Americus-Sumter tops Dougherty, giving Larry Harold his first ASHS win

AMERICUS — Larry Harold knew his Americus-Sumter football team would face an up-and-coming defense in Dougherty in Friday’s GHSA Region 1-4A opener.

The Dougherty defensive unit, led by Dynamite Dozen selection Ga’marcus Freeman, recorded three early takeaways and a touchdown in its season opener against Class 6A No. 1 Lee County. And the Trojans’ defense had more in store for Americus-Sumter.

The Americus-Sumter defense, however, made some big plays of its own. Those plays, once the Americus-Sumter offense began to click at the end of the first half, set the Panthers up for a 43-7 victory, Harold’s first with the program.

“I was proud of my guys, especially my defense,” Harold said. “Our defensive coordinator and staff did a great job. Offensively we couldn’t get anything going because they’re so big up front, but once we settled the guys down we made a good run.”

Dougherty’s defense kept the Trojans (0-2, 0-1 region) in the game for much of the first half, stopping Americus-Sumter (1-1, 1-0) three times inside the Dougherty 20.

Special teams defense also gave Dougherty a bump. Jayden Lockett stripped a high snap from the Americus-Sumter punter and ran the ball in from 5 yards out for the game’s first score.

“Coach (Damien) Gary is doing a great job with those kids,” Harold said. “They’ve got tremendous numbers, and those kids are huge. Once those kids get in the weight room and get used to his style of coaching, they’re going to be a scary team.

“They are huge up front, and that No. 3, Ga’marcus Freeman, is a monster. We saw him against Lee County knocking people out, and, I swear, he’s in on every tackle.”

Americus-Sumter, however, scored with its defense three times before halftime to take control of things. A safety, a 55-yard pick-6 by Jakobe McCuller and a 45-yard scoop-and-score by Henry Wilson helped give the Panthers a 23-7 lead after 24 minutes.

From there, Americus-Sumter had things under control.

“We’re young, we got tired,” Gary said. “We did a good job in the first quarter and into the second quarter, but we were on the field (defensively) a little more than we wanted to. Offensively I thought we made some strides and made some first downs, but you can’t take three or four steps forward and take four or five steps back.

“It’s a work in progress. We understand that. The guys fought hard, and we made some plays here and there.”

Montrellis Wilson, who scored the lone offensive touchdown for Americus-Sumter on a 15-yard run late in the second quarter, added two more scoring runs in the second half.

“He’s a quick little back, and he was able to find his holes,” Harold said. “Once we found (Freeman) and got a body on him, we knew we would have some success. We’re young on the offensive line, but I think we grew up big-time (Friday).”

Kierston Harvey threw a touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter, completing a 38-yarder to Sam Crumbley.

Both teams are off next week. Dougherty travels to Kinnett Stadium on Sept. 6 to take on Shaw, while Americus-Sumter hosts Lee County on Sept. 7.