The Greyhounds didn’t just walk into the halfway point of the season on Friday at Union Grove. They ran.
With a trio of backs sharing the load, Jones County rushed for nearly 300 yards in a 42-3 win over the Wolverines.
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The Greyhounds — who go into this week’s open date 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the region — host Stockbridge next Friday for homecoming. That will resume a tightly-contested fight throughout the region, where Stockbridge is in a three-way tie for first place with a 3-1 record, and Jones County is one of five teams tied for fourth with a 2-2 region mark. That logjam is bound to come undone in the next few weeks, making the current bye week critical moving ahead for the Greyhounds.
“The focus for us is to make sure we are mature in our preparation, making sure we are healing and growing at the same time,” Greyhounds head coach Justin Montgomery said.
“We really want to hone in on growing positionally, making sure that we’re building depth going into the middle of what we call the second season. So, going into the second season, we want to make sure we’re establishing depth and also making sure that our preparation is focused on us.”
Jones County didn’t have much trouble moving the ball on Friday. Despite an opening drive stalling on fourth down at the Union Grove 20-yard line, the Greyhounds did little wrong on offense after that, racing to a 21-3 halftime lead by way of plenty of big plays not just on offense but special teams as well.
Andre Hall got it all started, blocking a first-quarter punt by Union Grove. That put the ball inside the Wolverines’ 40, and the Greyhounds eventually cashed in on a nine-yard run by Bruno Hicks for a 7-0 lead with 5:41 to go in the first quarter. Hicks, along with Kaden Canty and Travis Miller, presented multiple run-game options for Union Grove to contend with, each averaging no worse than 4.7 yards per carry as JCHS gained 284 yards on the ground. That run game helped Jones County double its lead with 8:59 left in the second when a big run by Canty set up Miller for an 11-yard run.
“That was a big deal for us to have an established run game and be physical, like we’re supposed to be,” Montgomery said. “I thought our offensive staff did a good job of bouncing back from the game the week before and making sure we established who were are as our identity early, and our kids bought into it and executed the game plan well.”
Jones County’s 284 rushing yards were a season-high for a Greyhounds offense that continues to be served well with a running back by committee approach. Hicks and Miller have essentially split the lead share of the work from the backfield, with Miller rushing 58 times for 358 yards through five games and Hicks gaining 247 yards on 49 carries.
Finding the right balance each week starts not on Friday but during the week under the watchful eye of JCHS running backs coach Jaylan Thomas.
“They all did a great job of executing their skill sets as running backs. When they start doing what they are good at, that’s hard to stop,” Montgomery said. “Coach Thomas does a really good job of just paying attention to those guys, how they are executing the game plan through the week, and making sure their preparation leans in, and he’s going to roll in the guys that do the best during the week, first. Then, he watches the game.
“I think he’s done a really good job of paying attention to who is hot on Friday night. If all three are hot, you want to keep rolling all three. If one guy is running it a little bit better than the others, he’s going to get more touches on Friday night.”
Union Grove mounted a second-quarter field goal to get on the board, but that momentum would be short-lived. After Nate Vaughn swarmed over an onside kick, Miller took the ball 49 yards exactly one play later, sending Jones County ahead 21-3 at halftime.
Miller’s 121 yards on 8 carries led JCHS as he had a total of three touchdowns with Canty rushing it seven times for 82 yards.
Jones County’s passing game extended the lead early in the second half, when JR Clark took a Cason Taylor pass 52 yards for a 28-3 advantage on a night where the Greyhounds quarterback was an efficient 10-of-15 for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both of which were to Clark, with the other being in the final quarter from 20 yards away.
Miller’s 51-yard run added to the lead for Jones County in the third quarter, which scored more than 40 points for the first time since last year’s regular- season finale against Locust Grove.
