’Canes Finish Non-Region Play

The ‘Canes finished the non-region portion of their football schedule with a record of 1-2, however both losses were to powerhouse AAA teams, Morgan and Jackson. They posted a win in their one AA match-up versus Social Circle.

Their second loss of the season came at the hands of the Jackson Red Devils last week, who are tied for second place in Region 2-AAA. The final score was 37-6 in favor of the Red Devils, however the game was virtually over when the first half ended with the score 28-0.

The scoring began on the initial kick off when the Red Devils returned the kick off for a touchdown and converted the extra point.

The ‘Canes picked up two first downs on their first drive, however they stalled after an off-sides penalty, an incomplete pass and an intentional grounding penalty and had to punt. The Red Devils returned the punt for a touchdown, converted the extra point and led 14-0 without ever having run an offensive play.

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After the kick off the ‘Canes were once again forced to punt and the Red Devils ran their first offensive play of the game from their own 30 yard line with only 4:22 left in the first quarter.

After picking up two first downs, a Red Devil receiver fumbled a reception and the ‘Canes took possession on their own 29 yard line.

The ‘Canes picked up one first down on a horse collar penalty versus the Red Devils, but then turned the ball over on a fumble on their own 39 yard line as the first quarter came to an end.

After a short run, a holding penalty and an incomplete pass the Red Devils were forced to punt for the first time. The ‘Canes took possession after the punt into their end zone, but were forced to punt after it was fourth-down-and-six from their own 24.

After taking possession on the ‘Cane 48 yard line the Red Devils went for it on a fourth down and the quarterback was sacked and the ‘Canes took over on their own 41, but after it was fourth down and 11, they were forced to punt again.

The Red Devils broke it open with a big pass play down to the ‘Cane three yard line, then scored or a running play, converted and led 21-0 with 1:42 left in the first half.

The ‘Canes fumbled the ball over on their first play from the 20 yard line, and two plays later the Red Devils punched it into the end zone, converted and led 28-0 when the first half ended.

The Red Devils played a lot of players in the second half, after the ‘Canes had some break downs on their specialty teams and suffered an injury to key lineman Chris Anglin in the first half.

The lone score for the ‘Canes came in the second half when Quincy Standifer scored on a 24 yard option play.

The ‘Canes get a breather tomorrow night and will get a chance to heal some hurts and practice for their first region game scheduled at home on Friday, Sept. 28, versus Northeast Macon.

It won’t get much easier for the ‘Canes as Northeast has defeated Twiggs County, Central Macon and Southwest Macon, only had 12 points scored against them all season, and sit atop Region 4-AA with a 3-0 record.

Head Football Coach Eddie Roberts said, “Northeast has a bye week this week also, so we won’t have an advantage on them there. We have to get better as a team, especially our special teams.

“We put ourselves in a hole early in the game last week. It didn’t help when our line got banged up early, and we kept giving them the ball deep in our own territory. We have a lot of work to do.”