Christmas was a little more special for nine Lamar County High School football players as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Sports Writers Association (Associated Press) and Macon Telegraph released their end of the year prep football accolades.
Seniors Fredrick Walker and Denarius Rutherford were both on the AJC and AP all-state list as well as the Telegraph's All-Middle Georgia team.
Senior Nick Heminger and sophomore Quay Searcy made AP all-state and all-middle Georgia.
Seniors Maurice Bloodser and Tevin Childs along with sophomores Lance Austin, Lawrence Austin and Tyler Scandrett all landed on the all-middle Georgia list.
Walker, a verbal committ to play at the University of South Alabama and Region 4-AA's defensive player of the year, was named first team AJC all-state, second team AP all-state and first team all-middle Georgia. The nose tackle anchored the Trojan defense and was often double- and triple teamed but still made 45 tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Rutherford, a first team all-region selection, was AJC and AP honorable mention all-state and first team all-middle Georgia. The tight end was one of the top blockers in a Trojan offense that amassed nearly 4500 yards of total offense.
Heminger, also a first all-region player, was named second team AP all-state and all-middle Georgia. The outside linebacker led Lamar's defense with 72 tackles, 13 sacks, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries.
Searcy, another first team all-region pick, was named first team AP all-state and first team all-middle Georgia. He, unofficially, led the state with eight interceptions from his safety position and also had 55 tackles, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and scored a defensive touchdown.
Maurice Bloodser, Region 4-AA's 2010 player of the year and and honorable mention all-region pick this year, made all-middle Georgia honorable mention. The Trojan quarterback carried the ball 75 times for 503 yards and eight touchdowns while completing 29 passes for 518 yards and six scores.
Childs, who did not receive any 4-AA recognition, made honorable mention on the all-middle Georgia team. The fullback carried the ball 144 times for 659 yards and ten touchdowns and caught one pass for ten yards.
Lance Austin, a first team all-region pick, was named all-middle Georgia. He led the Trojans with 834 yards rushing on 84 carries scoring ten touchdowns. He caught two passes for 39 yards.
Lawrence Austin, another first team all-4-AA pick, was picked honorable mention all-middle Georgia. He carried the ball 88 times 825 yards and ten touchdowns. He also had a pair of pass receptions for 67 yards and a score.
Scandrett, yet another first team all-region choice, was also an all-middle Georgia pick. The kicker made 37 PAT tries and seven field goals including the game winner in overtime against Morgan County. He also did a good job of kicking off and giving the Trojan coverage team a chance to prevent the opposition minimal yardage.
Walker and Searcy join Randy Holland, Ron Hinson, Ronnie Barkley, Craig Ogletree, Scott Smith, Alex Richardson and Clarence Respress as the only Trojan players to make first team all-state.
Other Lamar County players named second team or honorable mention all-state include Bobby Barkley, Frankie Phillips, Derrick Jackson, Rodney Fletcher, Terrell Smith, Toreico O'Neal, Roderick Fluellyn, Danny Williams, Jerrell Murphy, Travis McCall, Clifford Respress, Tristen Buckner and Michael Bloodser.
Walker and Rutherford will play in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association North-South All-Star game Friday in Columbus. Rutherfors, Maurice Bloodser and Deonte Barnes participated in the Great Divide East-West game in Macon last week.
The Trojans finished the season 12-1 making it to the GHSA Class AA quarterfinals and had a composite ranking of seventh in the state finishing fifth in the GACA polls, sixth in both the AJC and AP polls, tenth in the Maxwell Ratings and eleventh in the Max Preps poll.
When you have the kind of successful season the Lamar County Trojans just enjoyed in football, the accolades keep coming even after the season is over.
Lamar County seniors Maurice Bloodser (QB), Deonte Barnes (OT) and Denarius Rutherford were all chosen to play in the the Great
Divide East-West Senior All-Star game at the Ed Defore Sports Complex in Macon last weekend. The game featured seniors from middle Georgia schools and was divided by schools on the east and west side of the Ocmulgee River.
All three Trojan players started for the west team and saw extensive time on the field.
It was reported that Bloodser completed about half of his pass attempts and had a few nice runs while Rutherford and Barnes did a good job of blocking for the team's running game. Barnes even had a couple of knockdown blocks.
The west led the majority of the game until the east scored on a long touchdown pass late to take a 15-12 win.
Rutherford has been added to the GACA North-South All-Star game roter joining Trojan teammate Fredrick Walker. That game will be played Friday at Memorial Stadium in Columbus.
Frederick Walker selected to play in GACA North-South Allstar Game Posted by Ken K. Green The Herald-Gazette
Lamar County senior nose guard Frederick Walker has been selected to play in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association North-South All-Star Game in Columbus December 30.
Often double and triple teamed, Walker, named Region 4-AA's Defensive Player of the Year, helped the Trojans win the region championship recording 45 tackles, one quarterback sack, forced a pair of fumbles and recovered two fumbles. He was also used as a blocking back on offense in short yardage situations.
Walker is the first Trojan player chosen to play in the all-star game since Clifford Respress was selected following the 2004 season.
He will play for the South squad which is being coached by Maurice Freeman of Brooks County and will be joined by Region 4-AA Offensive Player of the Year Marteze Waller, a senior running back from Putnam County, on the roster.
The Georgia High School Association placed its member schools into regions last week under its new six classification system. Schools have until this Friday to appeal their placement and request lateral movement within the class they were assigned according to the number of ninth through eleventh graders as submitted by each school in October.
Lamar County will remain in Region 4-AA for the 2012-2014 school year as the GHSA reclassifies every twooyears to accomodate for growth or decline in student enrollment. Lamar is not expected to appeal its region assignment.
Staying with Lamar in 4-AA will be Crawford County, Northeast Macon, Putnam County and Monticello. Joining the region will be Bleckley County moving from 3-AA, along with Macon County and Taylor County, both who now play in Region 4-A.
With its release of the new regions, the GHSA sub-divided each region in relation to proximity but has given each region the vote whether to play full or sub-region schedules. Lamar County athletic director Calvin Scandrett believes Region 4-AA will vote to play full region schedules in each sport.
Gone from what is now 4-AA will be Greene County, who stays in AA but will play schools in the northeastern portion of the state in 8-AA, Morgan County, who moves up to AAA and will play in Region 8-AAA, and Southwest Macon and Pike County, both of who also move up to AAA and will play in Region 2 along with traditional powerhouses Peach County and Carver of Columbus.
With only eight schools in the new region, Lamar County will have to find three non-region opponents to fill out a ten game football schedule. Last week, Trojan coach Jason Strickland was informed by Pike County that the Pirates would not play Lamar for the next two seasons.
Word of the end of the Battle of Potato Creek hit the newspaper web sites for both towns prompting reader response asking why and citing that it was a poor decision considering the 15 mile proximity of the two schools, the rivalry that has gone on between the Trojans and Pirates since 1976 (Lamar leads the series 21-7 but have won only six of the last ten meetings) and the money made in gate receipts and concessions by the host school each year.
24 hours later, Pike coach Brad Webber did an about face and announced the annual rivalry will be renewed as a non-region game week three of the 2012 season. The exact date and site will be determined in January when the schools have line up their region schedule and non-region opponents.
Coach Strickland said he was happy with the region assignment. Prior to the GHSA's release of the new regions, he said he had a gut feeling that Lamar would go west and end up in Region 5-AA with Kendrick, Spencer and Jordan all of Columbus which would mean Thursday road games and virtually little to no gate at home as those schools do not travel well. Also in Region 5 are Chattahoochee County, Manchester, Heard County, Bremen, Bowdon and Temple.
It was believed that Bremen, Bowdon and Temple, all from Carroll County, may be assigned to metro Atlanta's Region 6 because that region has only five schools that play football, one being Hapeville Charter which may not play a region schedule, possibly sending Lamar to Region 5 but the GHSA decided to leave those rural city schools out of the metro, mostly private school league.
Adding Pike to the non-region schedule helps as Lamar's success this season has caused schools to shy away from playing the Trojans, leaving Strickland scrambling to find two more non-region opponents. Ideally, it would be nice to see Lamar be able to schedule schools close to Barnesville to cut down on travel and enhance gate receipts and rivalry, but Upson-Lee, Griffin and Spalding are all in a region that has eleven schools and will probably will play a full region schedule. Mary Persons said years ago they have no interest in renewing a rivalry with Lamar and Jackson has pretty much gone in the same direction.
A full schedule hopefully will be finalized in January when regions nail down their in-region schedules and contract non-region opponents.
For their stellar efforts this season, the Lamar County Trojans placed 14 players on the All Region 4-AA football team. The Trojans went 10-0 in the regular season, 8-0 in the region, and finished the year with a school best 12-1 record that included a pair of playoff wins before a heart-breaking but thrilling 35-33 loss in four overtimes to Appling County in the quarterfinal round.
Leading the way for Lamar on the All-Region team is senior nose tackle Frederick Walker named 4-AA's Defensive Player of the Year. Often double and triple teamed, Walker recorded 45 tackles, one quarterback sack, forced a pair of fumbles and recovered two fumbles. He was also used as a blocking back on offense in short yardage situations. A verbal commit to play at South Alabama, he has also attracted the attention of some larger schools in recent weeks.
Named to the first team were senior offensive tackle Deontae Barnes and senior tight end Denarius Rutherford. Barnes and Rutherford were key blockers for a Trojan offense that amassed nearly 4500 yards of total offense. Rutherford also recorded four tackles and a quarterback sack in limited action on defense.
Sophomore running backs Lance and Lawrence Austin were also selected first team All-Region. Lance led the Trojan running attack gaining 834 yards with 84 carries scoring ten touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 39 yards. Lawrence carried the ball 88 times for 825 yards and ten touchdowns while catching two passes for 67 yards and a score.
The only players who started both ways, Lance recorded 43 tackles, a quarterback sack, intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble on defense while Lawrence had 36 tackles, made two interceptions, forced a fumble, recovered three fumbles and score two touchdowns on defense.
Junior tackle Joe Peters was named first team All-Region on defense. Playing with a non-stop motor comparable to that of former University of Georgia defensive end David Pollack, Peters had 62 tackles including five quarterback sacks while forcing two fumbles and recovering a pair. Peters was also used to block in short yardage situations on offense.
Senior outside linebacker Nicolas Heminger made first team leading the Trojan defense with 72 tackles, 13 quarterback sacks, two forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries.
Also making first team on defense was sophomore safety Quay Searcy who led the team in interceptions with eight picks while recording 55 tackles, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a defensive touchdown. On offense, Searcy carried the ball three times for 55 yards and a touchdown and caught seven passes for 177 yards and another score.
Sophomore kicker Tyler Scandrett made the first team making 37 PAT kicks and seven field goals including the game winner in overtime against Morgan County.
Five Lamar County seniors were selected All-Region honorable mention including quarterback Maurice Bloodser, offensive tackle Johntavious Walker, receiver Jarvis Merritt, linebacker Shavontae Harris and safety Brandon Higdon.
After being name the region's Athlete of the Year in 2010 for rushing and passing for over 1000 yards each, Bloodser unselfishly accepted his role in the Trojans new wing-T offense where his statistics were greatly diminished but he showed great leadership in directing the offense that led to Lamar's success. He carried the ball 75 times for 503 yards and eight touchdowns while completing 29 passes for 518 yards and six touchdowns. In limited action on defense, Bloodser tallied four tackles.
Merritt was the team's leading receiver catching 12 passes for 208 yards and four touchdowns. He also did a great job of blocking on the perimeter to help spring the Trojan running attack.
Harris played inside and outside linebacker racking up 62 tackles including four quarterback sacks while forcing a pair of fumbles. Higdon made 41 stops, intercepted a pass, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. Walker was another important cog blocking for the Lamar offense.
Trojan head coach Jason Strickland received the region's Coach of the Year award. In his fourth season at Lamar, Strickland has guided the Trojans to a record of 27-18 reviving a program that went 12-28 over that same time period prior to his hire. After going 1-9 in his first season, Lamar has gone 26-9 including two region second place finishes and a championship over the past three years.
Although it was not the outcome they had hoped for, the Lamar County Trojans left every ounce of themselves on the natural turf floor in Thunder Alley coming up just short in a heart stopping 35-33 loss in four overtimes to Appling County in the GHSA Class AA state quarterfinals Friday night.
The majority of the approximately 3000 in attendance, including the nearly 1000 who made the 160 mile trek from Baxley to Barnesville for the game, agreed it was, without a doubt, the best football game they had ever seen at any level.
Early on, it looked as if the Trojans would make easy work of the Pirates and advance to the next round as they took the opening possession of the game and drove 66 yards in ten plays to take a 7-0 lead on Tevin Childs one yard touchdown run and Tyler Scandrett's PAT kick.
But the Appling defense rose to the occasion holding Lamar out of the end zone for the remainder of regulation.
The Trojan defense was equal to the task in the first half as they shut down the vaunted Pirate big play passing attack including an interception by Montravious Evans to thwart an Appling scoring threat with 11 seconds to play in the half holding them scoreless for the first two quarters.
Appling, however, made some adjustments and changed their game plan at half time and came out running on their first possession of the second half scoring on a one yard run to cap a four play, 1:48 second drive to tie the score at seven all.
The rest of the half saw both teams go toe to toe like a pair of heavy weight boxers slugging it out to a stalemate although each had its opportunities to score.
After snuffing out an Appling fake punt attempt, the Trojans took over at the Pirate 45 yard line and drove down to the red zone but a halfback pass attempt from Lance Austin to Jarvis Merritt was thrown short and Appling intercepted at the goal line to stop the threat.
With six and a half minutes to play in regulation, the Trojans lined up to try a 42 yard field goal that had plenty of leg but Scandrett pulled it just short of the post. Later in the quarter, Lance Austin dropped what appeared to be a pick six interception as there was nothing between him and pay dirt but air and opportunity.
The Pirates would continue their possession driving into the red zone and appeared to score the go ahead touchdown but the score was negated on a holding penalty. Lamar also had a pair of scoring drives sputter due to illegal chop block penalties. The field was littered with yellow flags all night long.
The Trojans got the ball first in overtime as Appling won the coin toss and elected to play defense. Under GHSA rules, play in the extra periods starts at the 15 yard line. The Trojans scored on a 15 yard pass from Maurice Bloodser. Scandrett's PAT kick gave Lamar a 14-7 lead.
Appling answered tying the score with a six yard run and PAT and took a 21-14 lead in the second overtime on a four yard run and PAT kick.
Lamar tied the game back up in their half of the second overtime with a one yard run by Tevin Childs and took a 27-21 lead on a 12 yard run by Bloodser in the third overtime. The Trojans, however, failed on the GHSA's mandatory two point PAT try after two overtimes as Lance Austin came up inches short of the goalline on a jet sweep.
The Pirates, facing fourth and goal in their half of OT number three, connected on a scoring pass but a pass on the conversion try that would have won the game then fell incomplete.
In the fourth overtime, Appling took a 35-27 lead with a one yard run and the two point conversion. Lamar answered the touchdown on a three yard run by Lawrence Austin but was denied the two point attempt when the Pirate defenders swarmed Austin and stopped him short of the end zone on a sweep attempt sadly ending the game abruptly.
For the night, the Trojans had 290 yards of total offense. 197 coming on the ground led by Lance Austin who gained 65 yards on 15 carries to go along with one pass reception for 24 yards. Lawrence Austin had 12 carries for 47 yards. Jeremy Fletcher carried the ball eight times for 36 yards. Bloodser rushed nine times for 34 yards.
The senior quarterback also completed four of 10 pass attempts for 93 yards, a touchdown an an interception. Searcy had two catches for 54 yards while Merritt caught one pass for 15 yards.
Defensively, Lamar was led by Nicolas Heminger who had nine tackles. Evans and Jason Casling had eight tackles each. Searcy tallied seven tackles. Joe Peters and Shavontae Harris made six tackles each. Lance and Lawrence Austin had five each. Brandon Higdon and Ray Lyons made four each and Frederick Walker had three.
Heminger, Peters and Walker each recorded a quarterback sack. Caslin, Harris, Peters and Lyons had tackles for loss. Searcy and Evans had interceptions.
The Trojans finish the year with a school best record of 12-1. Appling County, also 12-1, advances to the state semi-finals where they will travel to Calhoun to face the 13-0 and second ranked Yellow Jackets this week.
Lamar County will host Appling County this week in the GHSA Class AA state football playoffs after beating Blessed Trinity 28-14 Friday in the second round game at Trojan Field.
After Lamar's Quay Searcy dropped an interception chance of the game's first play from scrimmage, the Titans drove 74 yards on 13 plays converting three third downs and a fourth down to score on a 38 yard pass at 5:34 of the first quarter.
"We were concerned going into the game because of the weather last Wednesday," said Lamar coach Jason Strickland. "We had to practice inside. We knew the quarterback did a great job of playaction stuff and not being able to get outside Wednesday I think affected that for our secondary. Those guys did a great job of adjusting at halftime and played much better the second half."
Blessed Trinity's lead was short lived as Lawrence Austin fielded the ensuing kick-off at the Trojan 29 yard line, started towards the middle of the field, cut back to his left avoiding a couple of would-be tacklers and raced 71 yards down the sideline to the end zone. Tyler Scandrett, who made good on all four of his PAT attempts, tied the score with his kick.
Lamar's defense stepped it up on Blessed Trinity's next possession and got the ball back giving the offense a chance to take the lead. And it looked as if the Trojans had done just that on a long run by Lance Austin but that scoring play was wiped out due to a holding penalty. Later in the drive, Lamar lined up for a field goal attempt but Scandrett's 27 yard kick missed the mark and the Trojans came away with nothing.
The defense again held Blessed Trinity taking the ball back as Searcy stripped the ball from a Titan ball carrier and Nicolas Heminger was there to recover. The Trojans, however, could not cash in on their good fortune as the offense was stopped on a fourth and short attempt to give the ball back.
Blessed Trinity did take advantage of their opportunity on their next possession converting a fourth down on a fake punt play on the way to scoring with just under five minutes to play in the half to take a 14-7 lead.
The Trojans answered with a 91 yard drive that culminated with a one yard scoring plunge by Lance Austin on fourth down with three seconds to play in the half.
With momentum in its corner, Lamar came out of the locker room hoping to take their first lead of the night as they received the kick to begin the second half, but the offense sputtered and went three and out.
Later in the quarter, the defense, which had made up its mind to take matters into its own hands, got its second takeaway of the night as Montravious Evans knocked a ball loose and Searcy recovered and the Trojans would go on to take a lead they would not relinquish as Lance Austin ripped off a 35 yard touchdown run on a fourth down play to put Lamar up 21-14 at the 6:10 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Trojan missed out on an opportunity to double their lead early in the fourth quarter fumbling the ball away at the Titan ten yard line but the defense got it right back when Brandon Higdon intercepted a tipped pass. Lamar went on to put the game away scoring on a 29 yard run by Lawerence Austin with just over six minutes left to play.
Lawrence Austin would finish the game with 11 carries for 87 yards as the Trojans tallied 344 yards on the ground led by Lance Austin who rushed for 162 yards on 15 carries. Jeremy Fletcher had six carries for 42 yards and Tevin Childs added 11 carries for 33 yards.
The Trojans attempted only three passes in the game. All of them were incomplete.
The Lamar defense held Blessed Trinity to just 76 yards rushing while the Titans gained 195 through the air for total of 271 offense.
Searcy was the leading tackler with nine. Frederick Walker and Jason Caslin tallied six tackles each. Heminger had five tackles and Denarius Rutherford added a quarterback sack.
The Trojans, now a perfect 12-0, advance to the state playoffs third round for only the second time in school history. Lamar lost to Cook in the quarterfinals in Adel 27-26 in 2000.
This week's opponent will be the Appling County Pirates from Baxley. The Pirates (11-1) are the second seed from Region 2-AA advancing to this week's game after upsetting Region 8-AA champion North Oconee 26-13 Friday in Bogart.
"Appling County will be a tremendous challenge," Strickland said of the Pirates. "They are as athletic as anyone we have seen since being at Lamar County. We have not faced anyone with their size and speed this year. It is going to be a very different challenge for us".
The Pirates, averaging 27.9 points per game while giving up 11.8, opened the playoffs with a 28-18 win over Thomasville. Their only loss of the season thus far was to Region 2 champion Pierce County 21-14.
In its 19th time in the post season, Appling County has a playoff record of 11-18, their best finish coming in 1999 when they went 13-1 losing to Cartersville in the state semi-finals.
Relying heavily on the pass, the Pirates employ a spread offense with Lashune Moore at quarterback. The best athlete on the team is wide receiver Byron Buxton who recently signed a baseball scholarship with the University of Georgia and is projected to go in the top five of the Major League Baseball draft next year.
"Offensively they just put so much pressure on you", says Strickland. "They live on the big play and have gotten them all year.
Their quarterback has done a terrific job of directing that side of the ball. The kid throws it really well and is very elusive".
Three of Appling's scores against North Oconee Friday came via long passes.
Buxton is not the only threat as Appling has a pair of speedy receivers in flanker Donnell McMillan and wideout Jordan Vann.
Lamar football players Brandon Higdon, Lance Austin, Sidarius Gotell and Antwan Wallace may remember McMillan and Vann who, along with Tevin Fedrick and Kevin Moss, won the state 4x100 meter relay last spring with a time of 42:15. Lamar ran its hear in 44:02.
Defensively, the Pirates base out of a 3-5 front and are very fast and aggressive led by nose guard CJ Nails.
Strickland says he has been impressed with how well they pursuit the ball. "They play with a great sense of urgency. Their line backing corps is very physical and you just don't see them miss very very many tackles".
Appling is coached by J.T. Pollock who boasts a 47-29-1 record in seven seasons all at Appling. The Pirates are 3-3 under Pollock in the playoffs.
Admission to this week's game is $10 as set by the GHSA. Due to school being closed for the Thanksgiving holiday after Tuesday, advance tickets will be sold at the high school and middle school Tuesday from 9 am to 4 pm and at Slice's Pizzeria on Main Street Friday from 11 am to 3 pm. There is no reduced price for the advance tickets. GHSA membership and working media passes only will be honored at the gate. Only infants in arms will bed allowed entrance into the game at no cost.
The third time was a charm for the Lamar County Trojans. After being eliminated in the first round of the state playoffs the past two seasons, the Trojans got the proverbial monkey off their backs with a 35-14 win over Bleckley County here Friday night to advance to round two for the first time since 2001.
"I knew if we didn't get over that hurdle we would not have been as successful as we should have," said Trojan coach Jason Strickland. "The kids played great and our coaches did an outstanding job all night. Our coaches in the box did an outstanding job Friday night. Coach Neal Burkhart, Paul Stokes and Greg Williams don't get enough credit for what they do, but they were probably the difference in the game Friday."
Lamar County (11-0) will host Blessed Trinity of Roswell this week. The Titans are 7-4.
Friday's game started inauspiciously with the Trojans going three and out on their first possession. The Royals did not earn a first down on their first possession either but the drive was extended on a Lamar penalty but ended with a missed field goal attempt.
On the first play of Lamar's next possession, Lance Austin raced 80 yards down the sideline to the end zone for an apparent touchdown but was ruled out of bounds after a 17 yard gain. The Trojans would go on to score on the drive on a 32 yard pass from Maurice Bloodser to Jarvis Merritt. Tyler Scandrett added the PAT kick and was perfect on the night going five for five.
Bloodser completed three of six pass attempts for 64 yards with no interceptions. Merritt caught two passes for 44 yards. Lawrence Austin had one catch for 20 yards.
The Trojans opened up a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 43 yard run by Lance Austin. Austin would finish the night with 118 yards rushing on 11 carries and a pair of touchdown runs.
Bleckley cut the lead in half with 14 seconds left in the first half pulling out the old hook and lateral play for a 19 yard score. The Royals tied the game on their first possession of the second half with a six minute drive that ended with a two yard touchdown run and it looked as if might be deja vu from Lamar's past two playoff appearances when they opened early leads only to have their opponents come from behind for wins.
"When they scored to tie it up, I am not going to lie, some of those thoughts did creep in," said Strickland. "But I also knew if they continued doing what they were doing defensively they were about to have a hard time stopping us."
And he was right as the Trojans responded on their next possession as they went 76 yards in six plays ending with a spectacular 21 yard touchdown run by Lance Austin in which he ran through two defenders and tight roped his way down the sideline for the final five yards for the score.
Lamar went on to score 21 unanswered points to put the game away as Bloodser scored on runs of nine and 16 yards in the fourth quarter and finished the night with 14 carries for 114 yards rushing.
The Royals threatened twice down the stretch, one ended on an incomplete pass in the end zone on a fourth down play and the other on an interception by Quay Searcy with just over a minute to play in the game.
The Trojans would roll up 443 yards of total offense for the game. 379 of those coming on the ground.
Bleckley County gained 190 yards rushing and another 79 via the pass for 269 yards of total offense.
Lawrence Austin led the Trojan defense with nine tackles. Nick Heminger had seven tackles and a sack. Jason Caslin tallied six tackles and recovered a fumble. Shavontae Harris recorded four tackles and a sack.
This week's opponent, Blessed Trinity, is the number two seed from one of the state's toughest region, 6-AA. Two of their losses came to top ranked Buford and one to then third ranked Greater Atlanta Christian. The Titans reached the second round by beating Heard County 44-19 Friday night.
Blessed Trinity averages 23 points per game running a very balanced Pro-I style offense led by junior quarterback Spencer McManus who completed 59% of his pass attempts during the season for over 1200 yards. His favorite receiver is senior Chris Dore who had over 500 yards receiving. Dore also doubles as a defensive back and had three interceptions Friday against Heard County.
The Titans top running back is junior Jordan Denson who rushed for just under 900 yards on the season behind an offensive line that is led by 6'4", 290 pound senior Thomas Pietro.
Defensively, Blessed Trinity is giving up 22 points per game basing out of a 4-3 front that is led by a pair of very active linebackers in senior Liam Walsh and junior Will Slaten. The line is anchored by a pair of seniors in tackle Tanner Dupuis and end Kevin Lynch.
The Titans are coached by Tim McFarlin in his first season at Blessed Trinity. McFarlin spent ten years at Roswell where he amassed a record of 82-34-1. He is 10-7-1 in the post season including taking the Hornets to the Class AAAA state championship where they tied Peachtree Ridge in 2006.
Friday's win over Heard County was Blessed Trinity's first playoff win in four tries.
The winner of this week's game will face the winner of a contest between North Oconee and Appling County. If the Trojans and North Oconee win, a coin flip Saturday morning will determine the site of the third round game. If the Trojans and Appling win the game would be played in Barnesville.
Admission to this week's game is once again eight dollars per the GHSA. Advanced tickets may be purchased at Lamar County High School and Middle School or Slice's Pizzeria all day Thursday and until one o'clock Friday. There is, however, no reduced price. GHSA membership and working media passes will be honored at the gate and only babie in arms will be allowed entry free of charge.
There will be a community wide pep rally for the Trojans Thursday evening at Trojan Field beginning at 6 p.m. Coach Strickland will be doing a live game preview from the stadium on Thomaston's WTGA radio. The pep rally will feature the football team, cheerleaders, marching band and more.
Undefeated Trojans Win Region, Host Bleckley County in 1st Round Friday
Lamar County capped its unbeaten regular season with a 48-6 win over Monticello here Friday night. This week the Trojans open the GHSA Class AA state playoffs by hosting Bleckley County Friday at Trojan Field.
"Friday was a community win," said Trojan head coach Jason Strickland. "That might have been the most inspired I have ever seen our guys play. As a coaching staff we were very proud with how physical our guys were. They played with outstanding effort. That's the mentality of this group."
Lamar's defense came up big once again creating five Hurricane turnovers, two of which directly resulted in touchdowns and Lance Austin and Lawrece Austin each scored on fumble recovery returns. Monticello's lone score came against the Trojan reserves with time running in the game.
Joe Peters, Shavontae Harris and Montravious Evans also had fumble recoveries for Lamar. The fumbles were forced by Harris, Evans, Frederick Walker, Antwan Wallace and Brandon Higdon who walked down a Hurricane runner after a long gain and knocked the ball loose before he could get into the end zone. The Trojans recovered at the four yard line and went on a methodic 96 yard drive for a score.
"I think the play that Brandon Higdon made running down the Thomas kid and knocking the ball out around the goalline and then seeing how many blue jerseys were passionately trailing the play to recover the fumble and after that offensively putting together a 96 yard drive to score a touchdown is maybe the perfect picture of this football team," said Trojan coach Jason Strickland. "I have seen Brandon work that drill at practice over and over and over and then too see him do it in a game, to save a touchdown, was pretty special".
Peters led the defense with six tackles. Harris, Lance Austin and Alex Gardner, a freshman filling in well in the absence of injured senior Tyler Carter, were each credited with quarterback sacks.
The Trojan offense rolled up 339 yards of total offense including 334 on the ground led by Lance Austin who carred the ball five times for 92 yards including a 30 yard run that set up Lamar's first score. Lawrence Austin had eight carries for 73 yards and touchdown runs of 22 and 27 yards.
Tevin Childs added touchdown runs of two and 15 yards among his 11 carries for 49 yards. Jeremy Childs had eight carries for forty yards. Maurice Bloodser rushed four times for 36 yards including a 22 yard touchdown run.
Bloodser complete just one of four pass attempts for five yards to Fletcher.
Kicker Tyler Scandrett missed on his first PAT attempt but made good on six others.
The Trojans missed out on one scoring opportunity on their first possession of the second half fumbling the ball into the Monticello end zone. The 'Canes recovered for a touchback.
This week the Trojans, 10-0 and ranked number seven in this week's Atlanta Journal-Constitution AA state poll, will face a familiar foe in the first round of the playoffs as they host Bleckley County (6-4) who they beat 27-21 in the opening game of the season in Cochran.
The Royals are the fourth seed from Region 3-AA but held the second spot until Friday night when they lost to Jefferson County 35-0. They played without several key offensive players including super sophomore quarterback Tavon Ross who accounts for about 70% of their attack having racked up nearly 2,000 yards running and throwing the football.
Ross, nursing an injured thumb, is expected to be in the lineup Friday against the Trojans to run Bleckley's spread offense behind a huge line in which he tries to create situations for himself to carry the ball. Joining Ross in the Royal backfield is Dytrez Nelson, a 500+ yard rusher for the season. Ross' favorite receiving targets are Zack Moe and Jaquantae Burns when throwing the ball. The pair have combined for about 500 yards receiving for the season.
Moe does double duty for Bleckley as he also play defensive back along with Derrick Farrow in their 4-3 scheme anchored by 6' 1", 320 pound tackle Antonio Gitman who, along with his line mates will try to clog up the middle forcing teams to run outside where their linebackers can make plays.
The Royals are coached by Sam Barrs in his seventh season on the Royal sideline where he has a record of 31-47. He is 156-113 all time in 24 years including stints at Crisp County and Dublin.
Lamar leads the all time series 6-4 including the win over Bleckley to begin the season. The Royals won here last year 27-19. The two schools first met in 1980.
"It will be an interesting game as we both have much more information on each other," said Strickland of this week's game."We haven't seen a drastic change in anything they do through the course of the season. They have played pretty consistent all year. We will have to be extremely disciplined to be able to control him. I think both teams are very closely matched. It will take a great effort to beat these guys twice in one season."
Lamar athletic director Calvin Scandrett wanted to remind fans that admission to Friday's playoff game is $8 per the GHSA.
Tickets can be obtained in advance from the high school, middle school or Slice's Pizzeria all day Thursday and until one o'clock
Friday but there is no reduction in price as was the case during the regular season.
Only GHSA membership passes and working media passes will be admitted into the game at no charge. For the general public, only infants in arms will be allowed in at no charge.
Lamar County claimed its first region championship in nearly a decade beating Greene County 51-15 in Greensboro Friday night. The Trojans, now 9-0 overall and 7-0 in Region 4-AA, also earned the right to host at least the first two rounds of the Class AA state playoffs.
Lamar won the 4-AA title in 2002 going 9-0 in the regular season before falling to Albany in the first round of the playoffs. A win this week over Monticello here would match the most wins by any team in school history. The 1984 Trojans finished the season 10-2.
Friday night in Greensboro, Lamar rolled up 411 yards of total offense as ten different Trojan runners combined for 386 yards rushing on 47 carries yielding seven touchdowns. Lawrence Austin led the way with 93 yards on seven carries and one score.
The Trojans first drive covered 73 yards but ended in a fumble at the Greene County seven yard line where the Lamar defense forced the Tigers to punt after three downs. Ray Lyons knifed his way through the blockers and blocked the punt out of the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead.
Lamar took the ensuing kick off and drove for their first touchdown of the night on a five yard run by Jeremy Fletcher. Fletcher finished the game with 43 yards rushing on four carries that included two touchdowns.
Tyler Scandrett tacked on the PAT kick and ended the night making good on all seven of his extra point attempts.
Lawrence Austin made the score 16-0 with a nine yard touchdown run to start the second quarter. Tevin Childs, who rushed for 29 yards on seven carries, scored from two yards out. A little over a minute later Maurice Bloodser scored on a one yard plunge.
The Trojan quarterback carried the ball three times for 21 yards and completed two of four pass attempts for 25 yards. Jarvis Merritt caught one pass for 15 yards while Quay Searcy had one reception for ten yards.
After Bloodser's touchdown, Jason Caslin forced a fumble on the kickoff that Fletcher recovered. Fletcher scored his second touchdown of the game on a nine yard run and the half ended with the Trojans up 37-0.
With the clock running in the second half under the Georgia High School Association's "mercy rule", the Trojans scored on a 22 yard run by Lance Austin with five and a half minutes to play in the third quarter. Lance had three carries for 29 yards in the game.
Lamar's reserves got into the game after that and Greene County scored a pair of touchdowns on passes of 30 and 21 yards.
Following the Tigers second score, Searcy returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown that was called back on a Trojan penalty. Lamar closed out the scoring with twenty seconds left in the game on a 12 yard run by Micah Banks. Banks had four carries for 18 yards.
Other Trojan runners who carried the ball included Antwan Wallace (4-56), Aaron Holloway (8-48), Quentin Frazer (5-28) and Sidarius Gotell (2-21).
Greene County had very little success against Lamar's front line defensive team led by nose tackle Frederick Walker who had six tackles including three for loss. Searcy and Montravious Evans added four tackles each. Joe Peters had a sack as did Nick Heminger who also forced a fumble that Lawrence Austin recovered.
The win vaulted the Trojans into the Atlanta Journal-Constitution top ten at number nine. Lamar had already been ranked tenth in the state by the Associated Press, MaxPreps and the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association. They are expected to rise in all three of those when their polls come out this week.
The Trojans will receive their 2011 Region 4-AA championship trophy this week prior to their contest with Monticello at Trojan Field. The Hurricanes come into the game with a 4-5 record having won three of their last four including a 35-19 win over Crawford County Friday night,
Monticello is led by senior running back/linebacker Alvarez "A. J." Thomas who has rushed for 1,000 yards in nine games this season.
The Hurricanes are coached by Eddie Roberts. In his second year at Monticello he has a record of 6-13 and is 19-32 overall in five seasons including stints at Elbert County and Johnson County.
This will be the fifth meeting between Lamar County and Monticello dating back to 1972. The Trojans won 55-20 in Monticello last year. The Hurricanes last win over Lamar was in the first round of the state playoffs in 1992. Monticello holds a 3-1 record over Gordon Military from 1958-61.
Lamar County clenched no worse than a second place finish in Region 4-AA and a first round home playoff games by beating Southwest 34-0 in Macon Friday night. The Trojans, 8-0 overall and 6-0 in region play, can clench their first region championship since 2002 with either a win at Greene County next week or a Putnam County loss to Pike County in Zebulon this week.
Things started a bit slow for Lamar Friday night as the offense seemed a bit lethargic in fumbling the ball away twice and going three and out on another series leading to its first scoreless opening quarter all season. The defense, which played well all night, bailed them out stopping the Patriots and earning their third shutout of the year.
"We were able to weather the storm and hold firm," said Trojan coach Jason Strickland of the defensive effort. "Those guys created five turnovers and were pretty physical all night, probably our most physical effort of the year. We like the direction we are moving defensively at this point. We feel like this is a group that has to be a pretty formidable force over the next several weeks."
The Trojans got on the scoreboard two minutes into the second quarter when Lawrence Austin broke loose on an 85 yard touchdown run. Tyler Scandrett made the first of four PAT kicks for a 7-0 Lamar lead. Austin finished the night with seven carries for 107 yards rushing and scored again in the fourth quarter on a five yard run.
The second Trojan touchdown was a bit of a gift as Southwest lined up to punt deep in their own territory and had the snap from center sail over the kicker's head and into the end zone. Lamar's Brandon Higdon ended up covering the ball for the score.
Not to be outdone, the Trojan defense got into the act scoring in the third quarter when linebacker Montravious Evans ripped the loose from a Patriot ball carrier and raced 71 yards to pay dirt.
Lamar also had a three yard touchdown run by Tevin Childs just before the first half ended. Childs carried the ball ten times for 37 yards in the game.
The Trojans finished the night with 315 yards of total offense. 270 of that came on the ground. Jeremy Fletcher had nine carries for 52 yards and Lance Austin rushed for 40 yards on four carries.
Maurice Bloodser completed just one of five pass attempts connecting with Quay Searcy for 45 yards.
The Trojan defense allowed only 46 yards rushing and 82 passing for a total of 128 yards. Searcy and Lance Austin had pass interceptions while Lawrence Austin came up with a fumble recovery.
Along with the school system's fall break, the Trojans have their open week this week but Coach Strickland reminded his players that there is still work to be done. "Lets make sure we understand, it is a week without a game but its not a week off!"
"In past years, we have dreaded the off week because it seemed like we would be on a roll and then have to take a break for a week and then just had a hard time getting back on track the next game week. This year, however, we actually really need it.
We have several key guys banged up. Nothing real serious, just some banged ankles and arms that need to get some rehab. We will take this week to try to get healthy for these last two regular season games and try to be clicking on all cylinders as we move to the tournament. We will use this week to get healthy, we have several blocking assignments we have to get corrected and defensively it will give us a great deal of time work on tackling and turnover circuits. The seniors understand they have a tremendous opportunity ahead of them, We don't feel like our focus will be a problem. The practices this week will not be quite as long or physical. It will be an opportunity to get out there and break the big picture of what we have been working on weekly and take it to smaller parts."
As far as injuries go, Strickland reported that senior defensive lineman Tyler Carter has been shut down for the season due to the torn labrum in his shoulder and will undergo surgery soon to repair the injury. "The shoulder injury has caused him some problems and now we are looking at trying to go ahead and get his surgery scheduled. It is a tremendously unfortunate situation for a kid who has been such a big part of this program over the last several years."
Lamar's next two opponents, Greene County and Monticello, play each other this week and part of the Trojan coaching staff will go to see them play while others will do some advanced scouting of of possible first round playoff opponents from Region 3-AA including Laney of Augusta, Dodge County, Screven County and Jefferson County.
"We have seen a good deal of film on both Greene and Monticello this year. This week will give our coaches a good deal more time do some more break downs and begin to implement our game plan. We understand that these guys have struggled a bit this year, but both have played much better the last week or two. We are a target, and it would make their year to beat us. We won't leave any stone unturned."
Taking up where it left off a week ago when it shut out Pike County in the Battle of Potato Creek, the Lamar County defense, playing like a pack of fierce honey badgers, shut down Crawford County Friday night to lead the way to a 47-6 homecoming win at Trojan Field.
The Eagles lone score came late in the fourth quarter on a fumble recovery return against the Trojan reserves.
"
Defensively the guys played with a lot of passion," offered Trojan coach Jason Strickland. "Holding a team to minus yards in the first half is pretty awesome."
Backup linebacker Jason Caslin led Lamar with seven tackles. Starting inside linebackers Montravious Evans and Shavontae Harris had six and five tackles respectively. Evans also forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and blocked a punt while Harris had a quarterback sack. Nick Heminger had two tackles and two sacks. Ray Lyons added four tackles.
The Trojans got on the board a little over a minute into the game on a 47 yard run by Lance Austin. Tyler Scandrett provided the PAT kick. Scandrett made five of seven attempts on the night. Austin finished the game with three carries for 55 yards rushing.
Maurice Bloodser scored later in the quarter on a four yard run. He had four carries for 44 yards and also had his best night of the season passing completing six of seven attempts for 115 yards including touchdown passes of 47 yards to Lawrence Austin and17 yards to Jarvis Merritt. Merritt had three receptions for 59 yards.
Tevin Childs carried the ball seven times for 42 yards including a two yard touchdown run. Quay Searcy had one carry in the game good for a 55 yard touchdown run. Antwan Wallace added a five yard touchdown run for Lamar's final points with less than a minute to play in the first half.
Under the GHSA mercy rule, the second half was played with a running clock and the Trojan coaching staff emptied the bench playing its reserves.
Lamar finished the night with 368 yards of total offense including 253 on the ground and 115 through the air.
This week the Trojans, now 7-0 overall and 5-0 in Region 4-AA, travel to Macon to take on Southwest at Brad Henderson Memorial Stadium. It will be Lamar's first visit to Henderson Stadium since 2002 when the Trojans beat Southeast Macon there 27-26 to finish off the only unbeaten regular season in school history.
The Patriots are 3-3 for the year and 2-2 in region play coming off a somewhat surprising 40-23 loss to Monticello Friday night.
"We were not all that surprised with the outcome of their game against Monticello," said Strickland. "I assure you, it worries us much more that Southwest lost Friday than if they had won. They are now like a wounded animal that must win to keep playoff hopes alive. Teams like that are very scary."
Against opponents they and Lamar have both played this year Southwest has beaten Crawford County 12-0 and lost to Putnam County 34-6.
The Patriots run a very physical style offense gauged to run the ball out of the I-formation although Coach Strickland noted they seem to throw the ball a bit more than they have in the past. Defensively, the Patriots base out of a five man front that is very athletic.
They average scoring 17.5 points per game while allowing 19.
Top players for Southwest include quarterback Jatarius Miller, running back Darrell Dunn, receiver Tony Whitehead and defensive back Jamario Clark.
The Patriots are coached by Carror Wright. In his fifth year at Southwest he has a record of 21-27. His overall record is 80-90 in 16 years that include Terrell County, Northeast Macon and Dougherty.
This is only the second meeting between Lamar and Southwest. The Trojans won here last year 29-15.
It was business as usual for Lamar County Friday night as the Trojans rode two first quarter touchdowns to a 19-0 win over Pike County in the annual Battle of Potato Creek before a standing room only crowd in Zebulon. Lamar remains undefeated at 6-0 and is alone at the top of Region 4-AA at 4-0.
It is the first 6-0 start for Lamar County since 2002 when the Trojans went 9-0 in the regular season. In 1994 the Trojans started the season 7-0 before losing its next four games. Lamar was 7-0 in 1984 and finished 10-2 The '92 Trojans opened the season 8-0-1 before finishing 9-2-1.
The Pirated fell to 4-2, 3-1.
Lamar scored on its initial possession that saw them eat up huge chunks of yardage per play before Tevin Childs hit paydirt on an eight yard run. Tyler Scandrett tacked on the PAT kick for a 7-0 lead at 9:19 of the first quarter.
Antwan Wallace added a 35 yard scoring run but the PAT kick attempt failed and the Trojans led 13-0 after the first quarter.
Lamar's fast starts have become a trend as they are outscoring opponents 99-14 in the first quarter through six games. Trojan coach Jason Strickland attributed the first quarter success to opponents inability to mimic the speed of Lamar's offense in practice. "Part of the reason we are getting the fast starts is that what we do offensively is really hard to simulate with your scout team. When a team gets to us on Friday night it takes them a bit to adjust to our speed. After a quarter or so they begin to make adjustments".
The Trojans added the final score early in the fourth quarter on a five yard run by Jeremey Fletcher but failed on the two-point conversion attempt.
For the game, Lamar amassed 367 yards of total offense. 338 of that came on the ground led by Childs who had 21 carries for for 129 yards. Wallace had eight carries for 57 yards. Lance Austin added 50 yards on five carries and had a long run in the second quarter negated by a penalty.
Austin also caught one pass for 15 yards while Jarvis Merritt caught another for 14 yards as Maurice Bloodser completed two of six attempts and was intercepted twice.
Inspired by a huge throng of Trojan fans that arrived early and made plenty of noise throughout the game, the Lamar defense handed the Pirates their first shutout in 85 games. "Our guys were incredible." said Strickland of his team's defensive effort. "That was probably the most inspired we have been all year. Pike had really been putting up some good offensive numbers all year and it was impressive watching us go and shut them down."
The Trojan defense was led by linebacker Shavontae Harris who totaled eight tackles. Lance Austin and Frederick Walker added six tackles each. Austin and Quay Searcy both had interceptions. Ray Lyons, Joe Peters and Tyler Carter each had a quarterback sack.
Of Friday's crowd following by Trojan fans Coach Strickland offered, "We would like to give a big thanks to the Lamar County community and let them know how much we appreciate the strong showing they made Friday night. Our guys were jacked up seeing that huge crowd. It had a playoff atmosphere to it and our fans and community were outstanding. When we saw how our guys were reacting to the early arrival of all the fans we knew they were going to play well."
Local attendance is expected to be large again this week as the Trojans entertain Crawford County for Homecoming 2011.
The Eagles are winless in six games and have only scored in one, a 26-18 loss to Jeff Davis. The only common opponents for
Lamar and Crawford thus far this season are Putnam County and Pike County. The War Eagles beat Crawford 55-0 while the
Pirates beat them 33-0.
Crawford is coming off a 12-0 loss to Southwest Macon Friday night.
The Eagles run a "Gun-Wing" offense led by very athletic senior quarterback Dmarcus Searcy. When not making plays himself, Searcy's favorite target is senior Caleb Adams who also plays strong safety in Crawford's 4-4 front defense that features a physical group of linebackers led by junior Brandon Colbert.
Crawford is coached by Tony Byram. In his 18th season at Crawford he is 71-117. In 22 seasons as a head coach which includes stints at Heard County and Macon County, he is 96-135. His record vs. Lamar County is 3-10.
The Trojans lead he all-time series with the Eagles 16-7 dating back to 1980 when Lamar won 29-0 at Summers Field Memorial Stadium. Lamar won last year's contest in Roberta 29-14. The Eagles last win in the series was in 2008 when they beat the Trojans 28-7 for homecoming here.
Region 4AA Leading Trojans Send Putnam Puttering Home 27-20 Posted by Ken K. Green
Here's to the guys down in the trenches who battle doing all the dirty work in a football game but rarely get recognized for their efforts. The Lamar County offensive line of Johntavious Walker, Deontae Barnes, Jansen Honeycutt, Tanner Korb and Michael Bannister paved the way for the Trojans to unleash their wing-T attack on defending Region 4-AA champions Putnam County Friday night for a 27-20 win at Trojan Field.
Not to be outdone, the defensive front of Frederick Walker, Joe Peters and Tyler Carter, who returned to action after sitting out the last two weeks with a shoulder injury, stuffed the War Eagle O-line allowing for their defensive teammates to swarm and hold Putnam's highly touted running back Marteze Waller to 120 yards on 20 carries well under his state leading average of over 200 yards per game.
The Trojans scored on their initial possession of the game on a 12 yard run by Lance Austin at the end of a 60-plus yard drive. Tyler Scandrett kicked the first of three extra points for a 7-0 lead.
On Putnam's first possession, quarterback Nick Burke mishandled a snap and Lamar outside linebacker Ray Lyons recovered the fumble giving the Trojans a short field at the War Eagle 31 yard line and they took full advantage scoring scoring on a seven yard run by Jeremey Fletcher.
The ensuing kick-off was fumbled by Putnam and Lamar's Nick Heminger fell on the ball giving the Trojans another short field at the 27 yard line. This drive bogged down at the but Scandrett nailed a 24 yard field goal to give Lamar a 17-0 lead at then end of one quarter.
After a scoreless second quarter, the Trojans upped their lead to 24-0 at 4:46 of the third on a four yard run by Tevin Childs who finished as Lamar's leading rusher with 66 yards on 15 carries. He also caught one pass for ten yards.
Putnam made a furious attempt at a comeback in the fourth quarter scoring at 9:51 on a 17 yard run by Waller. Less than two minutes later, the War Eagles were in the end zone again via an 18 yard touchdown pass.
Scandrett gave the Trojans three more points with a 28 yard field goal with just under three minutes to play but Putnam flew down the field and closed the gap to a touchdown on a 15 yard run with :34 left in regulation.
On the ensuing kick-off, the War Eagles recovered the initial onside try but were penalized for being offside and had to re-kick. The Trojans got this one and ran out the clock for the win.
The Trojans finished the night with 243 yards total offense, 220 of that coming on the ground. Lawrence Austin ran the ball eight times for 59 yards. Maurice Bloodser completed two of six pass attempts for 23 yards. Jarvis Merritt had one catch for 13 yards.
The defense yielded 214 yards, 91 coming through the air. Linebacker Shavontae Harris led Lamar in tackles with 12. Peters had seven and one sack. Heminger and Lawrence Austin added five tackles each. Lyons also had a quarterback sack.
This week, the Trojans travel to Zebulon for the annual Battle of Potato Creek. Payback is on Pike County's mind as they are still reeling from last year's 20-17 loss here that ended the Pirates' five game winning streak and caused a downward spiral that saw them finish the season 5-5.
Pike is 4-1 this year after a 26-13 win Friday night at Monticello. They also have wins over McIntosh (35-14), Greene County (35-0) and Crawford County (33-0). Their lone loss came to First Presbyterian Day (26-20).
The Pirates and Trojans share the top spot in Region 4-AA at 3-0. Pike is averaging 29 points per game while yielding ten (tenth in the state in AA). Lamar averages 40 points per game (fifth in the state) while giving up 16.
This will be the 28th meeting on the gridiron between the two schools dating back to 1976 when the Trojans won in Zebulon 35-0. Lamar leads the all-time series 20-7 but the two schools have split the last six games against each other. Pike's last win over Lamar was a 22-15 thriller in the final game played at Summers Field Memorial Stadium in 2008.
The Pirates run a triple option offense out of the pistol formation behind a line that averages about 240 pounds. Quarterback Jonathan Norton directs the offense and has a bevy of options to go to including Donald Brown, Deandre Holmes and Artez Oglesby. Defensively they run a base 4-4 front and big and physical led by linebacker Tyler Garrett, end Jess Devoursney and safety Tony Anthony.
The word out of Zebulon is that Pike has already sold tons of tickets and plan to fill up both sides of the stadium before Lamar County fans can get there prompting Trojan coach Jason Strickland to ask local fans to get there early and in abundance and be loud in supporting our boys.
Pike is coached by first year head coach Brad Webber.
It took 17 seconds to erase Morgan County's streak of not being scored upon for the season and about 17 extra minutes to erase the unbeaten streak as Lamar County stayed unbeaten on the season and in Region 4-AA with a thrilling 38-35 overtime win over the Bulldogs in Madison Friday night.
Antwan Wallace picked up the opening kick-off at the Trojan five yard line, found a crease in the Morgan coverage team and wove his way through the Bulldogs before finally out racing them to the end zone for a 95 yard touchdown. Tyler Scandrett added the PAT kick as he hit four of five attempts for the night.
Wallace also had seven carries on offense for 43 yards.
Morgan tied the game on a one yard run at 5:46 of the first quarter but Lamar regained the lead on a 69 yard run a little over a minute later. Austin would finish the night with 10 carries for 112 yards.
Lance Austin got in on the act with a 68 yard sprint for a score with just under five minutes to play in the half for a 21-7 lead. He would end up with seven carries for 139 yards.
Just as it looked as if the Trojans might run away with the game, the Bulldogs got back in it intercepting a Maurice Bloodser pass and scoring from 42 yards out on the return to cut Lamar's lead to 21-14 at the half.
With new life, Morgan returned from the locker room to tie the game on a 40 yard run at 8:20 of the third quarter only to have the Trojans respond with Lance Austin's second touchdown of the night on a 56 yard run. The PAT attempt failed but Lamar led 27-21 at 6:08 of the third.
Not to be denied, the Bulldogs took their first lead for the night nearly three minutes later on a three yard run and PAT kick to make it 28-27 in favor of Morgan.
Lance Austin scored his third touchdown of the night on an eight yard run just seconds into the fourth quarter. Lance also added the two point conversion to help the Trojans regain the lead at 35-28.
The two teams went back and forth for most of the remainder of the fourth quarter until, fueled by Trojan penalties, some of them on questionable calls, the Bulldogs drove and scored on a 31 yard pass to tie the game with :47 seconds left to play in regulation.
The game went to overtime and Morgan took first possession at the Trojan fifteen yard line and Lamar's defense held them out of the end zone aided by a quarterback sack by Nicolas Heminger on third down forcing the Bulldogs to reach for a 37 yard field goal attempt that they missed.
Morgan's defense was just as stout in not allowing Lamar much on offense and the Trojans lined up for a 38 yard field goal attempt which Scandrett nailed for the 38-35 win.
For the night, Lamar rushed for 339 yards and added nine through the air on a pass completion from Bloodser to Quay Searcy.
With little time to celebrate their big win, the Trojans now prepare for defending 4-AA champion Putnam County to come to town this week. The War Eagles are 3-1 for year after beating Southwest Macon 34-6 Friday night.
Putnam also has wins over Hancock Central (41-8) and Crawford County (55-6). Their lone blemish was a 34-27 loss to tenth ranked Dublin.
The War Eagles are led by 6-1, 210 pound running back Marteze Waller who led the entire state in rushing last year with over 2,500 yards. The Putnam senior has taken up where he left off as he averaging over 200 yard per game on the ground this season not even playing entire games in the three blowout wins.
If you can slow down Waller, Putnam has a very capable passing attack led by senior quarterback Nick Burke who has completed well over 50% of his pass attempts for 400 yards. Burke's favorite target is 6-1, 170 pound senior wide receiver Carl Buckner.
The Trojans lead the all-time series with Putnam two wins to one but those wins came back in the mid-80's. The War Eagles won last year's meeting in Eatonton 20-7 on their way to the region championship and a 9-3 finish.
This year Putnam is averaging 39 points per game on offense while their defense is yielding 12 per game. The Trojans are scoring 44 points per game while giving up 16.
The War Eagles are coached by Ben Reaves. In his fifth season at Putnam he is 24-22-1. His overall coaching record in 19 seasons is 83-106-1 including stints at Newton and Social Circle.
The Lamar County Trojans will take the top scoring offense in the state in Class AA to Madison this Friday to face the Macon County Bulldogs, boasting the top defense in the state in AA against scoring.
The Trojans are averaging 45.7 points per game after pounding Northeast Macon 48-0 here Friday night. That is almost two points better than AA's top ranked and defending state champion Buford Wolves and eighth among all schools in the state's five classifications.
The Bulldogs, in contrast, have yet to give up any points in their first three games, one of only three teams in the state with goose eggs against them.'
Lamar's offensive numbers are a bit skewed, however, considering that three of their seven touchdowns against the Raiders Friday night were scored on takeaway returns by the defense. The Trojans also had a kick-off return for a score against Spencer.
Against the Raiders, Lawrence Austin had a 12 yard fumble recovery (forced by Shavontae Harris) return for a touchdown while Quin Lackey (63 yards) and Quay Searcy (60 yards) added interception returns for scores one minute apart.
Offensively, Tevin Childs led Lamar with 17 carries for 107 yards and touchdown runs of one and three yards. Maurice Bloodser rushed for 96 yards on seven carries including a 49 yard touchdown run. He also completed one of eight pass attempts for a 25 yard score to Jarvis Merritt.
For the game, Lamar rolled up 295 yards of total offense, 270 of that coming on the ground. The Trojans also amassed 135 yards in takeaway return yards for three scores.
Kicker Tyler Scandrett made good on six of seven PAT attempts.
Trojan Coach Jason Strickland said of the offense Friday night, "We were a bit sloppy Friday night. We had entirely too many penalties in the first half that were drive killers. We also put the ball on the ground twice and that is completely unacceptable. We feel like if we don't have the penalties and we don't put the ball on the ground we can be pretty tough to stop every week. It was not about our effort, we thought our effort was good. We just have to execute better."
The Trojan defense got its first shutout of the season led by Lance Austin who had eight tackles including some bone-crushing hits. Nicolas Heminger had seven tackles, a quarterback sack and a fumble recovery. Fredrick Walker had seven tackles and fumble recovery and Joe Peters also had seven tackles.
"Defensively our guys played with tremendous passion," said Strickland. "They knew how athletic Northeast was and really took this week as a huge challenge. Any time those guys create six turnovers in a game we should have a pretty good chance to win. They are playing very fast and intense right now. We just have to keep improving and getting better every day".
Defensive lineman Tyler Carter sat out Friday's contest nursing a shoulder injury that has been diagnosed as a torn labrum. The injury will require surgical repair in the off-season but Strickland said the senior will be fitted with a brace this week to keep the shoulder from dislocating. "He will be playing with some pain and discomfort when the strength returns enough for him to play which we hope to be no later than next week at home against Putnam County".
This week the Trojans travel to Madison for the first time to take on Morgan County for only the second time in school history. Last year Lamar beat the Bulldogs 20-15 at Trojan field and Morgan went on to finish the season with an 8-3 record.
The Bulldogs are 3-0 with wins over Walnut Grove (21-0), Clarkston (49-0) and Monticello (16-0). They are one of only three schools in the state yet to yield a score this season.
The five-man front defense is led by linebackers Nyeijuan Mack (Sr.) and Stewart Spence (Jr.) and junior defensive end Bailey Ross. Offensively they run a power version of the wing-T and rely on their huge sophomore fullback, Marquis Benton, to pound the ball straight ahead behind a veteran offensive line that is led by seniors J.D. Hubbard and Garrett Vick.
Strickland says, "The scouting report on Morgan is simple: they are huge...everywhere. Offensively, their goal is to just pound you into submission. Their fullback is just a huge load to try to tackle. They are not going to try to trick you they are just going to come off the ball and see how tough you are. Defensively they use their size to clog up holes. They have been great tacklers. It will take a tremendous effort to move the ball on them this Friday".
The Bulldogs are coached by Bill Malone. In his fifth year he has an overall record of 20-25.
Lamar County wanted to play well in front of the home crowd in its first game of the season at Trojan Field as a final tune-up before getting into its Region 4-AA schedule, but no one expected the show the Trojans put on in a 62-7 win over Spencer of Columbus.
Antwan Wallace set the tone for game right out of the gate returning the opening kick-off 77 yards for a score. The junior would also make two tackles on kick-off coverage to earn special team’s player of the week honors. He also carried the ball three times for 40 yards and a pair of scores on offense.
In all, Lamar would score eight touchdowns; make seven PATs kicking, one two point conversion and record a safety all in the first half. The Trojans would light up the scoreboard for 45 points in the first quarter alone.
But they would come up one point shy of the school scoring record of 63 set in a 2001 game against Decatur per the Georgia High School Football Historians Association (ghsfha.org).
"Someone told me at halftime we were close to the scoring record, but that wasn't something we were focusing on when we went back out," said Lamar coach Jason Strickland. "We wanted to make sure we were able to get as many guys in the game as we could. Those guys have worked hard at practice and we wanted to give them a chance to play in front of a huge home crowd. We were fortunate to be able to get every guy on the team some reps. Don't get me wrong, we were trying to score in the second half, but we wanted it to be because our young guys executed well enough to get in the end zone. Not simply because we were trying to break the record."
Also scoring for the Trojans were Jarvis Merrit (11 yard pass from Maurice Bloodser), Sidarius Gotell (13 yard run), Bloodser (19 yard run), Tevin Childs (11 yard run) and Jarmarcus Walker (eight yard run).
Tyler Scandrett hit seven of seven PAT tries and kicked a 38 yard field goal. Childs scored on a two-point PAT conversion try and Nicolas Heminger got credit for tackling a Spencer players in his own end zone for a safety.
Gotell finished the night with 82 of the Trojans' 286 yards rushing on just three carries to be named offensive player of the week.
The defensive player of the week was Lawrence Austin who had three tackles and two interceptions as Lamar created seven turnovers including two fumble recoveries by Ray Lyons and one each by Heminger, Walker and Joe Peters. Lance Austin recorded five tackles to lead the Trojans who did not give up a score on defense.
The Greenwave Owls lone score came on a 90 yard kick-off return in the first quarter after Lamar had made the score 14-0.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...".
The opening line of Charles Dickens' classic A Tale of Two Cities best describes Lamar County's football opener Friday night in Cochran.
Fortunately the story had a happy ending as the Trojans outlasted Bleckley County 27-21.
After the Royals broke a long run on their opening drive into Lamar territory that was called back on a penalty, outside linebacker Tre Evans made a big hit causing a fumble that nose tackle Frederick Walker recovered at the Bleckley 22 yard line.
The Trojans drove to the four yard line but had to settle for a 22 yard field goal by Tyler Scandrett to take a 3-0 lead. The sophomore kicker would finish the night with a pair of field goals and three PAT kicks for nine of Lamar's points.
On Bleckley's next possession, the Royals drove the ball to the Trojan 18 yard line before bogging down and attempting a game tying field goal which they missed. Lamar took over at their own 20 yard line and marched 80 yards capped off by an eight yard touchdown run by Lawrence Austin for a 10-0 lead as the quarter ended. Austin finished the night carrying the ball four times for 112 yards.
The Royals answered scoring on their next possession with a two yard run to cut the Lamar lead to 10-7 but the Trojans added a pair of rushing touchdowns from fullback Tevin Childs who scored from four yards out with five and a half minutes to play in the second quarter and a one yard run with 1:36 left in the half. Childs had 18 carries for 83 yards in the game.
Lamar took a 24-7 lead with them to the locker room.
The Trojans took the second half kickoff and drove to the Royal 25 yard line where Scandrett kicked a 32 yard field goal to make the score 27-7.
On Bleckley's next possession, Lamar forced the Royals to punt and Brandon Higdon got a hand on the ball for a partial block giving the Trojans a short field and a chance to put the game away but a scoring play was negated by penalty and the Royals intercepted a pass on the next play giving themselves new life.
Bleckley took advantage of their good fortune driving the ball for a five yard touchdown run to cut Lamar's lead to 27-14 with 33 seconds to play in the third quarter.
The Trojans took their next possession driving to the Bleckley 15 before turning the ball over on downs.
It looked as if Lamar would get the ball right back on a Maurice Bloodser interception but that takeaway was given back to the Royals due to a pass interference penalty and Bleckely, once again, took advantage scoring on a 39 yard pass play to make the score 27-21 with 5:14 left to play.
The Trojans' next possession produced little and they punted back to Bleckley giving the Royals one last chance to take the game but their drive ended on a Quay Searcy interception at the Lamar 21 yard line with 15 seconds left.
"It is always good to get a win. However, there are a lot of things we have to improve on if we are going to get to the point we hope to be," said Lamar coach Jason Strickland of Friday's win.
"Offensively we did alot of things really well, but we just left too many points out there that could have put the game away. We had some breakdowns in some of our blocking schemes that allowed Bleckley to have some defensive success in the second half. Those are things that we have to get corrected before region play gets here."
Defensively, Lamar was led by Nicolas Heminger who had 12 tackles and a sack.
Of the defense, Coach Strickland said, "the guys played with great intensity, but the thing that hurt us the most was penalties. Those penalties kept drives alive and almost all of them contributed to Bleckley getting their points in some way. We don't want to take any of that passion and intensity away but we have to get more disciplined to keep from hurting ourselves."
"Overall, we were very pleased with the effort of our guys. Some inexperience showed up at times and we feel like a lot of our issues will get solved with more reps."
Lamar plays its home opener this Friday night when they host Spencer High School of Columbus. The Greenwave Owls are coming off a 52-0 loss to AA's third ranked Carver (Columbus).
The Trojans lead the series with Spencer 2-1 winning last year 32-8 in Columbus. Spencer's only win in the series was 10-0 here in 2008.
Spencer boasts eight NFL players among its alumni, most notably All-Pro defensive lineman Otis Sistrunk who played for the Oakland Raiders from 1972-78.
On a final note, last week, one of Lamar County's starting offensive guards was erroneously identified as Chance Korb when it should have been Tanner Korb. Chance is Tanner's older brother who graduated last year.
Posted by Ken K. Green
Lamar stays in 4-AA
Trojans top Dogs in O.T. 38 - 35
