Houston County baptizes Blue Devils, 66-7

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Houston County, who is currently in fourth place in the region, is still in the playoff hunt.

After losing a tough game to Thomas County Central last week, Houston County will finish their season against Veterans, and they need to get a win in order to clinch the fourth seed. Their offense exploded against Tift County, and the Bears put up 66 points, routing Tift County at Freedom Field. Coach Edwards would love to see more of the same thing this week against Veterans. He has the offense clicking, and they are primed to make a run in the playoffs.

After holding Tift County on their opening possession, Ryan Taleb received the punt and took it 78 yards to the house, putting Houston County on the board 6-0. Houston County missed the two-point conversion, however, so the score remained 6-0.

Ryan Taleb, still not done, caught a pass from A.J. Hill on Houston County’s next possession, and he took it 66 yards for the touchdown. Houston County’s prolific offense can score a lot of points in a hurry — if the opposing team can’t slow down their offense, it is going to be a long night, and that is exactly how the game unfolded against Tift County. Houston County was just too much for Tift County, and they probably could have put up 100 points if the starters would have stayed in the game.

A.J. Hill, who is only a sophomore, has really come on this season, and he is currently ranked sixth in the state, with 2,460 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and a 138.4 quarterback rating. As Coach Edwards has stated, the sky is the limit for this kid. He had 254 passing yards and five touchdowns against Tift County, before the second string entered the game in the third quarter.

Up 13-0, Houston County scored again on a 23-yard pass from Hill to Gavin Kurpis, putting them up 19-0 after Houston County missed the extra point. Tift County scored a touchdown in the second quarter on a 30-yard touchdown strike. However, after giving up that score, Houston County’s defense tightened up, and they would not let Tift County score again. And Houston County’s offense answered with four consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter: Nicholas Jordan punched it in from one yard out, and then Hill threw two touchdown passes — a 16-yard pass to Kale Woodburn and an 11-yard pass to Arthur brown. Ryan Taleb got in on the action and rushed for a nine-yard touchdown, which put Houston County up 46-7 at halftime.

Ryan Mackey and Brandon Walden led the team in tackles with five each. Nate Langham and Mekhi Brown led the team with two tackles for losses, and Brown also had a sack. And Damian Martinez recovered a fumble. Houston County’s high-powered offense has bailed them out of some sticky situations this season. Their defense is playing well, and they only allowed 70 rushing yards against Tift, which is good news if you’re a Houston County fan, since that is really the only area in which they have had some problems this season.

In their losses against Lee County and Thomas County Central, they gave up over 600 yards rushing, which ultimately was responsible for their downfall in those games. If they can stay focused and stop the run, Houston County could go far in the playoffs, assuming they beat Veterans this week in a grudge match at Freedom Field. Their pass defense has been stellar, and they have a lot of good athletes in the defensive backfield.

In the second half, Houston County tacked on three more touchdowns to go up 66-7. They will face Veterans next week, and if they get past Veterans, they will go on the road in the playoffs.

If everything pans out as expected, there will be four teams from Houston County — Houston County, Northside, Perry and Warner Robins — in the playoffs, so there should be plenty of high school football left before we have to say goodbye to this season. We will just have to wait and see how things unfold. Stay tuned for extensive playoff coverage.

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