Harris County stuns Central

Published 11:41 pm Friday, October 19, 2018

HAMILTON, Ga. — The Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets were hoping to see a quick start in their long road trip to Harris County, and to continue their region-leading turnover margin against the most turnover-riddled team in the region that had been outscored 71-0 in its previous region outings. 

Unfortunately for Central, none of that happened. 

On senior night for the Tigers, Harris dealt the struggling Yellow Jackets a blow to their playoff hopes with a 31-15 victory against Central. 

“We have got to learn how to bow our necks against adversity,” Central coach Ashley Henderson said after the game. “Credit Harris for making the plays, but we had opportunities again that we just didn’t take advantage of, and it cost us.”

Big play after big play by Harris combined with a sputtering offense from the Yellow Jackets created a first half deficit Central simply could not overcome. 

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Yellow Jackets moved the ball effectively until penalties killed the drive. Following an exchange of punts, Harris County struck first blood on a tunnel screen to senior receiver Tylique Williams, who turned it into a sterling 36-yard touchdown. 

On Central’s next possession, an errant snap that went past Central quarterback Kalique Guyton for a 24-yard loss effectively killed the possession. After the punt, Harris County struck pay dirt again, as on the first play of the second quarter Williams took another tunnel screen 50 yards for another Tiger touchdown. Harris led 14-0 with the PAT. 

On the ensuing Jacket possession, Guyton was hit as he was attempting a pass, and the ball effectively fluttered directly into the waiting hands of a Tiger linebacker who went 43 yards for a pick-6. With the score and PAT, the Tigers led the shocked Jackets 21-0. 

Central offense finally found some rhythm and did get points on the board before the halftime, as senior kicker Caleb Clark kicked a 26-yard field goal to cut the score to 21-3. However, Harris County moved the ball right back the field to kick its own 25-yard field goal on the last play of the half to push the Tiger lead back out to 24-3. 

It didn’t take Harris County long to strike again on the opening possession of the second half, as with 10:23 left on the clock the Tigers struck another big play, this time a 77-yard touchdown pass. With the PAT Harris led by a surprising 31-3 margin. 

To their credit, the Jackets fought back. Led by Guyton at quarterback, the offense finally found some consistency. Senior running back Quay Edwards was responsible for two touchdowns in the span of just more than two minutes, including a run from the 2-yard line where the ball was knocked out of his hands and rolled into the end zone, only to be recovered by Central for a touchdown. With the scores and missed conversions, Harris led 31-15.

Central missed on several scoring opportunities afterward, couldn’t get defensive stops when they needed them, and could pull no closer. 

“There’s no doubt we’re going to find out what we’re made of in these next two weeks,” a disappointed Henderson added. “We had a great week of practice and felt we had a solid plan coming in. We just didn’t execute when we had to.

“But we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We will have to get back to work on Monday, because we’ve still got a lot to play for. I know we’ve got a good football team here.”