Banks County was 2-0 entering into Friday’s game against cross-region rival East Jackson, the Eagles were looking for their first win of the season and cherry picked it with a 38-0 win. Banks County now has to shake off the first loss of the season as the Leopards prepare to host Athens Christian this week.
This is the first meeting between the two teams and Banks County has a thin advantage on paper, scoring on average one point more than Athens Christian in the past three games. Athens Christian is 1-2 so far with an opening win against Oglethorpe County. Leopards’ coach Blair Armstrong said he expects to see a team that puts up a good contest on the field.
According to Armstrong, the Athens Christian Eagles are similar to East Jackson. Athens Christian is a good team and not quite as big, but still talented, he said. The key to coming out on top in Friday’s game with Athens Christian is going to be bringing a balanced attack with the offense getting better from last week and the defense gaining the mental aspect to not be shaken by the opposing side.
Armstrong said after Friday’s game he would like to be 3-1 as the Leopards begin region play, but that Banks County cannot overlook Athens Christian because it is still an important game. Armstrong would also like to see the fan turnout that attended last week’s game as the fans gave “great spirit” for the team he said. Banks County should provide a better game for the home side fans to watch this week as they take on Athens Christian at 7:30 p.m. in Homer.
East Jackson
Even with last week’s loss to East Jackson, the Banks County Leopards still have one of their best records in years as the team heads into week four of the football season.
“You have to hate losing more than you like winning,” Armstrong said. “East Jackson is not better than us, they just wanted it more and we didn’t respond.”
The loss to an 0-2 East Jackson should prove to be a wake up call for the Leopards and as Armstrong said, “it shows you have to play hard and never give up.”
All things considered, the East Jackson game doesn’t mean much unless Banks County ends up in a tiebreaker situation at the end of the sub-region season before the region play-in game.
Receiving the opening kick, the Leopards’ first drive stalled and the punt placed East Jackson on their own 15-yard line. The Eagles lost three yards on their first offensive action, and would fumble the next snap turning the ball back over to Banks County. Banks County tried to push through the Eagles’ defense, but were held at the 6. A fourth down field goal attempt failed. East Jackson started on their own 20 with just under a minute left in the first quarter.
The Eagles were sitting just outside the red zone a couple of plays later and would push on in to score the touchdown. The PAT was fair and East Jackson drew first blood with a minute and a half left in the quarter. Banks started on their own 15 and made it to the 20 before punting back to the Eagles. Starting the second quarter at midfield, East Jackson pushed down to the Leopards’ 25-yard line where Banks County’s defense made a tackle for a seven-yard loss for the third down. East Jackson elected to go for the field goal and hit it, making the score 10-0.
East Jackson added another two TDs in the first half. At 6:18 in the quarter, East Jackson had first down at Banks’ 24, and on the next play pushed into the end zone. Banks’ efforts fell short to make it to midfield and East Jackson got the ball back on the Leopards’ 45. A carry by the Eagles to the 17, where on the next play East Jackson would score a third touchdown. The scoring plays made the extra point to leave Banks County in a 24-point deficit at halftime.
Banks County’s defense did a better job in the third quarter, but the offense still could not break through while East Jackson drew a couple of flags to lose yards.
Banks County started off the final 12 minutes with a fumble on their own two-yard line which East Jackson recovered and took in for the score and the PAT.
Banks County started on the 20, and on the run the ball came loose on the ground, but the Leopards managed to keep control and add seven yards. The drive stalled in the next play and Banks would punt once again, starting the Eagles on their own 45-yard line. East Jackson scored again with just under three minutes left in the game to seal the victory 38-0.
