Peach County rolls over Josey

FORT VALLEY -- Even if just for a split second, thoughts of last year's first-round upset loss made their way into the minds of the Peach County Trojans after an early turnover Friday.

Trojans running back James Jackson and quarterback Antonio Gilbert, however, quickly put those thoughts to bed, as the pair combined for three touchdowns in a 42-0 rout of Josey in the first round of the GHSA Class AAA playoffs.

"I didn't like us being careless with the ball at all," Peach County head coach Chad Campbell said. "But I thought the guys played hard and gave tremendous effort. Our whole goal was to come out here and jump on (Josey) quick, and I thought we did that."

Last season, the Trojans turned the ball over seven times in an upset loss to No. 4 seed Appling County, and things started off eerily similar.

Jackson fumbled inside the Josey 5-yard line just two plays after Peach County's Rodney Howell intercepted a Josey pass and returned it inside the Josey 20. But Jackson made amends for his turnover on the Trojans' next drive, accounting for 45 yards on a six-play, 63-yard scoring drive and capping it with a 4-yard touchdown run.

And after forcing Josey to punt on the ensuing drive, Peach's Tyrique McGhee returned a punt 36 yards inside the Josey 10 to set up a 7-yard scoring run on a Gilbert quarterback keeper. Gilbert added his second scoring run on the second play of the second quarter on a 25-yard run to push the Peach County lead to 21-0.

But the highlight of the game was the Trojans' defense. The Trojans held Josey to just 131 yards and recorded two interceptions along with a fumble recovery.

"Yeah, we've had injuries, but we just have to go play," Campbell said. "We've had guys get hurt every week, but you can't worry about that. I thought our defense stepped up for us and did a great job. We had a shutout on the board, and that's a good thing."

Otha Redding added two touchdowns, a 12-yard run to push the Trojans' lead to 35-0 and then a 72-yard run on the first play of the second half to cap the scoring.

The win sets up a showdown on the road with top-ranked Calhoun next week, and Campbell feels there is no better test for his young, injury-laden team than against the defending state champion.

"What else do you need to say?" Campbell asked. "(Calhoun) is the defending state champions and one of the best programs in the state regardless of classification. If you're gonna get to where you want to be, you have to beat the best teams. They're ranked No. 1 for a reason. We'll go up the road and see what we've got."

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 12:15 AM with the headline "Peach County rolls over Josey ."