Mitchell County routs Baconton Charter

CAMILLA — The Mitchell County Eagles scored four touchdowns on big plays in the first half and then coasted to a big 42-0 win over cross-county rival Baconton Charter Friday night at Centennial Stadium.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Eagles as they opened region play in a big way.

After the two teams swapped fumbles and punts in the beginning, the Eagles got their offense started with the passing of quarterback Jar’corius Murray and the running of Kobe Butler and never looked back.

Butler had a 23 yard-run to get the Eagles down to the Baconton 30-yard line, then Murray hit wide receiver Stetmond Hicks with a sideline pass and he took it the distance for the first touchdown of the night.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Baconton punter Hunter Cain tried to punt away from the Eagles’ speedy Butler, but Butler picked up a bouncing punt and raced 60 yards down the sidelines for Mitchell’s second touchdown

A few plays later, the Eagles picked off a pass from Baconton quarterback Zeke Deen and took over at the 36-yard line. On the first play, Butler raced past the Blazer defenders and gave the Eagles their third touchdown of the night.

To close the scoring in the first half, Murray connected with Hicks again with another sideline pass, and this one Hicks took 51 yards to the end zone.

Things got no better for the Blazers in the second half. They started on their own 27, but on the second play fumbled and the Eagles’ Javarus Stewart recovered to give the Eagles the ball deep in Baconton territory.

On the first play, Murray hit Demetrius Jones with a pass that he took down the sidelines to give Mitchell County another touchdown. Butler gave the Eagles their final touchdown of the night with a 35 yard run later in the third quarter.

The Baconton offense never could get going.

Mitchell’s defense was well prepared for the Blazers’ strong running game. They kept Deen contained in the middle and none of the Blazer runners could get around the corners to get past the Eagle defenders.

The Eagles were playing without their starting tailback Narocis Lewis, who suffered a concussion last week. Deen left the game with a shoulder injury in the second quarter, and though he played in the second half on special teams, he never returned to the offense. That left the running duties mainly to freshman fullback Hunter Bowles and sophomore tailback Luke Hall.

The one bright spot for the Blazers was a goal line-stand in the fourth quarter. The Eagles had driven down to the Baconton 6 and had first-and-goal. But the Blazer defense kept them out of the end zone and after four plays the ball went over on downs.

The Eagles (2-4, 1-0 Region 1-A) will play at Miller County next Friday night, while the Blazers (2-5, 0-2) will host Terrell County at Centenntial Stadium next Thursday night.