|
The Trojans defeated the
Bremen Blue
Devils by the score of 17-14 before a packed and chilly Lovett Stadium on Friday
night. The win gives the Trojans a 13 game home winning streak.
The Trojans current 12 game winning streak is the third longest in school
history. The game couldn’t have started off much better for the Trojans…on
the first play from scrimmage
Bremen
fumbled the handoff. JOCO recover the ball on the
Bremen 27.
The Trojans scored on only one play when Cordele Johnson hit Cedric Rawlings
for a 27 yard touchdown pass. Spencer Hartley kicked the extra point and
with only 11:42 left in the first quarter JOCO led 7-0. On
Bremen’s
next possession they managed to get one first down before having to punt.
The Trojans would start on their own 15 after a 43 yard punt. Nine plays
later JOCO was on the Bremen 44. On the next play Kelvis Whitley scored an apparent touchdown but
the play was called back because of a penalty. A few plays later on fourth
and two Stacy Devero ran for one yard two feet and 11 inches. Bremen took
over and moved the ball down to the JOCO 36 before turning it back over to
the Trojans.
The Trojans
struck quickly. On the second play Cordele Johnson went 61 yards for a
touchdown. The extra point kick by Spencer Hartley was good and the Trojans
had a 14-0 lead with
10:21
to go in the second quarter.
Bremen’s
next drive ended with a turnover. Justin Lindsey deflected a Ret Tolleson
pass and Jonathan Linder intercepted it and returned it to the Bremen 34. The Trojans couldn’t take advantage of the situation, though, as
Bremen intercepted a pass three plays later on their own 8 and returned it
to the Bremen 31. It took
Bremen 11
plays to get their first score. Bremen converted two fourth downs on the
drive, the second one being a nine yard pass on fourth and nine. On the
next play Marcus Coggins burst through the middle for an 18 yard touchdown
run. Ret Tolleson made the extra point and the score was JOCO 14 Bremen 7 with 2:42 to go
in the half. The Trojans were content to take that score to half as they
were able to run out all but six seconds of the half.
JOCO took the
second half kickoff and drove down to the
Bremen 39
before throwing an interception at the Bremen 14. Bremen
picked up a couple of first downs before having to punt. JOCO started their
final scoring drive on their own 35. On the first play Kelvis Whitley went
42 yards down to the Bremen 23. A late hit well out of bounds tacked on another 12 yards and the
Trojans had the ball at the
Bremen 11.
After three runs Coach Bonds decided to try a field goal. Spencer
Hartley was successful from 24 yards out to give JOCO a 17-7 lead
with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. This was
Hartley's second field goal of the year.
Bremen got
good field position after a short Trojan kickoff. This time the Blue Devils
moved the ball mostly through the air. Two big passes to Jamie Walker set
up the score. The biggest one came on fourth down and six from the Johnson
26. Walker took
the pass down to the Johnson 4. On the next play Wes Ward went in for the
touchdown. After the Tolleson kick the score was
Johnson
County 17
Bremen 14
with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The fourth
quarter started with the Trojans at the Johnson 40. After a few plays JOCO
had the ball at the
Bremen 39.
The Trojans turned the ball over when a Johnson incompletion was ruled a
fumble. Bremen took over at their 44 but was unable to get a first down. A fake punt
came up a few inches short of the mark.
Bremen held
JOCO to a three and out. A good Spencer Hartley kick set Bremen up at their 19. After getting one first down the Blue Devils were
faced with a fourth and two from their 40. It appeared that the Trojans had
held but a generous spot gave the Blue Devils a first down at the 42. After
one more first down
Bremen had
the ball at the Johnson 46. The Trojans forced
Bremen into
four incompletions and took over on downs at the 46. JOCO was able to run
out the clock as
Bremen
didn’t have any timeouts.
This victory
means that the
Johnson
County
Trojans will be playing in the Georgia Dome next weekend. The Trojans will
face the Lincoln
County
Red Devils
on Friday at 3:00 p.m. The Trojan seniors defeated Lincoln County in 2002 at Buddy
Bufford Field. Johnson County quarterback Cordele Johnson, a freshman
at the time, was the starting quarterback for the Trojans in that game. |
