 3:17 left and converting a fourth down, reaching the 12 with 93 seconds left. QB Cam Taylor was stuffed on third down inside the 1 after a shaky snap. Howard called its final timeout, and Taylor scored, with 11 seconds left. Baldwin (4-2/1-1) called time. The kick missed, but procedure penalty pushed the Huskies back five yards, and the second kick was wide. Baldwin covered the onside kick to seal it and stay perfect against Howard. The Huskies outgained the Braves 174-53 through the air and 257-237 overall, the teams combining for 24 penalties for 190 yards.  

No. 4 Perry 55, Westside 14
          It was 14 all five minutes into the second quarter at the Ed DeFore Sports Complex, and the Panthers (5-1/2-0) did what they do, and took over. Less than two minutes after Jessie Bell of Westside (4-1/0-1)  tied it with a 12-yard touchdown run, Perry’s Colter Ginn connected with Khalid Miller for a 41-yard touchdown at the 5:39 mark. The Panthers got another one in the final minute on 16-yard pass from Ginn to Kiel Sparks for a two-touchdown lead. The figurative knocked punch came after intermission, when Dakarai Anderson took the third-quarter kickoff back 73 yards for the score. Ahmad Gordon scored Perry’s first two touchdowns and added another in the third quarter for a 41-14 lead.

Class 3A
Peach County 36, Carver-Atlanta 19
          A 23-point burst in the second quarter got the Trojans (2-4) going and they traded scores in the second half for their second win in a row. They led 30-13 after three.

A/I No. 10 Lamar County 46, Pike County 0
          The Trojans had little trouble, once they got going eight minutes into the game with Ty Head’s 1-yard run. Less than three minutes later, he threw 56 yards to Jordan Glover for another score. They connect again, for a 41-yarder, three minutes into the second quarter, followed six minutes later by Kaden Carter’s 15-yard run. Head put it away with a 13-yard run in the final 20 seconds of the second quarter. The only blemish en route to the 35-0 halftime lead was a missed PAT kick and a blocked one. Head completed 4 of 5 passes for 99 yards and two scores, Glover rushing seven times for 102 yards and Qua Hughley 10 times for 73 yards, plus Lamar County getting another 72 yards on five carries from Carter

No. 5 Mary Persons 45, A/I No. 1 Prince Avenue 28
          The Bulldogs got off to a hot start en route to one of their biggest wins in program history, and first over a No. 1 since 1993. The win broke the Wolverines’ 20-game win streak, and 17-game regular-season streak. It’s Prince’s biggest regular-season loss since 24-0 to Athens Academy in 2019. Duke Watson went in from 10 yards out at the 8:37 mark of the first quarter, and added another 10-yard run 35 seconds later after the Bulldogs recovered a fumble at PAC’s 33. The visitors converted an interception into a score, but Watson answered with a 65-yard run on the first play after the kickoff for a 21-7 lead at the 11:42 mark of the second quarter. Mary Persons upped the lead to 21 points on Watson’s 25-yard run nearly seven minutes later, Prince Avenue answering about three minutes later. Watson did it again, his fourth touchdown of the game coming from 84 yards with 58 seconds left. The defending /I state champs, though, got some halftime juice with another score to cut the halftime lead to 35-21. But the homecoming celebration was basically sealed with a touchdown pass midway through the third quarter and Ryan Bankston’s field goal with seven minutes left for a 45-21 lead. The Wolverines added a score right after that, but the Bulldogs shut the door after fumbling deep in their territory with an interception right after that. Watson went for 318 yards, while Mac Nelson was 16 of 22 for 230 yards and a score as Mary Persons racked up583 yards in total offense.

Class AA

Worth County 40, Dodge County 34, OT
          It was a rollercoaster for the Indians, who took a 13-0 first-quarter lead and went up 20-7 in the second, holding a 20-19 halftime lead. Worth County took a 27-20 lead in the third and then 34-20 only for the Indians to storm back and tie it.

ACE 49, Kendrick 0
          The Gryphons racked up their fourth shutout of the season and second straight over Kendrick, leading 35-0 at halftime. Aaron Davis had a two rushing touchdowns and a TD catch for ACE (5-1/2-1).

No. 4 Northeast 57, Central 0
          The Raiders stayed on script, although it took almost seven minutes to make the scoreboard change. Bu the end of the first quarter, they had rushed for two touchdowns, thrown for one, and ran in a conversion for a 22-0 lead. Zion Paul returned a fumble for a touchdown, and then the Raiders added a safety, passing score and rushing score for a 45-0 halftime lead.

Laney 37, Washington County 26
          The Golden Hawks led 7-3 after one and 14-3 several minutes into the second quarter, but Laney got some momentum with a late second-quarter touchdown. The Wildcats converted an interception deep in WACO territory in a score and the lead early in the third. They added two more scores only for the Golden Hawks to answer with a 70-yard TD pass in the final minute to pull within 30-20 entering the fourth.

Putnam County 28, Westside-Augusta 15
Southwest 39, Rutland 35, Thursday

Class A/Division I

Bacon County 42, East Laurens 8

No. 7 Dublin 41, Charlton County 7
          Things were dicey for the Irish for a good while, the winless Indians battling Dublin (4-1) to a scoreless tie at halftime and four minutes into the third quarter. Micah O’Neal finally broke into the endzone from 8 yards out at the 8:18 mark of the third quarter, only for Charlton (0-6)County to return the kickoff 80 yards and take the lead with the PAT. O’Neal went in from the 1 for a 12-7 lead with 2:25 left in the third. Demari Foster got the 29-point fourth quarter going 10 seconds into it with a 27-yard score.

A/II Lake Oconee 42, Crawford County 14
          A three touchdown second-quarter put the Titans in control and a two-score third quarter put it away.

Class A/Division II
Hancock Central 14, Glascock County 7

Johnson County 47, GMC 16
          The underdog Bulldogs (1-6/0-1) were in a a tie game past the midway point of the first quarter only for the Trojans (3-2/1-0) to slowly get going, with get going with the go-ahead score, and then add three second-quarter touchdowns for a 35-10 halftime lead.

No. 3 Manchester 18, No. 2 Macon County 7
          The Bulldogs (4-2/0-2) came up short in their second straight big region showed with a top-5 opponent in two weeks. Manchester won for the second straight year, but still trails 8-14 in the series.

Taylor County 26, Greenville 8

Telfair County 35, Hawkinsville 13
          The Trojans (5-0/1-0) opened things up with two second-quarter scores for a 21-0 halftime lead, countering the Red Devils’ (4-2/0-1) score five minutes later in the fourth quarter.

Wilkinson County 49, Twiggs County 0

 

GIAA

Class AAA

GHSA A/II No. 8 Commerce 28, FPD 14

          The Vikings marched out to a 14-0 lead on Hayden Aulds’ 62-yard run and Jakhari Williams’ 5-yarder. But four minutes later, Commerce got on the board, but trailed 14-6 at halftime. The hosts got a 61-yard TD run at the 9:52 mark of the third to get within one, and took the lead for good less than 90 seconds later on a 42-yard run, adding the conversion. Commerce went up two scores with 3:47 left in the third, and survived the back-and-forth the rest of the way. Jaiden Daniels went for 179 yards on 15 carries and Tysean Wiggins 128 on 17 for Commerce, which completed one pass for six yards.Aulds had 113 yards on 13 carries, but Williams was held to 28 on 13, and a  6-for-15 passing night.

Stratford 29, Deerfield-Windsor 0
          The Eagles racked up their first shutout since 41-0 over Strong Rock in mid October of 2021.

Tattnall 41, Frederica 13
          Tattnall led 14-7 at halftime – on a 90-yard kickoff return and 16-yard run - then pulled away with three touchdowns in the third quarter.

John Milledge 49, Pinewood 33
          The defending AAA champs and owners of a 56-game winning streak no doubt raised some eyebrow for a while. By trailing. Pinewood answered Javian Butts early touchdown run with two scores for a 14-7 lead after one, and then the teams traded touchdowns for a 21-14 lead with about four minutes left in the half. JMA’s light went on, and the Trojans (6-0) got a 64-yard run from Butts to tie it. They took the lead two minutes later on Solomon Burn’s 44-yard pass to Butts, going up 28-21 at halftime. Bud Veal passed to Butts for a 10-yard score in the final minutes of the third quarter, and John Milledge pulled away with Veal’s 67-yard run early in the fourth. Pinewood (2-4) scored twice, pulling within  41-33 with five minutes left in the game, but the Trojans iced it on Butts’ 35-yard run with four minutes left.

GHSA A/1 Bleckley County 49, Westfield 13
          The Royals were the worst kind of homecoming opponent, storming out to a 28-0 lead after one and 35-7 at halftime, spoiling the Hornets’ celebrating the 2013 GISA AAA state title team. Rodriguez Flagg, Cam Beck, and Kam’ryn Everrett had rushing touchdowns of 14, 36, and 56 yards to go with Everett’s 38-yard TD pass to Iverson Baker for the first-quarter scores. Brayden Gay’s 1-yard run broke the shutout for Westfield with three minutes left in the third.

Class AA

Briarwood 35, Brentwood 27

Gatewood 35, Central Fellowship 27
          Gatewood led 21-7 at halftime, thanks to a botched punt and some turnovers in CFCA territory. The lead was 28-7 before the Lancers came back to within 28-27 in the final minutes, failing on the tying conversion. Gatewood wasted little time in getting another rushing touchdown to seal the win in a rematch of a AA semifinal last year, and knock off the defending champs.

Trinity Christian 24, Fullington 14
          The Crusaders led 17-6 at halftime, and sealed it with Ben Castro-Poveda’s 3-yard score with about seven minutes left.