Eventually, East Forsyth was able to mount some semblance of offensive progression during Friday’s first-round of the GHSA Class AAAA state playoffs against Jones County.
All of that, however, paled in comparison to big plays on offense, defense and special teams by the Greyhounds, who led early before turning back a thirdquarter rally by the Broncos prior to pulling away in a 51-21 win in which they rolled up 503 offensive yards.
A road trip into Atlanta is next for Jones County on Friday as it will take on unbeaten Marist, winners in Friday’s first round against Warner Robins.
The War Eagles are ranked No. 1 in AAAA with a defense that has posted five shutouts this season, including three in a row. The only two times they’ve allowed more than 20 points have been the past two weeks in a 60-22 win against Tucker and last week’s first-round win against Warner Robins, 47-25. The win against the Demons was Marist’s second-smallest margin of victory this season, second only to a 23-7 victory against Jefferson to begin the season.
Marist has won state titles in three separate decades under Alan Chadwick, who has been the War Eagles’ head coach since 1985, winning 442 games.
During that span, he has led them to state championships in 1989, 2003 and 2020 in addition to being state runner-up four times. Jones County has never played Marist, but there is a local tie-in. Jones County athletic director Chad Alligood coached against Marist as Northside’s head coach in the second round of the 2022 state playoffs, when Marist won 32-13.
On Friday, JCHS will try to counter Marist in a similar way that they were able to find offensive success last Friday against East Forsyth that also saw DJ Ingram have one receiving touchdown, another via the run to go with a forced fumble on a night in which the Greyhounds took control early.
A short touchdown run by Zacarri Thomas was set up by a 23-yard pass from Greyhounds quarterback Devin Edmonds to Jaivon Solomon on Jones County’s opening drive. It all ended up being a microcosm of what the Greyhounds were able to do on offense, as Edmonds was 22-of-28 for 343 yards and four touchdowns with Solomon hauling in 11 passes for 234 yards.
The opening score gave JCHS early momentum, and that early swing snowballed even more on the defensive side of the ball as, on the Broncos’ second offensive play, Junior Holloway picked off a Brock Szakacs pass for a defensive unit that stood tall Friday against arguably the biggest offensive line that it has faced this year, other than Stockbridge.
“They’re just a special group; they have each other’s back,” Greyhounds defensive coordinator Will Conner said.
That early turnover helped the Hounds extend their lead, as Ingram took a screen pass from Edmonds 14 yards into the end zone for the touchdown, fighting off multiple tacklers for a 14-0 lead set up by a 53-yard pass to Solomon and fourth-down pass to Thomas.
Ahead 17-0, the Greyhounds saw the Broncos string together a scoring drive to get on the board in taking advantage of a turnover deep in Greyhounds territory as a fake punt was snuffed out. Their lead trimmed to 17-7 with 9:43 to go in the half, the Greyhounds needed a big play to swing things back in their favor.
They manufactured just that, scoring twice in the final 1:47 of the first half.
On the heels of a gangtackle sack forcing a punt, Edmonds found Solomon for a 49-yard strike and 24-7 lead. Jones County got the ball back with less than a minute to go, and that ended up being enough time for one more touchdown, as Edmonds arched a deep pass toward the end zone, where Cason Taylor came down with the touchdown catch with 18 seconds to play. Just like that, Jones County led 31-7 at the break.
A pair of run-heavy drives by the Broncos, who ran for nearly 200 yards on the night, sliced the JCHS lead to 31-21 with 2:25 left in the third. The Greyhounds, however, had way too many big plays at their disposal. First it was Ingram, who added to his offensive night by taking a direct snap on fourth and one near midfield into the open field, taking it all the way to the end zone on a 47-yard touchdown run.
“I was just trying to get as many yards as I could,” Ingram said. “I love this team and wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”
Jones County’s special teams kept the ball rolling, as a quick punt was blocked and returned by Thomas for a touchdown and 44-21 lead with 9:27 for the Greyhounds, who tacked on a late score by way of Edmonds connecting with Silas Pittman from 15 yards away.
