While schools all over the state were moving their games to Thursday night, Newton County football coach Bobby Bass never had any intentions of moving his matchup with Florence.
That move paid huge dividends for the Cougars as they played inspired football and beat the Eagles 34-7 on a soggy night in Decatur.
With the win, the Cougars even their record at 5-5 on the season and more importantly move to 2-2 in Division 5-4A play. They also secure a playoff berth and will travel to Northeast Jones on Friday in the regular-season finale.
Bass said early in the week that he had no intentions to change the game and wanted to see how his kids would respond to the adverse conditions.
“We planned for it all week,” Bass said. “We preach mental toughness and that’s what I wanted our kids to come out and prove. We talk about it every day. You are going to have adversity in life, you have to meet it head on and I thought we did that. I am super proud of our coaches and players and how they responded. I just wanted to see us play with a little toughness and grit. It was a test for our kids and I was proud of how they responded.”
The Cougars ran roughshod over the Eagles with 390 yards rushing as junior Carlois Walker ran for a season high 276 yards on 21 carries to put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
“He ran like we expected him to,” Bass said. “His feet are so quick and he has good balance. I don’t think he lost his footing one time. And a lot of times, he looked like he was shot out of a cannon. It was definitely one of his best games, that’s for sure.”
The weather played a big factor early with a heavy downpour. Florence got the ball to start the game and a bad snap on the punt gave Newton County the ball at the Eagles 9. Three plays later, Carlois Walker scored on a 1-yard run. Lee Hill’s PAT failed and County led 6-0.
The Newton County defense turned Florence over on downs on their next two drive, the second at the Cougars 30. Walker then ripped off his first big run of the night with a 70-yard touchdown run. Lee Hill ran in the two-point conversion and County led 14-0 late in the first.
County’s last first-half score came early in the second quarter as the Cougars put together a nine-play, 50-yard drive. The Cougars caught a break on the score as Devyon May fumbled at the Florence 1 and Cameron McDonald recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. Hill booted the PAT and County led 21-0 at the half.
The game was scoreless in the third quarter but County got in the end zone again after an interception by Koye Hardaway at the Newton County 8 stopped a Florence threat. Walker then found the end zone again as he ripped off a 92-yard run. Hill’s PAT gave Newton County a 28-0 lead.
Florence then scored its only points of the game on a 7-yard pass with 8:00 left in the game to cut the lead to 28-7.
But County answered right back with a quick three-play, 43-yard drive as Walker scored his third touchdown on a 35-yard run. The PAT failed for the final score of 24-7.
Walker led the rushing attack with 276 yards while Donovan McCoy had 48 yards on six carries. Carlonte Walker had 40 yards on five carries while Devyon May had 26 yards on six carries.
On defense, Colin Crowder had a huge night with 10 solo tackles and eight assists while Kaleb Blackwell had seven solo tackles and three assists. Miguel Evans had six solo tackles and four assists while McDonald had six solo tackles and three assists. Christian McGee had five solo tackles and two assists while Will Hillman had a blocked punt.
This week’s game
The Cougars will hit the road for the regular-season finale with playoff positioning on the line.
The Cougars travel to Northeast Jones to take on the 4-6 Tigers. The Tigers have wins over Franklin County (33-6), South Jones (48-23), Richland (35-6) and Florence (16-0). They have losses to Quitman (41-31), Mendenhall (14-7), Forrest County AHS (14-3), Purvis (34-10)and Raleigh (30-27) and West Jones (42-7).
“We are very comparable with the type of kids that we have and what they have,” Bass said. “They run a lot of the same schemes that we run. We run power and counter and they run the same thing. They are probably bigger than us up front but it’s all very similar. Overall, it should be a heck of a game.”
The winner of the game will be the No. 3 seed out of Division 5-4A while the loser will be the No. 4 seed.
