Mary Persons pulls away from Lamar County

BARNESVILLE -- It had its imperfections, but at the end of the night, Mary Persons’ performance Friday, especially in the second half, was good enough to dispose of Lamar County 20-7 and run its record to 3-0.

The Bulldogs once again overcame self-inflicted miscues, fighting past 73 yards worth of penalties and just two first downs and 73 offensive yards in the first half.

“(Lamar County) did some stuff in the first half, and we really didn’t come out and play real well in the first half,” Mary Persons head coach Brian Nelson said. “We tried to regroup a little bit at halftime and just try to come out and re-establish ourselves as who we are.”

Lamar County falls to 1-2, with both of its losses coming to GHSA Class AAAA teams -- Mary Persons and Howard.

The Bulldogs turned things around to begin the second half. Even though a lengthy drive ended on a fourth-down pass by quarterback Jake Johnston from the 5-yard line that was broken up in the end zone, the series set the tone for a better part of the second half. The Bulldogs put together 158 yards of offense in the second half and most importantly, a pair of scores to break a halftime tie at 7.

Coming up short on fourth down led to Mary Persons’ go-ahead score. A punt from deep in Lamar County territory enabled the Bulldogs to take over near midfield. And after a handful of big runs by Jaquavious Sims, Sims took it in from 2 yards out for a 14-7 Bulldogs lead. Sims had 17 carries for 80 yards.

“We were playing on the short end of the field for pretty much the whole first half,” Nelson said. “Then we got some field position, got down the field and said, ‘Let’s go for it.’ We had the play we wanted, it just didn’t work out. I think that just established things a little bit there in the second half.”

The Bulldogs took control in the fourth quarter when Johnston connected with Roger Akins on a 44-yard scoring strike. Johnston was 11-of-17 for 95 yards with no interceptions.

The Trojans did have a chance to draw within a score late. A long pass from quarterback LJ Smith to Malik Collier got Lamar County into the red zone, but the drive fizzled thanks to the Mary Persons defense keeping up a solid effort that limited the Trojans to 140 yards and six first downs. Juan Tucker led the Trojans on the ground with 83 yards but managed just 12 in the second half.

“It was just execution; we had way too many penalties, offensively, too many pre-snap penalties,” Lamar County head coach Jamie Abrams said, referring to the Trojans’ 12 penalties for 77 yards.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 11:27 PM with the headline "Mary Persons pulls away from Lamar County ."