For those Greyhounds fans that have been unable to follow Jones County on the road since their multi-game win streak, they were able to see first-hand why the Greyhounds are now tied for the region lead during Friday’s 65-7 homecoming win against Union Grove with the purple and gold dominating on both sides of the ball.
The win is Jones County’s fourth in a row, improving it to 4-3 overall and 3-0 in the region, tied for first place with Warner Robins. Those two teams play in the Greyhounds’ regular-season finale on Oct. 30.
JCHS plays Friday at Perry. The Panthers are 2-4 overall and 2-1 in region play, having lost 35-19 to Ola but beaten Locust Grove 57-14. The Panthers have given up at least 35 points in each loss this season, but the loss to Ola was the only time this season that Perry was held under 20 points.
“They’ve got skill guys that can be dangerous, and they can score points anytime,” Jones County head coach Justin Montgomery said. “When you have weapons like that, your work is cut out for you going up against teams like that.
“They’re well-coached, and are coming off a bye week. They’ll be ready for us.”
With the Panthers’ ability to score points, going up against Union Grove this past week could prove to be well-timed for Jones County.
The visiting Wolverines presented by far the most-determined opponent to throw the ball that JCHS has seen all season, opting to pass the ball 45 times and run it just 13.
And that leaning toward the pass added up to 262 yards against the Greyhounds.
“You look at their record and think, ‘OK, they’re not going to be able to do a lot,’ but they’re very dangerous on offense,” Montgomery said. “They have two really good receivers and a quarterback that can make every throw on the field.”
Those bursts of offense on the perimeter, however, were no match for Jones County’s overflowing stable of running backs on Friday at Greyhound Field.
The Hounds’ three-headed running back monster of Kaden Canty, Travis Miller and Laquan Pendleton saw a fair share of time on Friday. Canty rushed the ball seven times for 60 yards and three touchdowns. Miller rushed five times for 44 yards and a score. Pendleton maximized in the yards-per-carry department, having 33 yards on three carries to average 11 yards. But in a game where Jones County led 58-7 at halftime, it was able to get its younger players into the game earlier than usual.
Enter Daniel Pace, who rushed it 12 times for a team-high 129 yards and two touchdowns along with Michael Mallory chewing up yards late with 25 yards on nine carries.
“He’s a freshman kid, and he’s done a great job whenever he’s gotten the ball in his hands,” Montgomery said of Pace.
As a team, the Greyhounds rushed for 306 yards, more than sufficient to outscore Union Grove.
Jones County wasted little time jumping out front on Friday. A fumble recovery in the second offensive play from scrimmage gave the Greyhounds the ball at the Wolverines 24-yard line, and JCHS quickly jumped on the opportunity, going up 8-0 on a 24-yard pass across the middle from Jonathan Hurley to JR Richardson. Good field position led to another Greyhound score with 7:12 left in the second, ending a 34-yard drive after a Union Grove punt for a 15-0 lead.
Hurley did more than enough to prevent Union Grove from stacking the box on Friday, completing 5-of-7 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown.
But Union Grove got its outside passing game going, getting downfield with big plays along the outside as well as a handful of defensive penalties.
It was a first half that gave Jones County coaches plenty to harp on at halftime.
“Nick Saban was really good for a reason. He called it ‘rat poison,’ and it’s true. It can crush your football program if you start getting complacent, which is the natural human tendency with success,” Montgomery said. “There were moments where we had to tighten our bow line and do details the right way. There were guys wearing the wrong undershirt, guys with towels hanging down off of their pants, and that’s not who we ware.
“We had to rein some of that stuff in, and it showed in the details of having pass interference and personal fouls and not getting snap counts right. All those little things are things that we cannot afford to have if we expect to be a good football team.”
Union Grove trailed 15-7 with 4:50 left in the first quarter, but key plays by the defensive secondary added with welltimed defensive pressure disrupted the Union Grove passing enough to throw it off its feet.
“Defensively we all came together,” Jones County defensive lineman Brandon Jones said. “We just came out and played like a team.”
That helped JCHS score twice in final four minutes of the first quarter to lead 30-7, first on a one-yard run by Pendleton set up by a catch inside the 20 by Rashad Williams and the second being a 10-yard run by Canty.
The punishing ground game continued into the second quarter with Canty adding a 16-yard touchdown run for Jones County, which would also build on a 44-7 lead with an interception return for a touchdown by Hunter Hardwick with 6:05 to go until halftime, stretching the Jones County lead to 51-7 before Pace sprinted 64 yards for his first touchdown and a 58-7 Greyhounds advantage before halftime. Pace added his second score from a yard out in the fourth quarter.
“I thought that the offense moved it well, and Hurley made some nice throws. JR, Rashad and those guys, they did a nice job coming down with the ball when they had opportunities,” Montgomery said. “Our O-line did a great job of opening lanes for our backs. Defensively, we did a good job of making them earn it all the way down the field.
“We made them make contested throws, which is what I was after. We knew we’d have a dogfight on our hands against them.”
