By Kevin Williamson
South Jones evened their Region 3-5A record at 1-1 with a 52-36 win over Forest Hill Friday night in Ellisville. The Braves roared to a 31-7 halftime lead, getting started with a pick six from Shiwon Lovett about four minutes deep into the game. Mark Diers was true with the PAT, as he was all night. With 2:16 left in the opening quarter, quarterback John Mitchell found Cade Locklear with a 5-yard scoring toss to raise the Braves’ advantage to 14-0.
The Patriots tried to counter with just over seven minutes left until intermission, driving from their own 42 to the South Jones 10. On fourth down, a heavy rush from Vekelion Campbell, Andrew Howard and Demarcus McGilberry forced a weak pass that fell incomplete. Mitchell immediately made the visitors pay, outracing everyone 83 yards for a score three plays later to give the Braves a 21-0 lead.
Forest Hill countered with a long TD pass on the first play after the ensuing kickoff to narrow the deficit to 21-7, but a Dier field goal from 40 yards at the 4:14 mark of the second quarter and another Mitchell to Locklear hook-up with 53 ticks left before halftime suppressed the Forest Hill momentum.
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It took the Braves only 30 seconds of the third quarter to post their fifth touchdown of the evening, as Mitchell did the honors from a yard out. The 51-yard drive took three plays, with Jacob Pigford chomping up 38 of it on the first play of the second half. Pigford added a TD of his own with 3:14 left in the third period, pushing the margin to 45-7 for South Jones.
The hosts seemed almost disinterested at that point of the contest, and Forest Hill scored three straight times to close the margin to 45-28 with 7:17 left in the game. Their flurry was too little too late, and the Braves held on for the victory, as both teams added late scores.
South Jones travels to Natchez next week.
