GREYHOUND FOOTBALL
Against a rigorous schedule, the Greyhounds don’t have the luxury of a game against a much-lesser opponent to iron out early-season cobwebs. Against a non-region schedule that includes two teams from the state’s two-largest classifications that are both coming off of quarterfinal appearances, miscues are magnified.
In that fishbowl of little margin for error, Jones County began its season with a win on a sultry afternoon at Mercer University’s Five Star Stadium, controlling the game and the pace in the second half to win 27-21 after trailing 15-14 at halftime in the Macon Touchdown Club Middle Georgia Kickoff Classic.
“I’m proud of our guys. It was a big game, big atmosphere, and our guys came out with a lot of crazy stuff going on and in the second half, persevered through it all,” Greyhounds head coach Mike Chastain said. “I’m proud of our guys, big time.”
Another challenge awaits JCHS this Friday when it goes to play Dacula, a team that is now in AAAAAAA after being in the AAAAAA semifinals a season ago. The Falcons lost a close opener last week to St. Pius X. They’ll come into this Friday having faced a physical rushing attack as the Greyhounds will head north with a bit tighter schedule, having one less day to rest with the Northside game being this past Saturday. Jones County will be going on the road to face a AAAAAAA program for the second season in a row, last year beating North Gwinnett.
“They’ll be ready to go; we’ve got to get our guys ready to go,” Chastain said.
Jones County will head north following a game in which it not only overcame a slow start but also minor injuries to some of its top playmakers. In the second half on Saturday, both Javious Bond and Zion Ragins missed time due to minor ailments with both returning to the game in the late stages. In fact, it was Ragins who in the closing minutes helped Jones County run out the clock, gaining yards outside and in between the tackles. He’d finish with 36 yards on ten carries, but he not surprisingly did his most damage as a receiver, hauling in four catches for 62 yards, just ahead of Tyler Stewart’s three catches for 53 yards.
“Everybody stepped up and played really good, everybody stepped up to make plays when it was a time to make plays,” Chastain said. “We’ve been banged up at times. Our guys were able to battle through some tough situations. I’m really excited about those guys battling through it.”
It was a similar tale for Bond, who scored the game’s first touchdown, recovered a fumble and prevented an Eagles touchdown with an interception in the end zone in addition to leading the team in rushing yards with 52 on 10 carries.
“I’ve been telling our guys for the past couple of weeks that football is a tough game played by tough people. We’re excited about our guys being tough and battling through,” Chastain said. “We had some guys cramping, guys playing through some ankle injuries. I’m just proud of our guys’ heart and fight in the second half. We had some issues we had to work through in the first half, which is natural in the first game, but our guys responded really well in the second half, which I was really proud of.”
And although big plays on the ground and through the air may have garnered highlight-reel plays on Saturday, the Greyhounds head coach also pointed to an offensive line group up front that won the game in the trenches against an Eagles defense that is typically stout against the run.
“You have got to give credit to that big front five; they played great and opened up some holes.
That defense over there, you don’t run the ball on that defense,” Chastain said. “Our guys were able to step up and play well. I was really proud of our offensive line.”
Jones County set the tone early. Three plays following kickoff, Drew Jones pounced right on top of a mishandled snap by the Eagles at the Northside 37. Three plays later, quarterback Judd Anderson swung a pass out to Bond for a 21-yard score and a 7-0 Greyhounds lead with 9:51 to go in the first. Anderson was 14-of-23 for 201 yards in his official Greyhounds debut, throwing three touchdowns and being picked off once.
Down 8-7 to the Eagles thanks to a short field following a punt, Anderson went deep in the second quarter, finding Tyler Stewart downfield as he made a one-handed catch on a 40-yard touchdown that moved Jones County back in front 14-8 before the Eagles drove downfield for a 15-14 just before the break.
Down by a scant point at halftime, an 81-yard drive by the Hounds seemed to wrest control aggressively, and it brought the Jones County side – which braved torrid heat in the first half before some cloud cover settled in – to its feet. Anderson’s well executed screen pass to Ragins capped an 88-yard scoring drive that most importantly put JCHS in the lead at 21-15 following the PAT by Brendan Waters with 9:33 to go in the third. Waters, replacing the graduated Evan West, made all three of his extra-point tries on Saturday.
Going against a Northside offensive that was methodical but unable to break many big plays, Jones County had a chance to move toward putting the game away not long after going in front early in the third quarter when it stopped an Eagles fake punt but fumbled the ball away inside the Northside 40-yard line.
JCHS didn’t miss out on its next opportunity. Ragins did damage on the ground early in the fourth quarter, going up the middle from four yards away on fourth and one to extend the lead to 27-15 with 8:45 to play.
The Eagles, converting a pair of fourth downs, drew within a touchdown with 4:25 to go, but Jones County kept firm possession of the ball, running the clock out for the win.
