Varsity ‘Canes Fall 52-14
The ‘Canes took a 52-14 shellacking last Friday night at the hands of the Morgan Co. Bulldogs, a team which they have never been able to defeat. The loss dropped the ‘Canes record to 4-5 and raised the Bulldog’s to 7-2, which should be sufficient to get them to the playoffs.
It only took the Bulldogs 1 minute and 14 seconds to score a touch down behind the biggest offensive line the ‘Canes had faced all season. From then on nothing seemed to click for the ‘Canes who went on to give up six turnovers, four fumbles and two pass interceptions, which resulted in 21 points being scored against them.
On the brighter side, the ‘Canes did put together a 6 minute drive in the first quarter. They didn’t score, but they kept the Bulldog’s offense off the field. They also made one good defensive stand after turning the ball over on their own 30 yard line.
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They finally scored after a successful drive from their own 24 yard which culminated in a 13 yard touch down pass from Markese Thurman to Justin Brown. Then late in the third quarter, once again, it was Justin Brown who broke loose for a brilliant 73 yard run for the ‘Canes second and last touch down of the evening. Also, Matt Hyde’s blocking and tackling from both sides of the line were outstanding.
Head Coach Doug Huff summed up the loss by saying, “It’s hard to beat a good team when you turn over the ball six times. They were by far the best team up front that we’ve seen all year, offensively and defensively, and I knew that going in.
They have an excellent offensive line coach and that was evident in the game. We still had people in positions to make plays, but we just missed too many tackles and took ourselves out of plays by doing things we weren’t supposed to do.”
This Friday, October 21, for their final game of the season and also final game in Class AA (they will begin play in Class A next year), the ‘Canes will travel to Greensboro to play the Greene Co. Tigers. The Tigers are undefeated and ranked no. 4 in the state. They have scored 321 points to their opponent’s 84. They also defeated Morgan Co. earlier in the season by a score of 33-6.
Coach Huff said, “We are going to try to control the ball by keeping it away from that ‘machine’ they call an offense. Their offense is very good and they have one of the best high school quarterbacks I’ve seen in my coaching career.
We’re going to do everything we can to keep the ball and keep it out of his hands. This’ll be the last time we have to face them since we’ll be moving to another classification, but we’re not going over there just to get the season over with. We’re going there to try to win and that’s what I have to convince the players of.”
SCORING 1 2 3 4 F
Monticello 0 0 14 0 14
Morgan 10 21 14 7 52
REGION 7AA STANDINGS
School Region Overall
Green Co. * 4-0 8-0
Laney ** 4-0 7-1
Morgan Co. 3-2 7-2
Putnam Co. 2-2 4-4
WS Augusta 1-3 4-4
Monticello 1-4 4-5
Oglethrope*** 0-0 5-4
N.Oconee*** 0-0 1-7
Josey 0-4 0-8
*ranked no. 4 in state
**ranked no 8 in state
***does not play region
Young ‘Canes
The Jr. Varsity ‘Canes ended up in a similar situation as the varsity, when the Morgan Co. Jr. Varsity came to town last week and won 34-6.
The game was actually close until late in the third quarter with the Bulldogs only leading 20-6, and the ‘Canes threatening to score. But that’s when one of the ‘Canes several fumbles took place, and from then through the remainder of the game they were plagued by turnovers, mistakes and penalties.
On the brighter side, the game featured some outstanding defensive stands, including a stuff in the backfield by defensive tackle Brandon Perry when the Bulldogs went for it on fourth down. There was also an interception in the end zone by safety J.C. Dunagan, and several hard hitting tackles from that position.
Offensively, the ‘Canes only score came on a 70 yard touch down run by Octavious Epps.
Today the young ‘Canes travel to Eatonton and play Putnam in their last game of the season, and also last game in Class AA. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.