Mary Persons overcomes mistakes, Washington County

FORSYTH -- Friday night was not without its miscues between Mary Persons and Washington County. But it was the homestanding Bulldogs who bounced right back in the face of adversity time after time, overcoming four fumbles to dominate the second half in a 38-14 win.

The Mary Persons defensive unit shined. It allowed just one offensive touchdown to the Golden Hawks, a 19-yard pass from Houston Channell to Markevese Latimer. And while the Bulldogs did allow 216 yards of offense, forcing six Washington County fumbles and snuffing out a third-quarter drive into Mary Persons territory enabled the Bulldogs to run their record to 2-0. Washington County falls to 0-2, its first such start since 2007.

“I thought our kids played hard and played well; they are starting to get a little confidence,” Mary Persons head coach Brian Nelson said.

Mary Persons wasted little time netting a big defensive play in a second half, one that set the tone for the rest of the game. With Mary Persons leading 21-14, Washington County started the second half with possession of the ball. But on the first play from scrimmage, Channell’s pass was deflected by defensive tackle Dan O’Neal, and the ball was caught by Channell, who O’Neal stripped the ball from and ran 22 yards for the score and 28-14 lead.

“I saw the ball pop up in the air, ran as fast as I could and stripped it from the quarterback,” O’Neal said.

Mary Persons clung to its upper hand from there, limiting the Washington County on offense and eating up clock with a rushing effort led by JaQuavious Sims and Zach Harvey, who combined to gain 195 yards on 31 carries. Harvey whose first-quarter touchdown was the game’s first score, scored times overall. He caught a pair of passes in the flat from Jake Johnston in the second quarter, taking both in for 32 and 31 yard scores for a 21-14 halftime lead.

“The team just came together, and we came out and played a good game,” Harvey said.

Washington County greatly hurt itself with mistakes, Dropped passed stopped comeback efforts in the second half, not to mention six fumbles. Channell was 13-of-28 for 211 yards with Latimer proving to be a big target to the tune of 101 receiving yards.

“We don’t make good decisions right now,” Washington County head coach Joel Ingram said. “We don’t play together. When the defense gets stops, we go out there and turn the ball over. I told the guys in there, ‘I know there might be other places playing worse ball right now, but for Washington County standards, we’re about as low as we can get.’ We don’t have anywhere to go but up.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 11:33 PM with the headline "Mary Persons overcomes mistakes, Washington County ."