GREYHOUND FOOTBALL
Part of facing a challenging non-region schedule for any football team is the expectation that waves of adversity will be encountered. That certainly found its way to the Greyhounds on Friday against Peach County.
Going against a Trojans team coming off a quarterfinal appearance, the Greyhound offense found the sledding tough, managing just three points in a 35-3 loss, Jones County’s second loss in a row after starting the season with wins against Northside and at Dacula. On a night where both teams managed around 200 yards of offense, the Trojans were able to take advantage of turnovers and good field position to take the win over the Greyhounds.
The chance to bounce back won’t take long to arrive, however. Region play begins Friday with Locust Grove coming to town. Prior to hosting Ola Oct. 7, JCHS in the next three weeks hosts Locust Grove, has an open date and travels to Eagles Landing, playing two teams with a combined one win so far this season.
If there are issues that the Greyhounds are seeking to address or injuries that need to heal up, there will be a great opportunity to focus on those areas in the coming weeks as region play begins.
Jones County, held to its fewest points scored in game since 2013 according to GHSFHA. org, was limited to 223 yards on Friday. Jones County was hampered on offense before the game even kicked off with those unable to play including running back Javious Bond. With Bond and Connor Bass relegated to watching from the sidelines, JCHS was also down two defensive backs, hardly an easy task against the Trojans offense.
In spite of that, Jones County hung tight early on. After a Trojans touchdown late in the first quarter made it 6-0, a 33-yard field goal by Brendan Waters sliced the Peach lead in half, 6-3 on a drive kept alive by a Ragins run on fourth down and four to go. With Bond not on the field, Ragins was easily keyed in on by the Trojans defense, holding him to 33 rushing yards and negative receiving yards.
Following a third-down sack of Judd Anderson, the Trojans defense received the punt and drove downfield, going up 14-3 on a two-yard run. Anderson, who as the night went on faced off and on pressure in the pocket, was 9-of-16 for 34 yards, being picked off three times. One of those picks, one that was a tipped pass, led to a 21-3 Trojans lead by halftime, and Peach County would slowly pull away after halftime, going up 28-3 on a drive kept alive when JCHS jumped offside on fourth and short.
Backup quarterback Devin Edmonds would eventually see time, getting into the game with 3:42 to go in the third.
He’d initially drive the Greyhounds downfield before seeing the drive end on fourth down at the Trojans 31. He would also throw a pick six in the fourth quarter that was the final Peach score of the night.
