Houston County football holds on for the win against Effingham County 

WARNER ROBINS — In a back-and-forth battle, the Houston County Bears (2-0) survived a second-half surge from the Effingham County Rebels (0-1) and hung on to win their non-region matchup 44-41. 

The Bears led by as many as 20 points late in the first half, however, the Rebels battled back until the last second. 

The two teams swapped a pair of field goals early on in the first quarter, then the Houston County offense started to click and put together consecutive touchdown drives to pull ahead 16-3. 

PHOTOS: See more shots from the Bears’ home opener.

Houston County quarterback Antwann Hill Jr. fired a 33-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to put the Bears up 23-3. 

On the ensuing kickoff, Effingham County struck right back with a big play of their own and returned the ball to the house. 

As the Bears continued to find the end zone in the third quarter with big plays, Hill aired out a 57-yard pass, then found Isaiah Mitchell for a 14-yard touchdown. 

On the first play of their next possession, Houston County ran the ball 47 yards up the field to make it 37-20. 

Scoring on two of their drives in the third quarter, the Rebels began to crawl out of the hole they found themselves in as the Bears’ defense started to give way. 

Effingham County received the ball before the third quarter ended and put together an eight-minute scoring drive that took up almost half of the fourth quarter, which brought the score to 37-27. 

The Bears’ backfield blew their coverage on the Rebels’ next possession, allowing their receiver to scamper 74 yards unscathed into the end zone. 

An onside kick later, the Rebels seemed poised to drive right back down the field and score again. 

However, looking for redemption, the Houston County backfield intercepted the ball deep in their own territory.

On a penalty-laden possession with less than a minute left on the clock, Effingham County scored on the final play of the heated contest. 

Houston County head coach Jeremy Edwards shared his thoughts on the game after the buzzer:

“Tonight was a dogfight. I knew [Effingham County was] going to play us hard and it showed up on film. We did not show up with a whole lot of energy and we got ourselves into the game until the very end. A win is a win, but we have to flush it and move on to the next one.” 

UP NEXT 

The Houston County Bears will travel to the Perry Panthers (2-0) in a non-region game next Friday, Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m.