Edwards saves
Devils in overtime
By
Steve Carter
WARNER ROBINS —
Charlie Edwards came
through in overtime for the second time this season
and gave the Tift County Blue Devils a 20-17 victory
over the Houston County Bears in a Region 1-AAAAA
football game.
Tied at 17-17 going
into overtime, the Tift County defense finally
figured out a way to stop the Bears’ Eric O’Neal.
The Houston senior entered the extra session with
193 yards rushing on 28 carries. At that point,
O’Neal had been the majority of the Houston offense
as the Bears had only put up 254 total yards.
Even with all of that
Tift held O’Neal to -6 yards rushing on two carries
in the first overtime. Houston’s other play on a
third-and-16 was an incomplete Jeff Thompson pass.
The incompletion
forced a 39-yard field goal attempt by Michael
Thompson that was wide left.
Tift took over on its
first overtime possession and Charlie Edwards nailed
a 32-yard field goal on the first play to give the
Devils a 20-17 victory.
Tift opened up a 10-0
lead in the first half on a 45-yard field goal by
Edwards with 8:30 left in the first quarter and a
4-yard touchdown pass from Sean Baxley to Anthony
Holloway with 5:29 left in the first.
The second score was
set up on a 40-yard punt return by Randy Parker.
Houston answered with
a 17-yard O’Neal touchdown run with 7:33 left in the
second and a 21-yard field goal by Thompson with
18.3 seconds left in the first half.
The game remained
10-10 until the fourth quarter when Tift’s Justin
Wilson recovered a fumbled Houston punt on the Bear
45. Five plays later, Baxley hit Marvin Chaney for a
9-yard touchdown pass. Edwards’ point after made the
score 17-10 with 8:55 left in the game.
Houston then
duplicated the Tift score when the Devils’ Israel
Troupe fumbled a punt. Houston’s Chris Prewitt
recovered, and the Bears had the ball on the Tift
45.
Nine plays later,
Jeff Thompson scored from one yard out and following
Michael Thompson’s point after, the score was 17-17.
The teams traded
possessions until the overtime.
Tift is now 2-1 on
the year in Region 1-AAAAA play with both wins being
overtime affairs, the other was a 10-7 victory over
Valdosta. Houston dropped to 2-2 in the league.
Baxley was 15-for-19
passing for 106 yards in the game for the Devils.
Kaream Hess had 11 rushes for 55 yards and three
catches for 16 yards. Troupe had six catches for 44
yards and two rushes for 18 yards.
The Devils will be
back in action Friday at home against Warner Robins. |
