Since early last November, the Greyhounds have been striving to show what kind of team they would be in 2026.
A strong crowd gathered Friday at Greyhound Field for a glimpse of just that, and Jones County showed strong play on both sides of the ball in easily handling a Jasper County team coming off its best two-year run in school history. Jones County won the scrimmage in an officially recorded score of 31-7.
With a week off on Friday, the Greyhounds open the season next Friday against Valdosta. The Wildcats are America’s winningest high school football program and a semifinalist in the state’s largest classification a season ago.
JCHS showed signs of what style of football it intends to put on display next week, holding the Hurricanes down offensively, other than a lengthy pass play on the opening drive and a score late in the third quarter, just before the score was not officially kept in the fourth with reserves on each side rotating in to get valuable snaps.
Offensively, the Greyhounds were able to push Jasper around up front, and the JCHS stable of running backs took advantage, rushing to a pair of first-half touchdowns, the first from 36 yards away by Kaden Canty. Another came in the second quarter from four yards away by Travis Miller set up by a 55-yard blast up the middle by Laquan Pendleton.
But the JCHS offense was more than just its bevy of running backs showing their leap forward from last year to this year. Quarterback Jonathan Hurley also showed his ability to mix up the offensive diet of plays with the added element of mobility. That overall offensive effort helped the Greyhounds score 10 points in the final 1:39 before the half as after Miller’s touchdown, Jones County drove for a 25-yard field goal by Jacob Watts and 17-0 lead.
Jones County added two more third-quarter touchdowns, one as Cayden Gilmore hauled in a long pass coming out of the break and the second with Jayden Richardson’s catch at the one-yard line, setting up a one-yard score by Daniel Pace.
Laquan Pendleton digs upfield for yardage during Friday’s preseason action.
BRAD HARRISON/Staff
