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EJCHS Football
East Jackson Defeated By Union County 35-14
East Jackson sophomore Brion Youngs (11) breaks up a late Union County
pass Friday night. Photo by Brandon Reed
Eagles Travel To Riverside Friday
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles knew going
into Friday night’s game that their pairing
with the Union County Panthers would
be tough. The Panthers entered the game
undefeated, having knocked off North
Oconee the week before.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, that’s the
same way Union County’s record looked
when they left town Friday night, as the
Panthers defeated East Jackson 35-14.
“I feel like our guys had to overcome
some major adversity,” said coach Frank
Caputo. “We had some starters get hurt
or not play. I felt like the kids responded
very well.
“Union county had some really good
football players and it showed. You can
really tell that these guys knew each
other. They have played together for a
long time and it showed.'’
Now East Jackson must prepare to meet
another set of Eagles - those of Riverside
Military Academy in Gainesville Friday
night at 7:30.
Riverside is coming off of a close loss
to North Oconee Friday night, 23-21.
Those Eagles are 3-1 overall, and 1-0 in
the region.
So far, Riverside has scored 146 points to
East Jackson’s 85. Riverside has allowed
73 points, while East Jackson has allowed
90.
Panthers Prowl
While Union County controlled the
field for most of the night, the Eagles did
score twice, once in the first quarter, and
again in the second quarter.
Union County drew first blood, scoring
early in the first quarter. With a minute
and a half remaining in the quarter, Zach
Gilbert got the Eagles on the board with
a touchdown from 19 yards out to tie the
game.
But 37 seconds into the second quarter,
the Panthers scored their second touch
down of the night to retake the lead.
East Jackson sophomore Nick Fulks
sacked Union County quarterback Kolt
Owenby with just under six and a half
minutes left in the quarter, slowing the
Panthers’ momentum, but with 22 sec
onds remaining in the half, Union County
scored their third touchdown of the night,
making the score 21-7 going into half
time.
Hanging Tough
East Jackson came out in the second
half and fumbled on the kickoff, with
Union County recovering the ball on East
Jackson’s 27-yard line.
East Jackson’s defense stepped up and
pushed them back to the 30-yard line.
Union County again broke through late,
and scored its fourth touchdown with less
than a minute remaining in the quarter.
It was more of the same for the Panthers
at the start of the fourth quarter, with
Union County scoring its fifth and final
touchdown of the night with 10:21 remain
ing.
The Eagles bunted another drive when
Derrick Bozeman recovered a Union
County fumble, returning it for 25 yards
before being tackled.
Continued on Page 3B
CHS Football
Tigers Rested, Ready For Lincoln County Challenge
Brown Sidelined With Knee Injury
By Brandon Reed
After a week to regroup,
the Tigers of Commerce
High School are preparing
to travel 80 miles south to
Lincolnton, where they’ll
face perennial powerhouse
Lincoln County Friday
night. The Red Devils are
3-1 overall, having record
ed their first loss of the sea
son last week to Abbeville,
S.C., 28-17.
In their first three games
of the season, the Red
Devils held their oppo
nents scoreless.
While Commerce will be
heading down Highway 78
with strong expectations,
what they won’t have is
senior Colton Brown.
Brown suffered a knee
injury in the Sept. 12 game
against Franklin County,
and coach Steve Savage
says he will miss this
Friday’s game.
While Savage didn’t com
ment on the nature of
Brown’s injury, he did say
his status would be re-eval-
uated on a week-to-week
basis.
Brown’s loss is a hard one
for the Tigers. So far this
season, Brown had rushed
for 63 yards on 21 attempts,
including 31 yards on eight
attempts against Franklin
County.
Red Menace
Friday night will mark
the first time since 2006
that the Tigers and the Red
Devils have faced off. In
that last meeting, Lincoln
County won 21-3.
In fact, Lincoln County
holds the distinction of
being one of the few teams
to have historically bested
Commerce on the grid
iron.
In 14 previous meetings,
the Red Devils have won
10. The last time the Tigers
prevailed was in 2001,
when the Tigers squeaked
out a 13-12 victory.
Commerce also defeated
Lincoln County twice in
2000, winning 16-15 on
Sept. 29, and winning 17-14
on Dec. 9 in the Class A
semifinals at the Georgia
Dome en route to a state
title.
Coming into Friday
night’s game, the Red
Devils have scored 103
points, while Commerce
has scored 47. Lincoln
County has allowed only
28 points scored, while
Commerce has allowed 85.
Kickoff Friday night is at
7:30 p.m.
Colton Brown (19) suffered a knee injury on this play during Commerce’s
Sept. 12 match up with Franklin County. Brown’s status will be re-evaluated
week-to-week. Photo by Brandon Reed
EJCHS Softball
East Jackson Wins Three In A Row, Hosts Last Home Game Thurs.
Kaitlin Hill recorded the win for East Jackson
against Tift County. Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
It was a busy and suc
cessful week for the East
Jackson Lady Eagles as
they won five games and
tied one game in their last
eight outings.
The Lady Eagles were
scheduled to travel to
Homer to face Banks
County Tuesday after
noon. Results were
unavailable at press
time. Check www.main-
streetnews sports.com
for updates and scores
throughout the week.
Up next for East Jackson
is their final home stand
of the regular season
Thursday against Fannin
County at 5:55.
The Lady Eagles started
their week with a win on
the road, defeating Rabun
County 6-0.
Haley Thompson
recorded the win from
the mound, giving up
only two hits.
Up next was a home
game with Union County
that saw the Lady Panthers
win 4-1 after a two-run
homer put the game away
in the top of the seventh
inning.
“Union County showed
up, and they were ready
to play,” said coach Jason
Rainey. “I can’t fault the
girls. Union just played
well.”
Kaitlin Hill recorded the
loss from the mound.
The Lady Eagles next
headed to Augusta for
the Coca Cola Classic
Tournament over the
weekend. East Jackson
started with a 1-0 loss to
Effingham County.
Haley Thompson was
on the mound, and gave
up only two hits, but
one of those was a solo
homerun in the fourth
inning.
East Jackson picked up
its first win of the tourna
ment a few hours later,
beating Tift County 4-1.
Hill recorded the win.
Rainey said the middle of
the lineup hit really well
in that game, including
Hill and catcher Brook
Yarborough.
The Lady Eagles settled
for a tie later that eve
ning against Northside,
Columbus. East Jackson
had a 1-0 lead but
Northside plated a
run and the game was
declared a tie when time
ran out.
Haley Thompson
pitched most of the game,
with Hill coming in for
the final inning.
The Lady Eagles got
on a hot streak from
there, winning their next
three games on Saturday,
defeating Appling County
6-2, Elbert county 6-0 and
Continued on Page 3B