Middle School Football: Madras Eagles soar; Smokey Road, Evans win 1st games
From Staff Reports
sports@newnan.com
A week after Lee leapfrogged over defending Coweta County Middle School Athletic League football champions Smokey Road in this year’s season opener, the Timberwolves fell victim to Madras on Wednesday.
In what already looks to be a competitive 2012 season, the Eagles grabbed hold of first place in the CCMSAL with an impressive 28-16 victory over Lee at East Coweta High School while holding off a fourth-quarter comeback by the Timberwolves.
Next week’s games also feature a game between two other 1-1 teams when Evans travels to East Coweta. Lee hosts 0-2 Arnall on Wednesday at East Coweta High School.
This week, Madras used big plays in the first half to jump out to a 20-0 lead before Ton Evans opened the third quarter with a 47-yard touchdown run to push the Eagles’ advantage further ahead.
Quarterback Terrance Carter led Madras with three touchdown passes in the first half, the first of which was an 84-yard catch and run to Evans. Carter then connected with Eagles receiver Omar Bringas from 47 yards to put Madras ahead 13-0 at the end of the first quarter thanks to the first of back-to-back PAT kicks by Dexter Hill.
Hill’s latter point-after came after Carter hit Adam Samples for a 32-yard touchdown to close the first-half scoring.
Lee (1-2) tried to rally back in the fourth quarter by scoring on a 26-yard pass from quarterback Christian Reid to Bailey Whitton. Reid then hit P.J. Harris for a two-point conversion to pull within 28-8.
Reid then returned a Madras pass 66 yards for a score on an interception to close the gap further to 28-16 after another two-point pass, this one to Carlos Ford.
The Madras defense, however, held from there and the Eagles picked up a later safety on a Lee fumble that was kicked out of the Timberwolves end zone.
SCORING SUMMARY – Eagles 28, Timberwolves 16
Madras (2-0) 13 7 6 2 — 28
Lee (1-1) 6 0 14 0 — 16
1st Quarter
M — Ton Evans 84-yard pass from Terrance Carter (run failed)
M — Omar Bringas 47-yard pass from Carter (Dexter Hill kick)
2nd Quarter
M — Adam Samples 32 pass from Carter (Hill kick)
3rd Quarter
M — Ton Evans 47 run (kick failed)
4th Quarter
L — Bailey Whitton 26-yard pass from Christian Reid (Reid pass to P.J. Harris)
L — Christian Reid 66-yard interception return (Reid pass to Carlos Ford)
M — Safety (ball kicked out of end zone)
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Smokey Road 20, East Coweta 0
At home, longtime Wildcats coach Donny Blacksher picked up his 70th victory at Smokey Road in a dominating effort where Keonte Anderson and A.J. Robinson became the first-two Wildcat runners to each post 100-yard games in school history.
The duo accounted for all three of Smokey Road’s touchdowns, the latter pair from Robinson in the third quarter.
The Wildcats took a 6-0 lead into halftime after Anderson’s 84-yard score in the first quarter.
Robinson initially pushed it to 14-0 when he broke away on a 43-yard touchdown in the third period, with Anderson adding the two-point conversion. he then added a 39-yard score before the quarter ended.
Robinson led Smokey Road with 112 yards on nine carries while Anderson added 103 on seven touches.
(To view action from this week's East Coweta vs. Smokey Road game, please visit http://photos.times-herald.com/mycapture and click on Sports / Football for the Photo Gallery.)
SCORING SUMMARY – Wildcats 20, Indians 0
East Coweta (1-1) 0 0 0 0 — 0
Smokey Road (1-1) 6 0 14 0 — 20
1st Quarter
SR — Keonte Anderson 84 run (run failed)
3rd Quarter
SR — A.J. Robinson 43 run (Anderson run)
SR — Robinson 39 run (Run failed)
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Evans 34, Arnall 12
At home, Evans was able to pull away thanks to big plays on special teams and defense after taking a 16-6 lead into halftime. Josh Thomas accounted for three touchdowns, two on fumble returns along with a 61-yard run to close the victory in the fourth quarter.
One of the fumbles was caused when defender Zavian Cooley-Smith batted down a lateral.
Dre Parks’ 70-yard kickoff return in the third quarter broke the game open before teammate Thomas returned his second Arnall fumble 19 yards for another score to put Evans ahead 28-6.
Thomas opened the scoring in the first quarter on a 47-yard fumble return and added the two-point conversion to give the Cougars (1-1) an early 8-0 lead.
Eric Russell’s 9-yard touchdown run made it 16-0 early in the second quarter following a two-point run by Evans teammate Geoffrey Hart.
The Knights (0-2) got on the scoreboard just before halftime on a 30-yard pass from Wes Mortimer to Milan Grace.
Grace later added an 80-yard touchdown run that pulled Arnall to within a 28-12 deficit.
SCORING SUMMARY – Cougars 34, Knights 12
Arnall (0-2) 6 0 6 0 — 12
Evans (1-1) 8 8 12 6 — 34
1st Quarter
E — Josh Thomas 47-yard fumble recovery (Thomas run)
2nd Quarter
E — Eric Russell 9 run (Geoffrey Hart run)
A — Wes Mortimer 30-yard pass to Milan Grace (run failed)
3rd Quarter
E — Dre Parks 70-yard kickoff return (run failed)
E — Thomas 19-yard fumble recovery (run failed)
A — Milan Grice 80 run (run failed)
E — Thomas 61 run (run failed)
