The bad news? Jackson County fell handily Friday at North Oconee. The good news? The Panthers have a week off to rehabilitate.
“Thank, God, we need one,” Jackson County coach Billy Kirk said after his team’s 56-0 loss. “We’ve got to get healthy. Then you’ve got two weeks to get ready for Jefferson, and that will be a big game for our community, so we’re looking forward to that.”
The Panthers return to action Oct. 21 at home against the rival Dragons.
Jackson County played shorthanded in Friday’s loss. Leading rusher Dustin Scott left with a lower back injury that he sustained during the week of practice leading up to the game. Standout tight end River Bryant also didn’t play. He is out for the season with a knee injury.
Jackson County players were slated to have this past Monday off and practice through Thursday. The Panthers will be off Friday to scout Jefferson. Kirk said Jackson County would use the off week to revisit some of the basics, especially tackling, after a tough night against North Oconee.
“We’ve got to get better fundamentally on some things,” Kirk said. “We were in a great position in some places on defense (Friday); we just missed so many tackles. When you miss as many tackles as we did, you’re just not going to stop anybody.”
Of course, everybody has had trouble stopping North Oconee. Jackson County became the latest victim in the Titans high-scoring romp through the 2011 season with 56-point loss Friday on the road in Bogart. North Oconee is averaging 42.7 points a game.
“Probably the best team we’ve played all year — by far … They’re very good in all phases of the game,” Kirk said. “You can tell — offensively, defensively, special teams-wise, they’re very, very good. It is what it is. We played poorly, and that’s what happens when you play poorly.”
The Titans scored early and often against the Panthers.
North Oconee cashed in on short fields to score two first-quarter touchdowns — the second of which was set up by an interception return to the 13 — to take a 14-0 lead. In the second quarter, the Panther defense had North Oconee hemmed up inside the Titans’ own 10 on a third-and-four, but North Oconee converted and ended up putting together a 95-yard drive, capped by a 40-yard scoring run by Kawon Bryant.
North Oconee added a 34-yard touchdown run from Bryant late in the second quarter to take a 28-0 lead into the locker room, and the scenery never changed for the Panthers in the second half.
The Titans led 49-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
“I take my hat off to (North Oconee coach) Terry (Tuley), his staff and his kids because that’s a good football team, and they’re going to do a lot of great things,” Kirk said.
Jackson County was limited to 30 yards on the ground and 106 total yards. Xavier Harper had the biggest night offensively, catching four passes for 47 yards. Quarterback Kyle Daniel was 8-of-23 for 76 yards.
