GREYHOUND FOOTBALL
If there was ever a microcosm of the quick-strike and big-play capability of the Greyhounds on offense and speed on defense, it was flaunted in a big way on Friday against Northside Columbus to open the state playoffs.
With two scoring plays of more than 70 yards and five touchdown passes by Devin Edmonds, Jones County made a laugher out of any thoughts of the first-round matchup being competitive, winning 42-21 after leading 42-7 at halftime.
“First and foremost, I want to thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has blessed us so much with an awesome team and awesome speed and guys flying around on defense,” Greyhounds head coach Mike Chastain said. “I’m just so proud of our guys and thankful that we’re healthy and able to play this game.”
The Patriots two second-half touchdowns came with a running clock in place against Jones County’s defensive backups. The Greyhounds were led on defense by Ched “Boogie” Smith’s six tackles, one sack and one tackle for a loss in addition to Chandler Harris having eight tackles. Daniel Hawk added a sack, and Jayden Simmons also had a tackle for a Greyhounds defense that was greatly complimented by 468 yards of offense, 302 coming from the arm of Edmonds, who hooked up with Tyler Stewart for three touchdowns and Jaivon Solomon having two. Zion Ragins added to the offensive mismatches that Jones County took advantage of, rushing for 131 yards on four carries.
“I feel like every week we have mismatches.
We have some really good speed on offense,” Chastain said. “The key is finding every way possible to get the ball to those guys.”
Now 8-3, the Greyhounds now confront a postseason trip to south Georgia for the second season in a row. Jones County travels to Coffee on Friday for the second round with the winner facing either Cass or Mays in the quarterfinals. Jones County would host if the opponent is Cass, with Mays being determined by a coin flip. All of that, of course, comes down to the current task at hand for Jones County – beating undefeated and top-ranked Coffee. The Trojans ended the season ranked third in AAAAA. With a 10-0 record, the Trojans are enjoying one of the best seasons in school history. They beat defending state champion Ware County to end the regular season for the program’s first region championship since 2015 and fifth for a program that began playing in 1970.
Coffee’s first-round 56-0 win last week against Chamblee was the Trojan’s school record fifth shutout of the season. Just two teams, Bainbridge and Bolles of Jacksonville, have come within 10 points of the Trojans this season.
If there’s a focal point of the Trojans offense, it’s running back Fred Brown, who has rushed for 1,691 yards and 19 touchdowns.
A bruising running back, he broke the Trojans’ single-season rushing record eight games into the current season that had stood since 1997.
“They’re a really good ball club and have a lot of really good players from top to bottom. They have really good players,” Chastain said. “You’re not going to see a ton of crazy D1 talent, but from top to bottom, they’re really good. I’m excited to see what our guys can do against them.”
Jones County put itself into a position to take on the Trojans with a blistering start on Friday against Northside. And it began with some trickery.
After a 40-yard pass from Edmonds to Tyler Stewart got the Greyhounds downfield, a reverse flea flicker found its way to an open Jaivon Solomon in the end zone, and JCHS led 7-0 less than one minute into game.
The Patriots countered with a scoring drive of their own to tie it, but the Greyhounds adjusted to Northside’s use of screen passes and put pressure on the backfield. That allowed Jones County to grease the tracks offensively, getting going with a trio of Ragins runs prior to a 17-yard screen to Stewart, who took it for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead. It was one of three touchdowns for Stewart, who had 171 yards on six catches. The second of those came with 10:15 to go until halftime, getting open in the back of the end zone on fourth down as JCHS lead 21-7.
“Our whole offensive and defensive staff is just doing a great job of putting plans together,” Chastain said. “I’m proud of our coaches and players for doing a great job of executing it.”
Next up? More defensive momentum. A fourth-down stop halted the Patriots offense, and Stewart took a screen pass 71 yards to the end zone two plays later, stretching the Greyhounds lead to 28-7. Then it was time for a big scoring play on the ground. One play after forcing a punt, a pitch to Zion Ragins went 84 yards for a touchdown before a 29-yard pass down the sideline to Solomon capped the first half with a 42-7 lead.
