Jones County hopes to keep its focus after big win

It is safe to say Jones County can't sneak up on anyone anymore.

The Greyhounds (6-1, 5-1 GHSA Region 2-AAAAA) head into Friday's game against Evans ranked fifth in Class AAAAA and are coming off a 24-17 win over Houston County to keep them in the region hunt. They are looking to keep the momentum going against a team that has won two of its past three games.

"At this point, Evans is a very good football team that only lost to Warner Robins by two points, so there is no way we can afford to overlook them," said Jones County head coach Justin Rogers, whose team's only loss came to top-ranked Northside. "They have some quality skill players, and we will need to be ready for them. I was a little worried about how we would be after a big win, but the kids came out Monday and were ready to go. We have had a very good week of practice."

Junior quarterback Bradley Hunnicutt has thrown for 1,429 yards and 14 touchdowns with no interceptions, while receivers Nick Singleton and Shareez Hamm have combined for 840 yards receiving and nine touchdowns. The Greyhounds have balance with Chandler Ramage rushing for 645 yards and seven touchdowns so far.

"We feel like we have a lot of weapons, and we usually don't have to have those long drives, because someone usually breaks a long play," Rogers said. "Bradley has grown so much as a quarterback this year that we have been able to put a lot more things in, and Hamm and Singleton are just explosive. And I can't say enough about Chandler. All he needs is a small crease, and he turns it into a big play.

"But really, it is all possible because of the continued improvement of the offensive line."

The defense has also been excellent. Behind 5-foot-8 defensive lineman Torrez Finney, the Greyhounds have given up only 93 points in seven games, with 36 of those coming in the loss to Northside. Finney has been a terror with 58 tackles, 18 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.

"Torrez is so relentless and so good that he is just a nightmare for other teams to try and stop," Rogers said. "If he was 4 inches taller, he would be getting offers from everyone. He is the true leader of this team. But we have a lot of others that have really stepped up. Terell Solomon has done everything we have asked him to do, and then we have guys like Justin Chambers, who has been a role player for most of his career, come out of nowhere this year and become a great player.

"Our plan is to make teams snap the ball again and minimize giving up big chunks of yardage. If we can continue to do that, we should be fine."

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 8:18 PM with the headline "Jones County hopes to keep its focus after big win ."