Halftime adjustments are meaningful: Aside from Jerin Means’ 63-yard scoring run in the second quarter, Howard struggled to move the ball in the first half against Lamar County. Not counting the big run, the Huskies had just 26 rushing yards to go along with one reception for 11 yards. But head coach Barney Hester and offensive coordinator Milliard Vining drew up a second-half plan that turned the tables. The Huskies threw the ball extensively on their first drive, completing their first three passes to set up a 34-yard touchdown pass by Stephens, and Howard dominated from there.
All in good time: Northside’s Tobias Oliver continues to dazzle as a young quarterback. He had a poor night reading the option, and more of his incompletions than not were solidly off target. Yet all he did was ignore that in keeping the Eagles afloat long enough for as game-winning drive as the Eagles rallied past North Cobb. The 18-point second-half deficit was the largest he had faced as the Eagles’ quarterback.
So far, so good: Windsor didn’t score as many points as it did last year against Bethlehem Christian, but it didn’t allow as many points, either. The Knights’ defense picked off four Bethlehem passes while holding Bethlehem to 63 rushing yards. A stronger tests awaits Friday at Bulloch, a team that has won six or more games in 12 of the past 13 seasons.
Thanks for coming: Fitzgerald and the city spent nearly $500,000 redoing the visitors’ side at Jaycee Stadium. Worth County was the first to try it out. Oh well, at least the Rams were comfy for the 48-27 loss, their third straight in the series.
Raiders reloading: West Laurens lost some serious firepower in quarterback Garrel Quainton and wideout Justin Smith. Big deal. The Raiders’ 45-0 win over Thomasville was their biggest margin since a 67-7 thumping of Telfair County in 2009.
A head-shaker: Low-scoring games at Dublin since Roger Holmes took over are few and far between, so Friday’s 3-0 win over Laney is a rarity. The number of Dublin games since Holmes took over in which the total points were fewer than 10? Three, the other two coming more than a decade ago, 7-0 over Jones County to open the 2003 season and 3-0 over Mary Persons in 2002.
That third phase: North Cobb and Northside will both work on conversions, more so the Warriors, who couldn’t get one measly kick or two-point play Friday. The Eagles went 2-for-4, getting a kick and a run. Had the Warriors managed one or two, it would have made the math more frustrating for Northside.
Comments