Canes To Face Tough Putnam Team Friday

The Jasper County-Monticello High School football team will have a tough challenge on its hands this Friday.

The Canes (0-1) will travel to Putnam County High School in Eatonton for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against the War Eagles. Putnam County crushed Morgan County 37-0 last Friday while the Canes had a bye date.

“In watching them on film they are athletic, play hard and are well coached,” said Canes coach Aaron Pitts. “They look like they came out ready to play last week. They really got it rolling. We will have to play better and make solid tackles to keep them from big plays.”

The coach said he was pleased with his team’s work during its bye week.

“We got some good work in last week,” Pitts said. “We now have a game under our belts and it was beneficial for us to have that extra week of getting used to our system. We won the bye week which is a positive thing.”

In the opener for the Canes, senior Shamarian Greene rushed for 101 yards on 20 carries with a long run of 25 yards. Greene also had two catches for 11 yards. The senior had 161 yards of all-purpose offense with 49 on kickoff returns.

Senior Ardarius Benton also had 72 yards rushing on 10 carries with a long run of 19 yards.

There were several defensive standouts for Pitts including Cedrion Stone with nine total tackles and Jacarian Grier with seven defensive stops. Marlerio Stone added five tackles and a quarterback sack while Daaylan Miller had four tackles and a sack.

Jaylen Stewart recorded three tackles and had an interception. Taylor Jackson (five tackles) and Mason Copeland (four tackles, one for loss) also contributed defensively.

Friday’s game is the Region 3-AA opener for the Canes while Putnam enters the contest 1-0 in region play.

“You want to start off your region schedule on the right foot,” Pitts said. “We hope to be able to execute and be operating on all cylinders.”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.