GREYHOUND FOOTBALL
Even before taking a snap against Perry on Friday, the Greyhounds’ hands were full against a Perry team and its arsenal of skill players and their ability to break a big play.
Injuries, including those to at least three defensive starters – Chandler Harris, Ched Smith and Grayson Lundy – didn’t make it any easier. Despite needing only three plays to get on the board to begin the game and a pair of touchdowns off defensive turnovers, Perry’s speed was too much for Jones County in a 54-21 loss on a night where the Panthers rushed for 435 yards and converted 64 percent of third downs.
“We’re struggling right now. We have six guys hurt, and they have a freaking good football team. They played Houston County really tough and should have beat them,” Greyhounds head coach Mike Chastain said of Perry. “We were right there, playing with them early, but we have six starters out. It was a rough matchup, a little bit. It is what it is; we have to get better.”
The Greyhounds (1-2) return home Friday to host Peach County. The Trojans, who were off last week, are 0-2 following losses to Baldwin and Northside.
“They know that they’ve got to go to work the next day,” Chastain said. “They understand the situation is tough, and it’s got nothing to do with the quarterback. It’s all about having six or seven guys out.”
Injuries weren’t the only thing altering Jones County’s on-field roster at Herb St. John Stadium. A week earlier, the Greyhounds offense was a two-quarterback rotation with Judd Anderson and Devin Edmonds rotating offensive possessions. By Friday, following Anderson’s transfer to Warner Robins, which is in Jones County’s region, Edmonds was the fulltime starter with Cason Taylor elevated to the backup position. Edmonds was 25-of-44 for a career-high 247 yards and a touchdown. He also threw an interception with two other fumbles being forced by hits from behind while throwing. The offensive gameplan ended up being pass-heavy for Jones County, which ended up running the ball 15 times against Perry.
Friday wasn’t Edmonds’ first time as full-time starter.
He started last season’s games against Locust Grove, Eagles Landing and Ola, throwing for 155, 128 and 92 yards in those games. The most attempts he had in those outings, however, was 14, paling in comparison to the 44 against Perry. The fact that Edmonds has seen more time under center since a year ago combined to seeing more time with the first offensive unit can do nothing but help, according to Chastain.
“It’ll probably benefit him a ton because he’s getting all the reps,” Chastain said. “It’ll be really good for him.”
Edmonds showed some early flash against Perry, connecting on two passes in a row to Tyler Stewart, the second being a 32-yard touchdown that along with a Brendan Waters PAT made it 7-0 in just 1:06. Stewart led Jones County’s receivers against Perry, catching seven passes for 100 yards with Zion Ragins hauling in six for 50 yards and Jaivon Solomon bringing in five passes for 44 yards.
But back came the Panthers. After Dakari Anderson got around the side of the Greyhounds defensive for a 50-yard touchdown, a 21-yard Colter Ginn pass and scoring drive of 5:39 ending on an Ahmad Gordon run of five yards made the Panther lead 18-7. That scoring drive was set up when Edmonds was hit from behind as he threw, forcing a fumble. Gordon carried the ball 20 times for 177 yards.
Down 26-7 after a three-yard run by Perry’s Corrion Daniels, who rushed for 164 yards, the Greyhounds fought back. On a fumbled pitch, Jones County’s Tay Lattimore played the miscue perfectly, returning the ball 19 yards to cut the Perry lead to 26-14 with 6:15 left in the second quarter before Perry extended the lead to 33-14 at half. Even after the Panthers continued to have success on the ground in the second half to the tune of three touchdowns, JCHS still competed to the finish. That was especially shown with Javion Butts returning an interception 30 yards for a thirdquarter touchdown to cut the Panthers lead to 40-21 prior to a pair of Perry touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
“They didn’t quit on the game with a lot of things stacked against them with other players out,” Chastain said. “They knew it’d be tough, and they didn’t quit one time. I’m proud of them for that.”
