Pirates advance to second round
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On Friday, November 14, the Appling County High School Pirates Football team hosted the Hart County High School Bulldogs. This game came out closer than what most people expected, especially when the Pirates were trailing at halftime 17-20. The Pirate defense caught a second wind in the final half of the game and did not allow a single point to be scored. With the defense holding the Bulldogs, the offense was able to take back the lead and end the game with a final score of 31-20. Here is a breakdown of how this game played out.
Hart was the first to put the first points on the board after intercepting the ball around the Pirate 30-yard line and returning it to their 16-yard line. Hart pushed their way to the Pirate 6-yard line, where their running back was able to run the ball in for a touchdown. The PAT was good by Hart to take a lead of 0-7 with 4:00 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
After Appling called a fair catch at their own 29-yard line. Jaiden Knight took a direct snap on the first play and ran the ball 71 yards into the endzone. Alan Ramirez made the PAT to tie the game back up 7-7.
Titus Wallace scored the next points for the Pirates with a 67-yard run to the endzone. Alan Ramirez made another PAT to give the pirates their first lead of the night with a score of 14-7 with 11:49 left in the second quarter.
Hart County did not wait real long before their next score after pushing the ball downfield from their own 20 to the Pirate 4-yard line. From there, Hart ran the ball into the endzone for a touchdown. They did miss the PAT kick to be down 14-13 with 8:10 left in the first half.
After the defense forced Hart to punt from their own two-yard line to their own 37. Rett Thomas caught the punt and returned the ball down to Hart’s 12-yard line. Hart’s defense stood strong and pushed the Pirate offense back some, but not far enough to keep Alan Ramirez from kicking a 42-yard field goal. The good field goal extended the Pirate lead 17-13 with 2:47 left in the game.
Hart County pushed down the field fast to get into scoring range, being two yards from the endzone on fourth down. A lot of Pirate Fans were not happy at the end of the half though, as many thought Hart had used all of their timeouts but were given a fourth to stop the clock right before the end of the half. That timeout allowed Hart to punch the ball into the endzone and take the lead. The Good PAT made the score 17-20 going into halftime.
During halftime, the Pirate Brigade did an excellent job as always, putting on a show for all the fans in attendance at Jimmy Swain Stadium. Great job, Pirate Brigade.
The Pirate Defense came up with a big play at the beginning of the third quarter. After Hart intercepted a Pirate pass and pushed the ball down to the one-yard line. The Pirate defense made a stop and forced a turnover on downs at their own 1–yard line. The Pirates would take this drive and push down the field to Hart’s own 25-yard line. From there, Jaiden Knight took the ball into the endzone for a 25–yard touchdown. Alan Ramirez made his third PAT of the night to give the Pirates back the lead with a score of 24-20 with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
The final score of the game came when Harrison Hickox stepped back to throw a screen pass to Mikel Crayton, who took the ball and ran it into the endzone for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Alan Ramirez would make the final PAT of the night to make the score 31-20 with 7:52 left in the game. The Pirates secured their win after Mikel Crayton forced a Hart wide receiver to fumble a pass, and Crayton jumped on the ball to secure it for the Pirates and run the clock the rest of the way out.
This is a great win in the playoffs for the Pirates and coaches in the first year with a new coaching staff. Their job is not finished yet though. The Pirates will host the number 12 team in the playoffs in Hapeville Charter Hornets from Atlanta. Hapeville defeated Columbus High School 48-0 in their first-round game last week. If the Pirates defeat Hapeville in this week’s playoff game, they will play the winner of Morgan County High School and Miller Grove High School. If Morgan County wins, the Pirates will be on the road for the third round of the playoffs as Morgan County is the number 4 team in the playoffs. Miller Grove is the number 13 team in the playoffs, so if they win, they will have to travel to Appling for the third round. Check out the News-Banners Facebook page this Friday for either live updates as the game is being played, or for an audio-only broadcast, as GHSA will not allow for the Baxley News-Banner to video Broadcast due to them having an agreement with NFHS Network for video broadcasting rights. GO PIRATES!
Statistics:
First downs – ACHS 14; HCHS 15
Rushing – ACHS 40/304/3; HCHS 37/217/3
Passing – 2/5/42/1; HCHS 6/15/135
Total Offense – ACHS 346; HCHS 352
Penalties – ACHS 4/36; HCHS 12/96
Individual Statistics:
Passing – Harrison Hickox completed two of four passes for 42 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception; Jack Lee Courson missed his only throw and was intercepted.
Rushing – Jaiden Knight rushed 17 times for 157–yards and two touchdowns; Titus Wallace rushed 14 times for 131–yards and one touchdown; Mikel Crayton rushed four times for 11–yards; Harrison Hickox rushed three times for 4–yards; Javechez Johnson rushed one time for 5–yards; and Devonte Poole rushed one time for a loss of 4–yards.
Receiving – Mikel Crayton caught one of two passes thrown to him for 25 yards and one touchdown, Rett Thomas caught the only pass thrown to him for 17 yards; Devonte Poole and Brayden Miles both did not catch the only passes thrown to them.
Defensive Standouts – Jaiden Knight lead the team in tackles with nine total tackles and one pass breakup; Cameron George had six total tackles; Jaiden Soloman had five tackles with a aassist for tackle of loss; Jack Lee Courson had five tackles; Javechez Johnson and Karson Johnson both had four tackles each; Jaylin Lee, Devonte Poole, and Edwin Burt all had three tackles each; Mikel Crayton had two tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, Titus Wallace had two tackles with a assist on a tackle for loss; Rett Thomas and Deondre Mims both had two tackles each; and Jordan Todd and Bryson Mickens had one tackle each.
