Chris Brinson paces Houston County football victory

WARNER ROBINS -- Chris Brinson scored four touchdowns in the first half as Houston County overcame a sluggish start to defeat Grovetown 34-3 in a GHSA Region 2-AAAAA matchup Saturday at McConnell-Talbert Stadium.

Houston County (2-0, 1-0 region) trailed 3-0 midway through the first quarter but scored 34 straight points to go into halftime with a comfortable lead.

The clock ran continuously in the second half, and the Houston County starters did not see the field in the final quarter.

“I thought we were lights out defensively, especially in the first half when we held them to negative yards rushing the football,” Houston County head coach Von Lassiter said. “Offensively, well, I know it’s tough to complain too much when you win 34-3, but I still don’t think we are really clicking yet. We are doing some good things, but we have to be more consistent. But we still found a way to get through it and score some points. But again, hats off to our defense.”

Grovetown (1-1, 0-1) took advantage of a failed fake punt by Houston County on the Bears’ first possession and took over on the Houston County 44.

The Warriors moved the ball to the 20 before the Bears’ defense stiffened, and Noah Gilbert kicked a 39-yard field goal to give Grovetown the early lead.

Houston County quarterback Jake Fromm struggled early, completing only 2-of-8 passes, but he got things going on Houston County’s third possession. He hit 4-of-5 passes on the drive and connected with Jaylen Searcy for 40 yards on a fourth-and-8 play put the Bears ahead.

For the game, Fromm completed 12-of-26 passes for 212 yards.

Grovetown (1-1, 0-1) fumbled the ball on the second play of its next possession, and it took Brinson only two carries to cover 18 yards to make the score 14-3.

The Warriors once again fumbled the ball back to the Bears, and Fromm, who threw for 189 yards in the first half alone, hit Brinson on a screen pass for a 30-yard score to make it 20-3.

Grovetown was unable to move the ball for the rest of the half, which led to two more Brinson touchdown runs, the first one from a yard out and the second one a 10-yard scamper.

The Warriors ended the game with only 73 yards of total offense.

Houston County travels to Richmond Academy on Friday before taking on Warner Robins on Sept. 18.

This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Chris Brinson paces Houston County football victory ."