GREYHOUND FOOTBALL
Greyhounds blank Union Grove to earn playoff date at Ware County
MCDONOUGH - With its postseason fate on the line, Jones County didn’t waste much time in casting away any seeds of doubt on Friday against Union Grove.
In what amounted to a postseason play-in game, the Greyhounds scored twice within the first six minutes, firmly taking control and never giving it up in a 30-0 win as Javious Bond had three touchdowns and Zion Ragins caught seven passes for 108 yards.
The fact that Jones County started quickly was not a random occurrence. With Union Grove’s offense being one that predicates itself on taking time off the clock, the Greyhounds knew that they’d have to make the most of it when they had the ball.
“We felt like they hadn’t given up many snaps per game. They give up around 40, and we’re probably around the mid-60s. That’s really unusual,” Greyhounds head coach Mike Chastain said. “We knew we had to take advantage of every chance we got and needed to get out front and set the tone early.”
Friday’s win was Jones County’s second shutout of the season, a rebound for a group that endured a tough outing the week before against Warner Robins.
“They were definitely biting at the bit and ready to get back at it,” Greyhounds defensive coordinator Robert Braucht said. “They were excited to get back out there. Any time you see the wing-T, you know your kids have to be disciplined.”
Its spot in the postseason secure, Jones County opens the playoffs on road Saturday at Ware County with kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. The winner of that game would face McIntosh or Chamblee. Should the Greyhounds beat Ware County, Jones County would play on the road.
The top-ranked Gators are 9-0 CONTINUED FROM>> B1
on the season, having most recently beaten Coffee 31-6 on Friday to win the region title. Ware County boasts one of the state’s top defensive units, a group that has given up more than 10 points in a game this season.
“They’re very athletic, run to the ball really well on defense. Their quarterback throws the ball pretty good,” Chastain said. “They have playmakers at receiver; they’re a good little ball club. We just have to go down there, play our game and do what we do well.”
Saturday will be Jones County’s first postseason game played outside of middle Georgia since a 2018 mud and water-ridden loss at Bainbridge.
The Gators offense is led on the ground by Daejeaun Dennis, who has rushed for 778 yards, averaging 7.8 yards a carry, and RJ Boyd, who has averaged eight yards a carry in rushing for 850 yards. Through the air, Nikao Smith has thrown for 1,750 yards and 19 touchdowns, being intercepted four times with his top receiving threat being Jarvis Hayes with 702 yards and 11 touchdowns.
But Jones County goes into the postseason battle-tested, having faced seven teams that are in the playoffs, three of which have gone on to win their region – Dutchtown, Perry and Peach County.
The Greyhounds set the tone in more ways than one Friday at Union Grove thanks to Zion Ragins. The Wolverines placed the opening kickoff short and paid for that decision as Ragins returned it to the Union Grove 35. Jones County then went to work, running a quick-tempo offense that kept the Wolverines defense on its heels, resulting in a 7-0 lead on a 20-yard run by Javious Bond. It was an advantage that Jones County was glad to have as it was going against Union Grove’s wing-T offense.
“One of the things they do a really good job of is slowing the game down and giving the other team as few snaps as possible. We wanted to really come out and score and really put pressure on them early,” Greyhounds offensive coordinator Josh Herring said. “They are not really a passing football team. We felt like if we could get ahead of them, that would give us a really good chance of winning.”
Then, it was time for the Greyhounds version of keep away, with Jacob Jackson coming up with an onside kick. Jones County took full advantage, going up 14-0 when Bond cashed in on a fourth-down run from two yards away, adding up to a 14-0 Greyhounds lead with 6:25 to go. Bond made the most of his carries on Friday, running the ball 13 times for 44 yards, averaging 3.4 yards a touch.
After a Union Grove scoring drive was turned away on a field goal, the Greyhounds added to the early advantage with quarterback Judd Anderson finding Ragins on a tunnel screen with him taking it 43 yards for the touchdown and 20-0 Greyhounds lead. Anderson had a productive night, going 20-of-28 for 243 yards.
The strong first half closed out with one more Greyhound score with a long pass to Jaivon Solomon setting Bond up for his third touchdown of the night, this one from four yards away.
The Greyhounds added a Brendan Waters field goal in the second half
Greyhounds quarterback Judd Anderson executes a handoff to Javious Bond on Friday.
BRAD HARRISON/Staff
