STOCKBRIDGE – Kickoff for the Greyhounds was 30 minutes than earlier on Friday when they traveled north to take on Eagles Landing Christian Academy.
Anyone arriving after the game’s first few minutes missed quite a lot.
>>SEE A FULL PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME
JCHS needed less than six minutes to jump all over a Chargers team that entered the game with momentum, trouncing ELCA 42-14 after leading 21-0 with 6:43 left in the first quarter thanks to explosive offensive plays and Jones County dominating special teams.
“We’re really proud of everybody for playing really good on Friday,” Greyhounds head coach Mike Chastain said. “Everything kind of worked in our favor; things just went our way.”
With the win, Jones County heads into its second open date with an overall record of 6-2 and 5-2 in the region, firmly in third place behind Ola and Stockbridge. The Greyhounds would need to win their final two games against Eagles Landing and Locust Grove and have Ola lose two of its three upcoming games to Union Grove, Hampton and McDonough in order to finish second in the region.
The third play from scrimmage on Friday was a familiar one for Jones County fans, as quarterback Devin Edmonds found an open Jaivon Solomon for a 44-yard throw and catch for one of two touchdowns on the night for Solomon. But facing a Chargers offense whose bread and butter seems to be controlling the clock with a run game, the Greyhounds played a game of keep away. On the following kickoff, an angled pooch kick was fumbled by ELCA and recovered by Sam Wilder. That helped set up a seven-yard pass for DJ Ingram and a 14-0 Greyhounds lead less than three minutes into the game
Their defense had only been giving up about 15 points a game, and I thought they were very well-coached,” Chastain said. “It was good for us to get a good start and get ahead of them, instead of them playing ball-control and clock-control on offense. They had to throw it more than I think they would have wanted to and had to play catch up.”
The Greyhounds defense forced a punt to keep the early momentum, and Jones County’s special teams added to it with Ingram blocking a punt to set up a one-yard Zacarri Thomas run to lead 21-0 with 6:43 left in the open quarter.
The Chargers countered, trailing 21-7 at the end of the first. That’s when the Greyhounds struck back on both sides of the ball. As big of a momentum swing as a forced fumble was, an offensive swing was an even bigger one when a deep pass down the middle by Edmonds was hauled in by a fully outstretched JR Clark on a 50-yard touchdown pass with only 15 seconds left in the half as JCHS led 28-7.
The Hounds kept the heat on after the break, leading 35-7 when Edmonds connected with Solomon again, this time from 29 yards away. Edmonds was 19-24 for 258 yards. JCHS cruised from there, getting a fouryard touchdown catch from Ray Jones in the closing minutes.
“I think we’re almost 100 percent. I don’t know that we’ll ever be 100 percent, but our guys are healthy right now,” Chastain said. “We’re excited to see how we finish up the season headed into the playoffs.
