Comments (0) | |

Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Gore keys Greyhounds to victory

GRAY — It could have been easy to mistake the evening for a Fourth of July celebration with the offensive fireworks that were being displayed at Greyhound field.

Terrance Gore ran for 253 yards with four touchdowns, and Cody Lanford ran his only carry of the night 75 yards for the go-ahead touchdown as Jones County retained its chances at a winning season and a shot at the playoffs with a 42-35 victory at Greyhound Field.

“As hard as these guys have played, it’s so big that they know they can’t have a losing season, but we’re still focused on having a winning season overall,” Grehounds head coach Dwight Jones said.

Late in the third quarter, Gore took the handoff to the right side, turned the corner and outran anybody near him to tie the game at 35. The defense forced a three-and-out, and Gore took a handoff to the right again, until he pitched the ball to Lanford on a reverse. The move fooled the Trojans’ defense that allowed Lanford to lumber downfield for the winning score.

Heading in to the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 35, and it appeared Lee County would simply march downfield to take the lead. At that point, Trojans quarterback James Walker had completed 22 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown.

In the final quarter, however, the Greyhounds’ defense held firm, getting two sacks and harassing Walker into a 2-of-10 for 15 yard performance that sealed the win.

“Our normal defense is based around stopping the run,” Greyhounds strong safety Cody Lanford said. “We had to make some adjustments, such as playing a 3-3-5 defense, because we’ve never played such a pass-happy offense before.”

Late in the third quarter, one of the Lee County’s best defensive linemen was ejected for an unsportsmanlike penalty, forcing a change in the alignment that aided the Jones County attack late.

“They lost some size in the matchup,” Greyhound center Rashad Norman said. “I had to protect our gaps up the middle all night, and while (the ejected player’s replacement) was faster, all I needed to do was get my hands on him.”

The game featured a clash of offensive styles. Lee County threw the ball all night, whereas Jones County preferred the running game. Both teams had their way for most of the evening, as they combined for 889 yards of total offense.

The Greyhounds amassed 446 rushing yards behind the efforts of Gore and freshman T.J. Fuller, who started because of two injuries and added 106 yards.

“Our offensive line block perfectly tonight,” Gore said. “I always have to give them so much credit all of our success.”