Houston Co. to keep on rolling against Statesboro

Houston County (2-1) players are probably still feeling themselves after upsetting Coffee County last week in a 17-10 win that came off a game winning pick-six from defensive back Cam Stewart. Now the task at hand is Statesboro (0-1) to cap off their three-game road trip.

Though the win last week was great to have, winning games hasn’t surprised head coach Ryan Crawford in the slightest. They expect to win games, and a win against Coffee just proves to the players that they can count on each other.

The Houston County Bears are still solidifying their offense, so the defense has picked up the slack and then some. It’s likely one of the toughest defenses in 6A, and winning a game off a pick-six builds their case even more. The Bears have allowed just 32 points against them and no team has scored more than 12 points on them. Their defense is stout all around. Up front are the bears of the unit like Larry Fields, Jalen Jordan, Jayleem Santos and Hunter Rizer who provide the initial push to the backfield. Behind them is linebacker Jayson Hodges with defensive backs Caleb Coley and Simeon Askew.

The defense was expected to carry the team early on but it’s clear the defense is the engine of this team, now all the Bears need is offensive consistency. There are many new players on the offensive side of the ball. Quarterback Christian Lawhorn is still adjusting to the new role, so running backs Corey Chaisson and Tyler Williams have picked up the load for the first-year starter. Even Lawhorn‘s own dual-threat ability will be able to open the airways for the offense.

Last week, Lawhorn took advantage of his athleticism and ran the ball for 96 yards on the night. He broke off a 62-yard run too, so don’t be surprised if you see designed runs for Lawhorn this season. He’s still getting accustomed to the quarterback position but he can still run and read the field.

The offense still has some ways to go, but Houston County will be even harder to stop once they find their mojo.

The Bears are in a stacked region and have four games, including Statesboro, to be ready for a postseason push.

Statesboro doesn’t have much to see from this year because they just began the season last week after battling COVID-19 throughout their program. Statesboro football head coach, Jeff Kaiser, has battled the illness, which led to them delaying the season opener. Now Statesboro is playing for their head coach while he fully recovers. They’re 0-1 after losing to Swainsboro 12-6 last week.

Kick off for the game is 7:30 p.m. Sep. 25 at Stateboro High School.

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