Irwin County horses too much for Telfair County

Published 9:00 am Saturday, September 22, 2018

McRAE, Ga. — The Irwin County Indians assumed the No. 1 ranking in Class A public earlier this week after defeating Clinch County.

Based on Friday night’s win at Telfair County, it will take a considerable challenge to take that place from the Indians.

Irwin took a 54-0 win against the Trojans, with the 54th marker coming just before the midway point of the third quarter. It was a dominating performance for the visitors on both sides of the ball.

The Indians were only halted by a pair of turnovers and the horn signaling the end of the game. The defense held Telfair to an unofficial 41 yards, with the longest plays from scrimmage being a pair of eight-yard runs. The Trojans had three first downs during the game, three of them because of Irwin defensive penalties. In the third frame, the Indians scored 20 points on eight offensive plays; the defense scored twice.

“They played hard,” said Irwin coach Buddy Nobles, who likely used every man at his disposal on the field. “We got to play a lot of kids.”

Telfair was overmatched from the opening kickoff. In three plays, they lost seven yards, with quarterback Noah Harrelson facing a stiff pass rush.

After receiving the punt, Irwin started a bit slow — it took three plays to pick up the first first down — but quickly settled in, the offensive line gashing huge holes in the Trojans’ defense. D.J. Lundy picked up 11 and eight yards on consecutive runs before giving way to Jay Stanley.

The initial drive, which spanned seven plays and 53 yards, ended with Stanley’s 9-yard gallop into the left corner of the end zone at 7:34. Quarterback Zack Smith booted the extra point and the Indians were off to the races.

Taking the ball again after a punt, it took the Indians only two plays to go from their own 38 to inside the 10. Lundy got the call at the 7-yard line and though he was bumped near the goal line, the hit did not phase him as he stepped to pay dirt. With Smith’s kick at 2:52, they led 14-0.

The second period saw 20 points scored, one of two frames of that amount.

The Indians began their third drive at the end of the first quarter and after flipping ends of the field with the end of the stanza, found the south end equally to their liking.

Smith, who went to the air three times in the first, found his rhythm in the second, hitting three straight passes. A fling to Justin Wells took them from the Trojan 30 to the 14 and on the next play, Smith hit Jamorri Colson on a perfect fade pattern in the back left corner for another score.

Already up 21-0, the Indians did not have to wait long to be satisfied again. Telfair’s first snap after kickoff went off Harrelson’s chest to an advancing Irwin defense. Kam Ward came out of the pile with the ball and Irwin was in business again at the Telfair 23.

Telfair caught a break when Irwin was whistled for a false start, but putting the ball at the 28 only meant that Jay Stanley had five more yards to cover on the next snap. Telfair initially had Stanley trapped on his sideline after a short gain, but the speedster saw a gap and seconds later was near the Trojans side as he darted into the end zone at 8:30. The extra point kick missed, but the lead had expanded to 27 points.

The Indians had one more score in them for the half, a 33-yard run by Lundy at 4:58. Earlier in the drive, he had a 20-yard burst.

Irwin had one more possession in the half, but Trey Bess picked off a Smith pass in the last minute.

The damage continued from the Indians in the third. Lundy, who already had 100 yards at the half, ran for 53 yards on the first play from scrimmage before retiring for the night. Two plays later, Smith made up for the earlier miscue by finding Paulk at the goal line on a pass. Paulk stretched across the line while being tackled to get the score.

Paulk had the last offensive score of the game, but it was not the final Irwin points.

Telfair had one play on its next drive, a three-yard run that ended with Jaelon Bivens running with the ball in the other direction. His fumble return touchdown covered 29 yards. Irwin went ahead 48-0 after the kick.

Courtesy of a pair of defensive penalties, the Trojans stretched their next drive to almost midfield. They could not shake their opponents though, and a fourth-down pass attempt went into Ward’s hands at the 50. Ward took the ball all the way down the right sideline and at 6:47 remaining in the third quarter, the Indians went up 54-0.

Telfair’s offense picked up its fourth and final first down later in the period on a Harrelson run. The teams went to a running clock in the fourth quarter.

Already deep into their bench, Irwin did not score again, but were well on their way as time expired, Marcus Edwards running for 36 yards to the Telfiar 34. Bo Johnson contributed on defense with a fumble recovery and the young Indians also recorded a sack.

Lundy ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. Stanley had six carries for 102 yards and also scored twice. Smith was 7-of-12 passing for 77 yards and two touchdowns. He was picked off once.

Nobles was happy to let his quarterback get in some passing work.

“Throwing is what we need,” he said.

For Telfair, Harrelson went 3-of-11 for nine yards through the air with an interception. He was the team’s leading rusher with 14 yards, all coming on scrambles. Kemond Smith added 12 rushing yards.

Nobles said his defense was “unbelievable.” Many players on offense and defense had big moments. He said it was “what we want to do … kids making big plays.”

Irwin (5-0) will host Charlton County next week. Charlton (4-1) was a 35-7 winner against Turner County on Friday night.