Pirates overrun Miller County

By Cole Gardner | September 23, 2025 |

On Friday, the Appling County High School Pirates Football team hosted the Miller County Pirates. Appling defeated Miller County by a high score of 66-6. Before the game, several events were held. The First was the Rec. night for the Pirates, where all of the Recreation football teams were honored and were allowed to walk across the football field before the game. After the Rec night, ACHS Principal Dr Ben Horner recognized the student athletes of the week. These are students who earn the highest cumulative academic average on their respective teams. First was Kane Eason for the Cross-Country Team, second was Dareon Hood for the Football team, third was Chloe Jordan for the Sideline Cheer Team, and Fourth was Olivia Kersey for the Volleyball team.

Congratulations to all the students on all of their hard work both on and off the field. Finally, the Appling County High School 2025 Girls State Tennis Champion members were presented with their championship rings. More information on that in the state championship story in this week’s edition of the News-Banner.

The Appling Pirates scored first after driving down the field from their own 34-yard line to Miller’s 6-yard line, where running back Jaiden knight ran the ball into the endzone for a touchdown. Alan Ramirez made the first PAT of the night, making the score 7-0 with 9:55 left in the first quarter.

The next score for Appling did not take long, when the defense made a score. Pirate defender Cameron George forced Miller’s running back to fumble the ball, and George recovered the ball at Miller’s 32-yard line and ran it back to the endzone for a touchdown. The Pirates went for the 2-point conversion, and Jaiden Knight ran the ball into the endzone for the conversion, making the score 15-0 with 8:57 left in the first quarter.

The defense was on fire all night making their second big stop when Jaiden Soloman stripped the ball from the quarterback and ran it back to Miller’s own 20-yard line. Jaiden After the Pirates made their way up to the 15-yard line, Jaiden Knight would run the ball into the endzone again for a 15-yard touchdown. Alan Ramirez made another PAT, making the score 22-0 with 8:29 left in the first quarter.

Miller County would score their first points of the game after driving down to Appling’s 29-yard line. Appling would keep them to a fourth down there, but Miller’s Kicker would make a 46-yard field goal attempt, making the score 22-3 with 4:06 left in the first quarter.

Appling would get their next score close to the end of the first quarter after driving down the field to Miller’s own 20-yard line. From there, Pirate Quarterback Harrison Hickox would make a 20-yard pass to Rett Thomas in the endzone for a touchdown. Alan Ramirez once again would make another PAT, making the score 29-3 with 1:25 left in the first quarter.

The Pirates Defense would make another major stop going into the beginning of the second quarter. The defense held Miller County to fourth down and four yards at the end of the first quarter, forcing Miller to punt at the beginning of the second. During the punt though, Appling Defender Deondre Mims broke through and blocked the punt by Miller County and forced the ball to roll out the back of the endzone. This resulted in a safety on Miller County, making the score 31-3 with 11:52 left in the second quarter.

The safety would force Miller County to also kick back to Appling, where they received the ball at Miller’s 38-yard line. From there, Harrison Hickox would get down to Miller’s 16-yard line on a 22-yard run, and Rett Thomas would get to the three-yard line for the Pirates. From there, Dareon Hood would take the ball and run it into the endzone for a three-yard touchdown. Alan Ramirez made his fourth PAT of the night, making the score 38-3 with 1:42 left in the first half.

The defense showed that they had no plans on slowing down. After Alan Ramirez kicked the ball into the back of the endzone for a touchback, Miller County would take over at their own 20-yard line. From there, a group of Pirate Defenders would recover another fumble by Miller on a run and give the ball back to the offense on Miller’s 24-yard line. Appling would be backed up on a penalty to Miller’s 34-yard line, but from their quarterback Harrison Hickox would throw the ball to tight-end Devonte Poole how would take the ball into the endzone for a 34-yard touchdown pass. Alan Ramirez would make another PAT, making the score 45-3 with 9:39 left in the second quarter.

After the Pirate Defense force Miller to punt the ball, the Offense would take over on their own 47-yard line. From there, the Pirates would work their way down the field down to Miller’s own one-yard line, where running back Titus Wallace would run the ball into the endzone for a one-yard touchdown. Alan Ramirez would make another PAT, making the score 52-3 with 5:20 left in the second quarter.

Miller County would get their final score of the game after driving down the field from their own 35-yard line to Appling’s 18-yard line, where the defense would keep them to a fourth down. From there, Miller’s kicker would make a 35-yard field goal to make the score 52-6 with 1:40 left in the first half.

Appling would receive the kickoff around their own 35-yard line and would work down to Miller’s six-yard line. From their quarterback Harrison Hickox would take the ball and run into the endzone for a six-yard touchdown. Alan Ramirez would make the PAT, making the score 59-6 with 0:22 left in the first half. Miller would receive the ball but would not make it to the endzone before the time ran out for the first half.

During halftime, the Appling County Pirate Brigade did an amazing job on their half time performance. As always, they did a great job with their performance as they use this time to get ready for their competition season, which will begin soon.

The final score of the game came late in the fourth quarter as Appling quarterback Jack Lee Courson kept the ball and ran from Appling’s own 47-yard line to the endzone for a 53-yard touchdown. Pirate kicker Emiliano Escalante made the PAT, making the score 66-6 with 2:05 left in the game. There were no other scores after that making the final score 66-6.

The Pirates will be on the road this week, travelling to Fitzgerald High School to take on the Purple Hurricanes. This will be the last game before region play starts when Appling travels to Crisp County on October 10. Travel to Fitzgerald and cheer on the Pirates as they take on this same classification foe. The game is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Jaycee Stadium. GO PIRATES!

Statistics:

First Downs – ACHS 17; MCHS 9
Rushing – ACHS 31/297/5; MCHS 27/108
Passing – ACHS 6/7/123/3; MCHS 9/18/74
Total yards – ACHS 420; MCHS 182
Penalties ACHS 7/54; MCHS 7/49

Individual Statistics:

Passing – Harrison Hickox completed five of six passes for 108 yards and three touchdowns; Bryson Mickens completed his only pass for 15 yards.Rushing – Dareon Hood Rushed eight times for 97-yards and one touchdown; Jaiden Knight rushed six times for 79-yards and one touchdown; Jack Lee Courson rushed one time for 53-yards and one touchdown; Harrison Hickox rushed two times for 28-yards for one touchdown; Reece Norris rushed four times for 19-yards; Bryson Mickens rushed four times for 13-yards; Brayden Miles rushed one time for seven-yards; Javeches Johnson rushed one time for two yards; and Devonte Poole rushed one time for one yard.

Receiving – Devonte Poole caught two passes thrown to him for 60 yards and one touchdown; Rett Thomas caught three of four passes thrown to him for 48 yards and one touchdown; and Jaiden Knight caught his only pass for 15 yards.

Defensive Standouts – Jack Lee Courson and Javechez Johnson both had four tackles each and both caused a fumble each; Karson Johnson and Edwin Burt both had four tackles each; Cameron George had three tackles, recovered two fumbles and returned one fumble 32-yards for a touchdown; Elijah Parker had three tackles; Jackson Spence had two tackles and caused/recovered a fumble; Titus Wallace, Bryson Mickens, Brayden Miles, Jaylin Lee, Jaiden Knight, and Tate Boatright all had two tackles each; Jaiden Soloman had one tackle and caused/recovered a fumble; Devonte Poole, Jamarious Pearsey, Rett Thomas, Willie Jackson, Deonddre Mims, Jordan Todd, and Cary Darlin all had one tackle each.

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