Preparing for early-season unbeatens battle at Ola
After fighting off a pesky opponent and battling through adversity, a battle of unbeatens awaits the Greyhounds.
Jones County put a late score on the board Friday in pulling away from Hampton to win 28-9. That sets up a battle of two region teams without a loss on Friday as Jones County plays on the road for the first time this season as it goes to Ola.
“It’ll be important for our guys to be locked in. There will be a lot of talk about that this week,” Greyhounds head coach Mike Chastain said. “We’ll be working on getting our guys mentally prepared to battle and have a great game.”
The Mustangs have been a postseason team the past five years and are led by new head coach Dustin Adkins. Through three games, Ola has yielded just six points, having yet to give up a touchdown. The Mustangs beat Eagles Landing Christian 7-3 a week ago.
“Their scheme is a little bit different on both sides of the ball. Last year on offense, they were an option ball club, and this year are more of a gap scheme out of the gun-type team,” Chastain said. “Defensively, they are more of a 4-3 than they were last year when they were a 3-4. So, it’s a little bit different on both sides of the ball, but a lot of the same players.”
JCHS won last year’s game at Ola 48-17, a victory over the Mustangs when they were ranked 10th in the state and 4-1. Chastain cautions that last year’s result should not be translated to an expectation of ease this Friday.
“Last year, we went up there and played a really good game. I thought we played one of our better games last year against them, and they were a pretty good ball club when we played them,” Chastain said. “Everything worked for us, and and it ended up being a really good game for us. So, it won’t always be that easy. Our guys understand that they are a really good ball club and that we have to be ready to go.”
The Greyhounds are coming off a strong defensive showing of their own against the Hornets. On Friday at Greyhound Field, the only Hampton score was set up by a long yardage gain off of a circus catch down the opposing sideline, and Jones County’s defense also held the Hornet’s out of the end zone in the second half, coming up with a fourthdown stop at the Greyhounds one-yard line.
“That was a physical bunch. Their skill guys were some of the best that we have seen,” Greyhounds defensive coordinator Will Conner said. “We knew that they had four receivers over six feet, and one of them made a phenomenal catch to set up their only touchdown.”
Jones County’s defensive showing came amid attrition to its lineup. The defensive secondary alone is minus both Javion Butts and Junior Holloway, who continued to watch the action on Friday while recovering from injuries. Through that, though, Conner says the door has been opened for younger players to step up. It’s an opportunity that’s been embraced on a defense that had four freshmen on the field during the game’s final two drives.
“It’s allowed people to step up. I can’t say enough about how Andre Hall and Tyrese Dean have stepped up for us in our safety roles,” Conner said. “I’m proud of our kids for fighting. We had four freshmen out there the last two drives. They just fought, and I’m really proud of that.”
The defensive effort complemented a Greyhounds offense that gave Jones County two quick scores for an early upper hand.
Quarterback Devin Edmonds got that started in the first quarter when he hit Jaivon Solomon on a slant for a nine-yard touchdown before finding Zach Hurt along the left side of the end zone for a 14-0 first quarter lead. Solomon was 15 of 24 for 262 yards and three touchdowns with Solomon having 165 receiving yards on seven catches.
But the Hornets, helped immensely by their athleticism, didn’t go away. A long pass set up a Hornets touchdown late in the first half, cutting the lead in half. Jones County extended its lead coming out of halftime.
“Any time you go through adversity, you can learn some stuff,” Chastain said. “Us as a coaching staff, we understood that Hampton had really good players, and I thought defensively, they had as much talent as anyone we’d play this year. They are a talented ball club. It probably was not the best matchup for us in some areas. I’m just thankful that we came out on top after playing a group that may not have been a good matchup for us.”
Taking the kickoff to begin the third quarter, a run by one of the Greyhounds linebackers playing on both sides of the ball, Zacarri Thomas, was followed by a big play by another one of them. A quick screen to DJ Hall went 40 yards through the Hampton defense on a 40-yard touchdown and 21-7 lead.
That was enough of a cushion for the Greyhounds, who held back a Hampton offense that moved the ball in the second half but came up short of the end zone multiple times against the Greyhounds defense.
The Greyhounds offense capped the night off with some icing on the cake as a 60-yard pass to Solomon set up a two-yard touchdown run by David Little.
