Fayette County
High School traveled down the road on Friday night to face Starr's Mill
High School, which handed the Tigers a big loss in their first meeting
last year. The Tigers, with revenge on their mind, struck first this past
Friday when Matt Owens threw a 45 yard pass to T. J. Brandenburg. Up until
that point, both defenses did a great job of putting pressure on the quarterbacks
and corralling the offense. After the first quarter, the Tigers led 7-0.
Starr's Mill
drove deep into Tiger territory in the second quarter but got pushed back
due to some penalties. Jon Vickers came on the field and kicked a 35 yard
field goal to narrow the score to 7-3. After penalties for both teams
on their next possession, Fayette County recovered a Starr's Mill fumble
and had John Deraney kick a 41 yard field goal for a 10-3 lead at the
half.
Starr's Mill
started with the ball in the third quarter and gave it right back after
an interception by Donovan Brown. Starr's Mill eventually got the ball
back and got a big run from Recarta Heard, who ran 72 yards for a touchdown.
The Panthers Johnny Edwards intercepted the ball which set up another
touchdown after Heard ran 29 yards and then scored off of a 4 yard run.
He finished with 168 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The Panthers led
17-10 until Steven West tied the game with an 18 yard touchdown run. Starr's
Mill tried their hardest to win the game in regulation but settled for
going to overtime when they were stuck in their own end of the field.
Overtime lasts
for two periods of five minutes, regardless of score. If neither team
scores, the team that penetrated into their opponent's zone the furthest
wins. Starr's Mill kicked to Fayette County and pinned them in their own
end of the field. After the Tigers punted, the Panthers drove it to the
Tigers 21 yard line before the first overtime period expired. Starr's
Mill kicked to the Tigers again in the second overtime period. Jason Earwood
sacked Tiger quarterback Jeff Crisp and then intercepted the ball on the
next play. Earwood, who had taken over quarterback duties at the end of
the fourth quarter after Patrick Mullinix went down with a concussion,
set up a three yard touchdown run by Chris Strauch. Strauch had 107 yards
rushing and the touchdown.
The Panthers
produced 418 yards of offense and held Fayette County to 182 yards of
offense. Jason Earwood led the defense with nine tackles, an interception
and three sacks, while Darryl Burston had 11 pressures on the quarterback
and three sacks. Jake Jones and Andrew Bashakes were the leading tacklers
for the team and Erik Advincula played a solid inside game for Starr's
Mill. The Tigers defense was led by Brian Moore, who had eight tackles
and six assists and Ade Osilaja who had six tackles and five assists.
Starr's Mill
won 23-17 and improved their record to 1-1. The Panthers will travel to
Newnan this Friday to take on the Cougars, while Fayette County will host
Evans. Newnan (2-0) has outscored their opponents 88-33 so far this year
and return several key starters from alst year's squad. Evans went to
the playoffs last year and should be a contender again this year, playing
hardnose football.
Our Lady of
Mercy improved to 2-1 with a 12-3 win over the St. Pius junior varsity
squad last Thursday. The Bobcats are playing a mixed schedule of varsity
and non-varsity games this season and St. pius proved to be a formidable
foe. The Bobcats struck first with a 20 yard touchdown run from Jeff Smith.
Smith had eight carries for 40 yards on the day. St. Pius recovered an
Our Lady of Mercy fumble towards the end of the first half and kicked
a 25 yard field goal to make the score 6-3.
The score stayed
at 6-3 in the second half until Sam Etuk ran for a 60 yard touchdown run.
Etuk finished with 80 yards off of 10 carries. The Bobcats defense stepped
up in the game as well, preventing St. Pius from scoring on a fourth and
goal situation in the fourth quarter. Outstanding performances on the
defense came from Greg Spencer, John Fink, Alex Hooper and Matt Gill.
The Bobcats will host Blessed Trinity Catholic High School on Friday night
at 7:30 p.m.
Sandy Creek
fell to 0-2 on the season after losing to third ranked Oconee County,
17-6. The Patriots continued to have a hard time putting together an offensive
attack. They had a total of 80 yards of offense, 40 of which came from
Kelvin German. The defense gave up a total of 326 yards and limited Oconee
County to three points in the second half. Will Judson ran back a 95 yard
punt return for the Sandy Creek points. The Patriots will have their home
opener on Friday as they take on Pickens.
The Landmark
Christian War Eagles improved to 2-0 with a 34-0 win over Madison Aacdemy,
Ala. Sean Hill had 26 rushes for 173 yards and three touchdowns, while
Dylan Hanes had 20 rushes for 129 yards and two touchdowns. The defense
only allowed 58 yards of offense. The War Eagles will host Athens Academy
on Friday. Pace Christian will host Fayette Christian for their homecoming
game this Friday at McCurry Park at 7:30 p.m. McIntosh, (0-1), had a bye
last week. They will host Morrow at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
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