Houston County holds off Mays in thriller

WARNER ROBINS -- There was a safety, a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown that was called back, a kicker making a pair of touchdown-saving tackles, missed extra points, big plays and powerful runs.

The game that had pretty much everything had a little bit more for Houston County.

Mays scored with about three minutes left to pull within two, but Houston County was able to run out the clock for a wild 42-40 win over the Raiders in a GHSA Class AAAAA second-round playoff game Friday night.

Houston County head coach Von Lassiter was a combination of excited and exhausted after watching his Bears trail early and then have to constantly hold back the Raiders.

"I thought it was going to be a war," said Lassiter, whose third-ranked team improved to 11-1. "With all the hard times our guys fight through in the weight room, they know how to fight."

Houston County will play at Allatoona in the next round.

Chris Brinson's power run -- and he had a night full of them en route to 98 yards on 25 carries -- for a 4-yard touchdown gave Houston County a 27-19 lead with 6:05 left in the third with the Bears running almost five minutes off the clock. But on the second play of the ensuing drive, Mays quarterback B.J. Phillips connected with Randrecous Davis for a 51-yard touchdown. The conversion failed, and the Raiders were within 27-25.

And then they were ahead. Antonio Grier stormed in from the right defensive side and blocked a punt, which Myles Reid recovered in the end zone, about 15 yards away, for a touchdown. This time, the conversion -- Santonio Mapp's pass to Davis -- was good, and the Raiders had a 33-27 lead with 4:05 left in the third.

The Bears rolled 73 yards on 10 plays, needing only one third down, to answer with Brinson getting the call and bulling in from 7 yards out. Jordan Strevig's kick was good, and the lead returned to Houston County, 34-33 with 1:20 remaining in the third.

Mays moved the ball but stalled and tried a field goal. Stefan Hill blocked it, and Chase Riley took it the distance, but a flag brought the ball back to near midfield. Jake Fromm connected with Jaylen Searcy for 17 yards on third-and-10 -- right after offsetting personal foul and holding penalties -- and Brinson got 3 on fourth-and-3.

Then Amari Colbert stopped and turned, caught a pass on the 10, watched the defender miss and then turned and finished it off for a 16-yard touchdown. But the kick was blocked, and the Bears' lead was 40-33.

A penalty on the kickoff put Mays back at the 8, and Mapp -- who took over for the injured Phillips -- mishandled the snap for a safety, increasing the Raiders' deficit to 42-33 with 6:48 left in the game.

The Bears went three-and-out, and Mays got a 38-yard pass play on the first snap. Three plays later, Mapp broke several tackle attempts, threw short to Davis, and Davis maneuvered through the Bears' defense for a 31-yard touchdown. And Trenton Jamison's kick pulled the Raiders to within 42-40 with a 3:08 remaining.

An 11-yard pass from Fromm to Payton Johnson on second-and-10 and then Brinson's 6-yard gain on third-and-1 a few plays later sealed the Bears' win.

Several Houston County players consoled standout linebacker Tobias Little as he knelt and cried, a common scene as many Raiders had trouble leaving the field after an exhausting game.

"This is what all that work we do in the weight room in the summer, during that late summer," said Fromm, who was 31-of-47 for 379 yards. "We do fourth-quarter stuff in the weight room. This is what it's about, you know. 42-40."

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 11:37 PM with the headline "Houston County holds off Mays in thriller ."