Warner Robins football outlasts Houston County in rivalry shootout

WARNER ROBINS — It appeared that whoever got the ball last in Friday’s contest between Warner Robins and Houston County would be the winner — but the Demons came up with a crucial stop to secure the rivalry win.

The Warner Robins (3-1) defense was gassed, and the Bears (3-1) were operating in the hurry-up after the Demons’ offense scored to put them up 47-44 with about two minutes left to play.

Jakai Woodford came out of the game with what appeared to be cramps, and HoCo had the ball on second-and-11.

Georgia Tech commit Rasean Dinkins made an incredible diving deflection on second down, and the Bears’ Antwann Hill Jr. couldn’t connect with MJ Mathis on third down. On fourth down he had one of his many inaccurate passes on the night to turn the ball over on downs, effectively ending the game.

There was not a lot of outside talk about this matchup, despite it being the only game in Houston County this week. Last year’s 41-7 final in favor of HoCo may have had something to do with that, but Warner Robins football coach Shane Sams couldn’t be prouder of his Demons as they pulled off the win.

“I’m fired up for them. They came out here, they balled hard, they played extremely hard. They got after it all game long, and they never quit. They play together, and that’s what you want to see.” Sams said. “[HoCo] is very well coached, obviously they got a lot of playmakers. It’s going to be a big game, and our kids came to play.”

Here are three observations from Friday’s game:

PHOTOS: See more shots from Warner Robins’ rivalry game against Houston County.

1. Skyler Williams

Warner Robins quarterback Skyler Williams is the real deal, for anyone in question.

He showcased some of his best running yet as he broke multiple tackles, evaded pressure and created big plays for the Demons throughout the night.

“He played extremely well. He played hard. He played physical,” Sams said. “His offensive line did really good blocking around him.”

Williams was responsible for four Warner Robins touchdowns on Friday, and he’d have had a fifth if his 57-yard scamper to the end zone wasn’t called back in the second quarter.

In the first quarter he found Dinkins on the left side down to the Bears’ eight-yard line, and then he ran it in himself to open the scoring after breaking a couple of tackles.

In the third quarter he broke a handful of tackles to set up the Demons on the 12-yard line, and two plays later he punched it in himself.

He had another run similar to that down to the 13-yard line to set up another Warner Robins score and make it 27-24 Demons with 4:52 to play in the third quarter.

Williams had two more scores in the fourth quarter — the last one being the go-ahead.

2. Taking Isaiah Mitchell out of the equation

Isaiah Mitchell was Georgia High School Football Daily’s Player of the Week in Week 3, and he’s been a problem for every Houston County opponent to this point.

The Demons found a way to take him out of the equation on Friday, not allowing him to make a single big play.

The biggest play for HoCo was a 40-yard pass that Mathis took down the right sideline after breaking a tackle. Outside of that, they didn’t have many chunk plays to speak of.

“The defensive coach put together a great plan. They put together a tremendous plan,” Sams said. “We came in there and said, ‘[Mitchell] is not going to beat us. That was our goal all night long, and we accomplished that goal.”

Some of it was drops; Mitchell had a touchdown in his hands on a quick slant early, but couldn’t hold on with Dinkins in coverage.

Hill’s off night was another part of the problem. He tried to connect with Mitchell on a couple of deep balls, but overthrew them. Even on short passes over the middle of the field the ball was thrown too low, and if the Bears did get their hands on it a Warner Robins defender was there for the breakup soon after.

HoCo did find a way to score 44 points, so it’s not like it’s something to worry about long-term. But the Demons’ defense did a good job at pressuring Hill, staying solid in coverage and coming out with the win.

3. Finding a groove

It’s far from perfect, but Warner Robins has shown strides in the passing game.

The Demons found a groove attacking the boundaries with short outs or curls, and the Bears often left space underneath for those plays.

Earlier in the season and in the preseason Warner Robins faced third-and-long regularly because they weren’t able to push the ball down the field. With these short passes they set themselves up for third-and-three or four which is a big step in the right direction.

“We knew that it was going to be a struggle early because we’re young and inexperienced [at receiver]. But we knew they were going to mature and we’re going to get better and start trusting it and that’s what you’re seeing right now. We just got to continue to improve,” Sams said.

Noteworthy

The score was 27-24 Warner Robins after three quarters. The Demons outscored HoCo 27-20 in the fourth quarter alone.

Warner Robins also cleaned up special teams. They didn’t have any critical mistakes, and had two huge returns that were responsible for points: Linder returned a kickoff to the eight-yard line that set up a field goal, and Dinkins returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it 33-31 Demons.

UP NEXT

Warner Robins has a bye week next week, but the Bears will travel to Tift County on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.