Washington County’s House of Pain painful to Southwest

The House of Pain claimed another victim Friday night.

A place where visiting teams’ hopes for region titles and postseason glory have come to an end plenty of times through the years, Washington County crippled Southwest’s bid for the GHSA Region 3-2A crown, which would have been the first region title in program history. The Golden Hawks’ 21-0 victory gave Washington County (7-1, 4-0 Region 3-2A) sole possession of first place in the region with two games remaining, a game ahead of Southwest (4-4, 3-1) and effectively a two-game lead on Dublin (7-2, 3-2) and Dodge County (4-5, 3-2).

Washington County held Southwest to 103 yards of total offense, including just 26 in the second half.

Sophomore running back Corteveyas Mitchell ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns, while Darius Tucker ran for the other score.

A win next week over Northeast or in two weeks over Dublin gives Washington County the region title. The Patriots, whose final two opponents are have a combined 3-13 record, will finish no worse than second with wins over East Laurens and Bleckley County.

Three who mattered

Mitchell: The sophomore had a breakout game, scoring both of his touchdowns on second efforts after Southwest made initial contact. He had a 19-yard touchdown in the second quarter and broke free for a 37-yard score in the third.

Dedrick Brown: The senior defensive back made a key interception two plays after Mitchell’s first score. The pick near midfield quickly turned into a second Washington County touchdown.

Jake Helton: Washington County’s sophomore quarterback didn’t throw it much, completing 4-of-6 passes for 25 yards. But he kept the Golden Hawks’ running game operating fairly cleanly, with a 56-yard run on the first play following Brown’s interception that took the ball to the Southwest 1 being his biggest play of the night.

Turning point

Brown’s pick, followed by Helton’s run. A game that had been a scoreless deadlock for 18 minutes turned into a commanding 14-0 lead for the Golden Hawks in a span of 1 minute, 45 seconds, and Southwest made no serious scoring threat after that.

Observations

Those sophomores: Washington County head coach Joel Ingram has been looking for some players to step up ever since the Golden Hawks’ 2014 Class 3A championship game run, and the Golden Hawks’ sophomore class is producing several players who are answering that call. Mitchell and Helton are among the big sophomores on offense, while players like linebacker Preston Daniels are coming up with big plays on the defensive side.

Southwest shut down: Southwest quarterback Jordan Slocum completed just three passes that went for more than 10 yards. His ability to stay in the pocket diminished as the game went on, thanks to a strong Washington County defensive front, and he wound up losing 30 yards on 10 carries. Southwest was held to one first down in the second half.

Small penalties, big frustrations: Southwest was assessed 40 yards in penalties, itself not a big number. But all of that yardage came on 5-yard penalties, mostly for false starts and illegal procedure.

Worth noting

Back home for the weekend: Former Washington County quarterback A.J. Gray, who led the Golden Hawks to the Georgia Dome two years ago, was in attendance Friday. The Georgia Tech sophomore defensive back has 30 tackles, tied with Lamar County product Lance Austin for third on the team.

They said it

Mitchell on making second efforts: “You can’t give up. On the 1-yard line, I just kept going.”

Mitchell on the importance of the victory: “It was a big game. Our coaches told us coming into the game to stay focused. We showed up and played (Friday).”

Ingram: “Everything that happened was set up by our defense. The coaches and players had a lights-out effort, and offensively we capitalized on that.”

Southwest head coach Joseph Dupree: “When you play in a game like this, you’ve got to execute for four quarters. We didn’t do that, unfortunately. Washington County did, and they came out on top.”

What’s next?

Southwest hosts East Laurens on Thursday at Henderson Stadium, while Washington County travels to Thompson Stadium on Friday to take on Northeast.

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 11:43 PM with the headline "Washington County’s House of Pain painful to Southwest."