Warner Robins wins season/home opener 40-29 over Tift County

Before the Blue Devils had a chance to get use to their surroundings they were looking at the wrong end of a 14-0 deficit. The Demons opening possession ended in a Dylan Fromm one-yard scramble to go ahead 7-0. Fromm was 3-3 on the drive, with two of those passed going to junior receiver Marcayll Jones. Nothing new there: Warner Robins gets ball, scores ball. The next play however was one of those “right position” plays I was speaking of earlier.

With just a minute and a half gone off of the game clock the Blue Devils turned the ball over on their second possession of the game, fumbling on a short run, leading to a 44-yard fumble recovery and touchdown return by senior strong safety Trey Franklin, who was playing his first game as a Demon and may already be the best secondary player during the current coaching regime.

Fromm (453 yards passing) would put the Demons ahead 20-3 minutes earlier with a touchdown pass to junior receiver Devin Brown, who quite possibly could have had two more touchdown receptions during the game if not for a few drops. With senior receiver Tyler Fromm out with an injury, junior Marcayll Jones quickly became Fromm’s top target on the evening. A 40-yard completion between the two set up Brown’s touchdown catch.

Tift County never went away, scoring their first touchdown at the 10:55 mark of the second quarter to cut their deficit to 20-10. By halftime the Warner Robins advantage would remain the same, 30-20, following a 40-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Cary Payne III (who has big shoes to fill with the graduation of current Fort Valley State University freshman kicker Eli Mashburn, who was in attendance Friday night) and another Fromm touchdown pass, this time to 6-3 sophomore target Jalen Addi.

A third quarter safety aside, the Demons looked like the reigning 5A runner-ups more often than not on Friday night and though the Blue Devils (not to be confused with Blue Demons) would pull within eight points at 37-29 following a 91-yard touchdown run by senior back Mike Jone, Warner Robins never seemed to lose momentum.

Another field goal by Payne III (31 yards) was made possible by timely catches Addie and Jones and tough runs by Jahlen Rutherford, a sophomore that got the majority of the carries in the game, fumbling once.

A sack of Blue Devil sophomore quarterback Mac Turner by Demons senior middle linebacker Christian Anderson deep in Tift County territory with less than two minutes remaining in the game effectively put an end to any chance of a road victory.

The Future

Demonas underclassmen made major plays against Tift County on Friday night including the sideline catch and 55-yard run for a score by junior James Smith.

Payne III was 2-3 on field goals and 5-6 on extra point attempts.

On the road for a few

The Demons next two games will be on the road, first at Locust Grove High School next Friday and at Baldwin High School on Fri., Sept. 7.

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