Fromm, Houston County dominate South Effingham

WARNER ROBINS -- There was Houston County, cruising along into the red zone on its first possession ... and fumbling inside the 5.

And there was Houston County, cruising along into the red zone on its second possession ... and fumbling.

The Bears more than got over the early control problems, scoring on their next five possessions en route to a 53-6 rout of South Effingham in the first round of the GHSA Class AAAAA playoffs Friday at McConnell-Talbert Stadium.

"I still think we could have played better," Houston County head coach Von Lassiter said. "I'm not really satisfied with the way we played, especially early on."

The third-ranked Bears improved to 10-1, and they'll host Mays next week in the second round. Mays, which broke Jones County's hearts with a 44-41 win in the quarterfinals a year ago, beat Creekview 31-0. South Effingham's season ended at 7-4.

Early possession struggles aside, Jake Fromm had a relaxing evening, completing 31-of-44 passes for 467 yards and seven touchdowns. Six teammates caught at least four passes, and they each hauled in at least one pass of 24 yards or more.

Eli Watson caught four passes, three four touchdowns.

"Some of their DBs weren't as fast as us," said Watson, a junior. "Just pitching and catching."

It wasn't completely relaxing for Fromm, who spent a fair amount of the night being chased by an impressive Mustangs' defense that forced him into an odd 12-yard loss on one pass.

"They were loading the box," Lassiter said. "They were making us throw the ball to win, and we did."

Houston County's second 50-point game of the season didn't start out well on offense, even after a safety recorded by its defense on South Effingham's first play. The Mustangs did nothing with the two fumbles against a Bears defense that had another bruising night.

A good sign came six plays before Chris Brinson went in from 2 yards out for a score when Fromm scrambled, used a stutter-step move on a South Effingham defender and gained 14 on third-and-7.

Alex Sanders' interception set up another Brinson touchdown, a 16-yard pass reception after which Brinson powered his way into the end zone. Five plays later, Rontravious Byron forced a fumble and Bennie Steadman recovered. Brinson's touchdown catch less than a minute into the second quarter was from 25 yards, and Jordan Strevig's kick made it 23-0.

But Patrick Brown found room up the middle on South Effingham's first play after that for a 71-yard touchdown. The Bears countered with a five-play, 68-yard scoring drive capped by Watson's 26-yard touchdown catch.

Soon after, Mack McCullough got a 14-yard sack and forced fumble, covered by Stefan Hill. Then, Watson was on the receiving end of a 2-yard touchdown pass.

The Bears lost 12 yards on a third-down pass on their next trip and punted, only to force a three-and-out courtesy of another McCullough sack.

Darion Anderson's man fell, and he caught Fromm's pass for a 75-yarder, setting up Amari Colbert's 1-yard scoring reception moments later for a 43-6 halftime lead.

Points and yards aside, Lassiter saw a team still a work in progress.

"I know they didn't stop us," he said. "We stopped ourselves. We didn't handle the ball very well; we had some drops. That's not us.

"If we want to win big games, we can't do that."

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 11:28 PM with the headline "Fromm, Houston County dominate South Effingham ."