Canes Return To Action Friday
The Jasper County-Monticello High School team will begin the final stretch of the 2021 season this week when the Canes venture to Lamar County High School in Barnesville.
Coach Aaron Pitts was looking to allow his team to heal during the bye week as Jasper County-Monticello is dealing with numerous injuries to various players.
The Canes have had several standout efforts during the 2021 campaign.
Keyshawn Ammons had passed for 380 yards and three touchdowns.
Ammons has also rushed for 223 yards.
Shamarian Greene is the team’s top rusher with 246 yards on 55 carries. Teammate Ardarius Benton is close behind with 243 yards on 55 rushes. J Taylor has added 195 yards rushing on 41 attempts.
Benton has a team-high 16 catches for 256 yards and two scores while Jacarian Grier has nine receptions for 139 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Grier leads the Canes with 33 solo tackles with 40 assists and eight tackles for a loss. Cedrion Stone has 15 solo stops and 20 assists with two tackles for a loss.
Mason Copeland has recorded 16 solo stops with 37 assists and a team-high 13 tackles for a loss. The senior also had a team-high 4.5 quarterback sacks.
Brandon Ridley had made 11 solo stops with 27 assists.
Lamar County enters this week’s game 4-4 overall and 1-3 in Region 3-AA. The Trojans began the season 3-0 but have gone 1-4 season. The lone region win came against Southwest-Macon.
Junior CJ Allen is the team’s leading rusher with 783 yards on 91 carries with 11 touchdowns.
“They are a very physical football team,” Canes coach Aaron Pitts said. “They run the Wing-T offense so they fire off the football and try to get three or four yards each play. We will need to be disciplined and play sound defense. Offensively, we need to try and keep the football and not make mistakes.”
The 2021 season has been a grueling one for Jasper County-Monticello. Pitts allowed the players some time off during the bye week.
“We tried to let our players heal so we can finish the season strong,” the coach said. “I know some of our kids got better physically and mentally with the time off. We hope everyone will be ready for this week although we still have a couple of players who will be game time decisions.”
Going to this week’s action, Bleckley County leads the region with a 4-0 mark (8-0 overall) with Dodge County, Northeast-Macon and Washington County all at 2-1 in region play. Lamar County and Southwest-Macon are both 1-3 with Jasper County-Monticello at 0-3.
Bleckley County remains number four in the most recent Class AA statewide poll conducted by Georgia High School Football Daily. Dodge County moved up a spot to number six and Northeast-Macon slipped from sixth to eighth. Washington County remains at number 10 giving the region four of the state’s top 10 teams.
Kickoff Friday at Lamar County is set for 7:30 p.m.