For football teams in region 4-AAAA, this past Friday was their final chance to make adjustments before a seven-game region schedule begins this week.

For the Jones County High football team, class-A Wilkinson County was the Greyhounds’ opponent in their non-region finale.

For ’Hounds head coach Bill Young, bad weather ruined that final opportunity to evaluate different personnel and tweak game plans, for the most part, before Thursday’s sub-region 4B-AAAA opener against defending state champion Northside.

“In a situation like that, to be honest with you, you’re just trying to get a win,” Young said.

The Greyhounds did get the win, 9-6, over Wilkinson in an oft-delayed contest that ended at 11:30 p.m. with only 36 minutes and 17 seconds of a possible 48 minutes of action having been completed.

Young ushered his team off the field during pregame warm-ups due to lightening in the area.

Once officials arrived at Jones County High, they brought both teams on the field again briefly before suspending the contest for a second time.

Finally, around 9:20 p.m., nearly two hours after the scheduled start for the game, both squads took the field and began the contest.

The Greyhounds capitalized on a Wilkinson fumble deep in Warrior territory on the opening drive of the game, as a Michael Sibley field goal gave the home team a 3-0 lead.

Shortly thereafter, however, the game was delayed for a third time, as officials sent both teams to the locker rooms with 4:19 to play in the first quarter.

At 9:57 p.m., play resumed with eyes on an 11:30 p.m. curfew that is set by the Georgia High School Association for games involving two teams of different classifications.

Young explained that GHSA rules allow only for games played between two teams of the same classification to be played to an end, because those contests can serve as tiebreakers to determine region standings.

The Greyhounds scored on their opening drive after the restart, as a quarterback sneak by Jake Robertson on third-and-1 went for 43 yards and a touchdown.

The Sibley extra point try was no good, and the ’Hounds led 9-0 with 1:19 to play in the first quarter.

On the ensuing drive, the Warriors marched to the Greyhound 17-yard line before a fumbled snap by quarterback Arthur McDowell was recovered by Travis Haines at the 19.

After the next five Jones plays advanced the team only 15 yards, Kevin Jackson’s punt attempt was blocked and recovered by Wilkinson at the Jones 25-yard line.

Four plays later, Tony McCrea, who replaced the injured McDowell as the Warriors’ signal caller, scored from four yards out on third-and-inches.

Another missed extra point attempt brought Wilkinson within three points of Jones with 5:08 to play in the second quarter.

The next drive for each team ended as a result of the soggy conditions.

Kelvin Stone fumbled at midfield after hauling in a Robertson pass, and then the Warriors had a bad snap on a punt attempt that gave the ball back to the ’Hounds at the Jones 45-yard line.

After two David Blanton runs got Jones to the Wilkinson 43 with under a minute to play, Young elected to run out the remainder of time in the first half, assuring his team of the lead and the win if the contest had to be suspended again.

GHSA rules also mandate that if the contest is played to the half it can be deemed a completed game. If not, the contest must be replayed from the start.

Neither team managed much offense in the second half, as Jones’ opening drive advanced the deepest of any offensive series, reaching the Wilkinson 26-yard line before an incomplete pass on fourth-and-7.

The Greyhound defense stifled Wilkinson’s offense in the half, as two of the Warriors’ three drives were three-and-outs and the other was ended by a Devon Pace interception of the first play of the series.

The ’Hounds managed five plays after the Pace interception before an injury timeout drained the final 20 minutes before the curfew.

The game ended as it began – in a delay – and the unusual contest ended even more unusually without the Greyhound tradition of raising the victory flag.

“Out of respect for the Wilkinson County team and the injured player, we decided we would not do that,” Young said.

A Wilkinson County player was taken off of the field on a stretcher and transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he was kept overnight after suffering a concussion while tackling a Jones ball carrier.

The game ended with the scoreboard still showing 11:43 to go in the fourth quarter.

“I’m glad the young man is OK. I’m glad we got the game in by the rules, and I’m glad we got a win,” Young said. “I thought the kids did a good job of maintaining focus based on everything else that was going on.”

Offensively, Jones was led by Robertson’s 90 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries and his 15 passing yards, completing 3-of-9 pass attempts.

Young praised the hard running of Blanton, who was the team’s second-leading rusher with 45 yards on eight carries.

Defensively, Eunice West had six tackles and a fumble recovery.

Courtney Davis had five tackles, three of which were for losses, and Ardarius Duncan had four stops and a sack.

Pace also had three tackles to go with his interception of McCrea.