ADEL – The Cook Hornets finished their regular season with a bang Friday night by beating the Mitchell County Eagles, 65-32.
Their point total was the highest of the season, and it was the first time that Cook (7-3, 5-3) had put up 60 points since 2001, when they did it twice in wins over Irwin County and Dooly County.
Mitchell County (4-6, 2-6) scored first in the game and actually held the lead for four and a half minutes. The Eagles’ first touchdown came 39 seconds into the game, when Collin Florence hit Charles Thomas for a 55-yard touchdown pass. Sanford Seay converted the extra point and the Eagles held a 7-0 lead.
Cook wasted no time answering back, as Thad Williams scored on a four-yard touchdown run with 9:30 left in the first quarter. The play was set up by a 46-yard run from Shannon Brown. Will Dobbins missed the extra point and Cook was down by one, 7-6.
Less than two minutes later, Williams scored again, but this time it came on the defensive side of the ball. Florence dropped back and floated a pass to the flats, and there to pick it off was Williams, who returned the interception 83 yards for the touchdown.
Jawon Smith ran in the extra point and Cook took the lead for good, 14-7.
It would only take less than three minutes Cook to strike again. This time, Jawon Smith scored on a 13-yard touchdown run to cap off a seven-play, 53-yard drive.
The Hornets had gotten great field position when Waylan Chester kicked the ball short on the kickoff and Ladale Abernathy scooped it up for Cook. Dobbins made the extra point, and with 4:52 left in the first quarter, Cook held a 21-7 lead.
The Hornets would score one more time before the end of the first quarter. With 47 seconds to play, Roy White spun up field, bouncing off tackles, for a nine-yard touchdown run, giving Cook a 27-7 lead.
To start the second quarter, the Eagles would score their second touchdown, this time on a nine-yard run by Florence, making it 27-13.
Ninety seconds later, the Hornets would answer yet again, this time on a 34-yard touchdown run by Jawon Smith. Smith ran left, then bounced back to the right and was off to the races for the score. James Hayes ran in the two-point conversion to give Cook a 35-13 lead.
One minute after that, the Eagles would score again, this time on a 19-yard pass from Florence to Thomas, cutting Cook’s lead to 35-20.
The Eagles scored again with 4:26 to play. Florence found Nicholas Hodge for a 31-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed, but Mitchell was closing in, 35-26.
Just over a minute later, the Hornets scored the final points of the half. After two runs by Smith that totaled 42 yards, Williams scored on a 22-yard run. Tevin Sims ran in the two-point conversion and at the half, Cook led, 43-26.
The scoring didn’t slow down in the third quarter. The Hornets came out after halftime and dominated every snap against Mitchell. In the third quarter, Cook allowed zero rushing yards on four carries and one passing yard.
Mitchell’s quarterback, Florence, was hurt by a big block from Thad Williams near the end of the first half and did not return. Hodge replaced him at quarterback, but was unable to get the offense going.
On offense, Cook put together 22 more points and scored on three of its four drives. Jawon Smith had two runs for 82 yards and two touchdowns in the quarter.
On the second play of the half, Smith scored on a 58-yard run, then he scored on a 24-yard run with 4:07 left in the half. Tim Rowe threw a first two-point conversion to make the score 51-26, and Dobbins’ extra point on the second touchdown made the score 58-26.
The third touchdown of the quarter, and Cook’s final touchdown of the game, came with just 15 seconds left. Junior Killean Thompson scored on a six-yard touchdown run.
In the fourth quarter the mercy rule went into effect, but Mitchell was able to score one last time. Kyran Smith scored on a seven-yard run with six minutes left to play.
The Hornets put up 439 yards rushing and 521 total yards of offense. Jawon Smith had 181 yards and four touchdowns on 11 carries. Shannon Brown had 105 yards on seven carries and Thad Williams had 48 yards and two touchdowns on five carries. Roy White had 76 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
Cook will now face the Region 3-AA Champion Swainsboro Tigers (9-1, 6-1) in Swainsboro on Friday night.
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Cook takes shootout with Mitchell, 65-32
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