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jenkinscountytimes.com
The Jenkins County Times
Wednesday, August 30, 2023 - Page 9
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BRAD ASBURY
WAR EAGRE
S P
By Brad Asbury, Sports Editor
for
I i 11 : Times
pastorbradasbury@gmail.com
R T S
Meet Your Lady
War Eagles
Under the
Bleachers
The Jenkins County Cross Country team was hoping to
get a start to its season on Saturday; however, due to the
heat, the meet had to be canceled. No doubt factoring into
the decision was several cross-country athletes from some
other schools fell ill due to the heat in Augusta this past
week. Three students were taken to the hospital and six were
treated on the property for heat-related illnesses.
One of the most exciting sporting events of the summer is
not a professional or even college sporting event. The Little
League World Series was held in Williamsport, PA featuring
some of the best 11-13-year-old kids in baseball from
around the world who played in a tournament over the last
two weeks. In the end, the California team representing the
United States defeated Curacao who won the World bracket
of the series, 6-5 with a walk-off home run. The California
team did not lose a game over the two weeks.
As the MLB season starts to arrive at an end with only one
month to play, the awards race for top players is starting to
heat up. The favorite for the Cy Young Award is presently
Atlanta Braves player Spencer Strider. Did you know that the
Cy Young Award was named after Cy Young who pitched in
749 complete games over the course of his 22-year career?
Only three pitchers in history have even started that many
games which include of course Young, Don Sutton, and
Nolan Ryan.
Fans will begin to flock to stadiums all over the nation
this weekend. Did you know that Sanford Stadium, the
home of the Georgia Bulldogs holds over 92,000 people in
the stadium? If Sanford Stadium was a town, it would be the
8 th largest city in the state of Georgia on gameday. Sanford
is still not the largest, as Michigan Stadium is the largest.
107,601 screaming Wolverine fans can fill the Ann Arbor
stadium.
Where you are at watching your favorite college teams
play boil some peanuts, invite your friends, cook some
gameday food, and have fun watching an exciting football
season. What is your favorite game day food? Do you. Have
any favorite game day recipes you can share for your watch
parties? Share yours with me at pastorbradasbury@gmail.
com, or on our Facebook page. My favorite gameday food
is smoked chicken quarters using a recipe called Cornell
Chicken! I will share the recipe with you next week, and
maybe a picture as they come hot off the smoker.
Enjoy the sports this week! Get to church on Sunday!
Cheer on the local teams. Above all worship Jesus, He is
worthy of all our praises.
Freshman Hillary
Garvin fields the
ball in centerfield
at home on
Monday against
Jefferson County.
The Lady War
Eagles won this
game 9-1 and
finished 2-2 for
the week! Photo
by Christina
Coleman.
Sophomore Mya
Abraham steps
up to bat versus
Jefferson County
on Monday
night in the
War Eagles 9-1.
Abraham was
2 for 2 batting
on Monday
night! Photo
by Christina
Coleman.
Fourth Quarter Resurgence Leads
to War Eagle Victory
Entering the Johnson County game some local fans had hyped this game one of the best games of the early season. Some
chatter was had that if the War Eagles could win this game, it would be a statement game for the state to pay attention to the
War Eagles. One early preseason poll had the War Eagles ranked 3 rd and Johnson County 2 nd . Max Preps after week 1
had the War Eagles ranked 11 th and Johnson County 6 th . It was easy to see why the local “hype” was there, and when the
fans and players left the field, the game was proven to be an “instant classic.”
As kickoff was set, fans had filled both sides of the stadium and the temperature was hot! With the high that day in
Wrightsville, GA being 100 and at game time just a slight bit cooler, players coaches, and fans were sweating before the
game could begin. From the opening kickoff, the hits were hard, and the offense was scarce. The Eagles were immediately
forced to a 3 and out, and after running several minutes off the clock Johnson County was forced to punt on their first drive
after just 11 yards gained. The teams exchanged punts for the first quarter and the score was 0-0 heading to the second
quarter.
The second quarter started with a War Eagle turnover, which was followed by Johnson getting the first score of the game
and taking a 6-0 lead. Little offense could be found for the War Eagles until a 3-and-out was forced by the War Eagles. A punt
was kicked just inside the 30-yard line to Marion Young, and he was off to the races. He would not stop until he reached the
end zone for a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown leading to a 6-6 tie. The tie is how the first half would end.
In the 3rd quarter, the offense for both teams would decide to get moving. Johnson County would score, followed by a
37-yard touchdown run by ZZ Wilson. The War Eagles had a failed conversion and would trail 14-12 as the 4 th quarter got
started.
As the fourth quarter got started, Johnson County was able to knock off 3 minutes of time and score leading to a 20-12
lead. Two minutes later, with 7 minutes to play in the game, an
interception was thrown which resulted in a pick 6 for Johnson County. With the time slowly slipping away, the chance
of a War Eagle win looked impossible. Heads were down on the sideline, and some fans started heading for the exit. Yet,
Charlie Waters gathered his players on the sideline, and whatever he told them they came out ready to run through a wall
for Coach Waters!
With two minutes remaining in the game, the War Eagles pushed across a rushing touchdown by Tyrone Martin. If the
War Eagles wanted to have a chance, they needed to get the 2-point conversion, and they did! An onside kick was attempted,
and Johnson County still had the ball.
As time began to tick away, the War Eagles had three timeouts to bum. With wise use of the timeouts, and some very
stingy defense, the War Eagles got the ball back. The final drive of the game would start nearly 80 yards from the end zone,
less than 1 minute to play, and only 1 timeout remained. What looked hopeless changed with one play. That one play was
a state play of the week nominee as Christian Wilson connected with ZZ Wilson on a huge pass resulting in a War Eagles
touchdown tieing the game 26-26. The War Eagles would then attempt a two-point conversion and it was good giving the
War Eagles a 28-26 lead. The Trojans tried their own “miracle plays” but nothing was working. The War Eagles defense
would not give an inch, they actually took several yards! The War Eagles won 28-26.
Statistically speaking, the War Eagles dominated the Trojans. Offensively, the War Eagles outdid Johnson County by 247
yards. Most of that domination was on the ground, which was expected as the season started as they outdid the Trojans 223
to 28. The defense was strong for the War limiting Johnson County to 110 yards. Brothers Kendrick and Kenneth Thomas
combined for 22 tackles! Thomas also had a quarterback sack. With such domination in the statistics, it was the turnovers
that nearly doomed the War Eagles. The War Eagles had 3 fumbles and 1 interception.
Once the War Eagles get the turnovers under control, this team will dominate even more their opponent. One encouraging
statistic was the fact that the War Eagles had a balanced offense with a great job passing and mshing.
Statistics for the game:
Team Statistics:
Total Yards:
Jenkins County: 347 yards
Johnson County: 110 yards
Pass Yards
Jenkins County: 124 yards
Johnson County: 52 yards
Rushing Yards
Jenkins County: 223 yards
Johnson County: 28 yards
Individual Statistics:
Passing:
Tyrone Martin 2 for 3 for 12
Christian Wilson 3 for 7 for 112 Yards
Rushing:
Tyrone Martin 20 Carries for 128 yards and 1 TD
ZZ Wilson 5 carries for 72 yards and 1 TD
Christian Wilson 6 carries for 16 yards
RobTravious Coney 3 carries for 8 yards
Receiving
ZZ Wilson 2 for 87 yards and 1 touchdown
Marion Young 1 for 25 yards
Kendrick Thomas 1 for 6 yards
yards
Last week, we featured the football team roster so that
you might know your War Eagle football
players when they enter the playing field. This week, get
to know your Lady War Eagles as they
step onto the diamond for a great season.
Name Number
Kynlee Wallace 1
Shanya Lake 2
Ava Brantley 3
Avery Wiggins 4
Katie Bell 5
Jakhaila Oglesby 6
Lynnsey Lane 7
Lohgan Walker 8
Bethany Asbury 9
Ladeshia Williams 10
Dehaje Newton 11
Cayley Linder 12
Hillary Garvin 13
Mya Abraham 14
Laura Gayle Dailey 15
Aubrey Davis 16
Sophomore Avery
Wiggins gets a
good lead off while
on second base
in a recent game.
This week, the War
Eagles travel to
Wheeler County
(Monday), at home
against McIntosh
County
Academy (Tuesday),
and on the road to
Portal (Thursday).
The McIntosh
County Academy
and Portal games
are region games!
Photo by Christina
Coleman.
Sophomore Ava
Brantley stands at 3rd
base with Head Coach
Renee Hearn looking
on. Hearn has
her War Eagles ranked
#8 in Class A Division
II in the most recent
Max Preps Poll. Photo
by Christina Coleman.
Around the Region
and the Area
Regional play in football is still a few weeks away.
However, regional teams are showing success on the field
already. Portal has started off the season 2-0 getting a win
over Twiggs County in a big way 44-0. McIntosh County
lost to Glynn Academy 14-6 moving them to 1-1, ECI
lost to Metter 17-10 in their first game of the season, and
Montgomery County lost big to Warren County 53-28.
Also, local team and opponent Screven County opened their
season with a 30-7 loss to Bacon County.
Max preps updated their rankings for Class ADivision 2 on
Sunday. Schley County is ranked 1 st in the polls. Making a
big jump into the top 5 is the War Eagles of Jenkins County!
Other teams in our region's rankings are McIntosh
County (10), ECI (18), Portal (21), and Montgomery (38).
In football, there are 49 teams in Class A Division 2.
The Jenkins County War Eagles begin regional play this
week. They will face McIntosh County Academy and Portal.
An interesting fact about the Jenkins County and Portal
matchup is that it will feature a father vs daughter coaching
matchup. The Portal Head Coach is Travis Motes. Travis’
daughter Kolbie is the new Assistant Coach at Jenkins
County. Portal is currently 1-6. They will face ECI on
Tuesday in their first regional matchup. ECI starts this week
4-8 after their championship season last year. McIntosh
County Academy is 1-7 to begin the season losing most
recently to Calvary Day School 14-0. Montgomery County
is 3-4 to start their season and will play McIntosh County
Academy on Thursday in their first regional game of the
season.
The Jenkins County Lady War Eagles softball also
continues a very successful season. In the latest update to
the Max Preps softball Class A Division 2 rankings has
our Lady War Eagles at #8. Also, in our region ECI (13),
Montgomery County (19), Portal (30), and McIntosh
County (36). In softball there are a total of 36 teams in Class
ADivision 2.
