Stratford pitches shutout against Twiggs County in sub-region game
The biggest game of the season to date for Stratford and Twiggs County turned into the biggest blowout of the season for Stratford.
And the outcome was never in question after the opening kickoff.
Stratford rode a Jaylan Hughes interception return for a touchdown on Twiggs County's opening drive and never looked back, routing Twiggs County 50-0 on Friday.
"As long as you win, you control your own destiny, and we want to stay ahead of everything," Stratford head coach Mark Farriba said. "This was a big win for us against a good football team."
The win puts Stratford (5-2 overall) atop the GHSA Region 7A-A standings at 3-0 with just two weeks left. The 7A-A winner will host the region championship game Nov. 6.
After forcing Twiggs County into a three-and-out on the second possession, Stratford quarterback Sim Patrick connected with John Michael O'Quinn in the back of the end zone for a 11-yard touchdown pass. Patrick then found O'Showen Williams, who came wide open behind the Cobras' defense for a 51-yard scoring strike to push the Stratford lead to 22-0.
Williams added his second score of the night halfway through the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run. Williams carried the ball seven times for 94 yards, while Patrick completed 3-of-5 passes for 109 yards.
But Hughes and the defense were the stars of the night. A Kelvin Jenkins pass was broken up by Hughes, and as the ball was coming down, teammate Quintez Cephus intercepted it, leading to an eventual Patrick touchdown from a yard out.
And with less than a minute remaining in the half, Hughes recorded his second interception, halting a Twiggs County drive that was moving toward Stratford territory.
The Eagles finished with five interceptions, with Kendall Green and Noah Hill hauling in the other two.
"I saw the ball coming to me, and it hit my hands, and I all I could think about was, 'Go to the end zone. Just go,' " Hughes said. "This was a very big win for us, especially since (Twiggs County) is in our sub-region. We need to keep the momentum from tonight going forward."
Cobras running back Cornelis Morse carried the ball 17 times for 62 yards, and Jenkins completed 9-of-15 passes for 86 yards.
Twiggs County hurt itself early with the interception and a fumble on its third ensuing drive that led to a Stratford touchdown, and head coach Ashley Harden said his team has to go back to the fundamentals to get things headed in the right direction again.
"The pick-six was big, and we couldn't respond," Twiggs County head coach Ashley Harden said. "We have to do the little things right on and off the field. They make the biggest difference and we'll continue to work on those."
This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 10:17 PM.