Chad Campbell likes what he sees from Peach County in win over Southwest

FORT VALLEY -- Peach County head coach Chad Campbell just wanted a little bit of consistency from his team.

The Trojans found that consistency for the most part Friday, using their running game and a stifling second-half defense to help secure a 35-12 victory over Southwest.

“I thought we saw things become a little more consistent throughout the night,” Campbell said. “Of course, we still have a long ways to go, but we didn’t turn the ball over, ran the ball, threw the ball well. I just thought we did some things really well.”

It was just a matter of time before Trojans quarterback Tyrique McGhee put his fingerprints on the outcome of the game, and he did it often. Late in the third quarter, McGhee took the snap on a fourth-and-3 from the Southwest 25 in for a score to push the Trojans’ lead to 28-12.

Earlier, McGhee scored on runs of 1 and 10 yards, respectively, but he wasn’t alone in the backfield. Trojans running back James Jackson scored on an 8-yard run on the opening drive of the game and racked up 160 yards on just 16 carries.

McGhee completed six passes for 75 yards and rushed eight times for 80 yards.

“I thought we ran the ball really well,” Campbell said. “We had some mistakes where we shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times with bad snaps. We can’t continue to do that. But overall, I thought we played well. I thought we got better (Friday).”

Peach County’s Shemarcus Redding aided in the second-half shutout, recording an interception and returning it 59 yards for the final score.

Southwest freshman quarterback Jordan Slocum played well again, but the Patriots couldn’t manage to sustain drives long enough to score.

Slocum completed 12-of-17 passes for 181 yards and accounted for two touchdowns, including one on a 50-yard strike late in the second quarter to receiver Markess Burton, who was streaking down the right sideline to cut the Patriots’ deficit to 14-12.

“I think (Peach County) came out and showed they wanted it more than we did,” Southwest head coach Joseph Dupree said. “They played with a little more heart than we did. You have to take advantage of opportunities in the red zone, and we didn’t do that. You only get one opportunity to score against a team like Peach in the red zone, and we didn’t do that enough.”

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 11:16 PM with the headline "Chad Campbell likes what he sees from Peach County in win over Southwest ."