A big first half saw the Jefferson Dragons score five touchdowns to set themselves up for a blowout victory over Rabun County in the rain Friday night, continuing their undefeated streak to seven region games, and eight overall.
This week may prove to be their biggest challenge yet, as the number two team in the region, the North Oconee Titans, prepares to invade Jefferson Friday night.
North Oconee comes in off a 3-0 victory over Jackson County, and on a streak of five wins in a row. They are 6-1 in the region, and 7-1 overall.
A win for Jefferson Friday night would give them a two-game lead in the region. A loss would tie them with the Titans for first place.
On paper, give the advantage to Jefferson. The Dragons have scored a total of 321 points this season, while North Oconee has scored only 172, an average of 40.1 per game to 21.5.
The numbers are a little closer when it comes to total points allowed. The Titans have let 116 points be scored against them, while Jefferson has allowed only 96. That’s an average of 14.5 for North Oconee per game to 12.0 for the Dragons.
In their last two meetings, Jefferson has won handily. The most recent came on Oct. 21 of 2005, when the Dragons won 20-10. Jefferson also was victorious on Oct. 22 of 2004, when they trounced the Titans 55-19.
Regardless of the numbers, it will all come down to what happens on the field, where all eyes in the region will be on the two leaders to see who comes out on top, with the winner being the leading contender for the 8-AA title.
Such a title would be the first for Jefferson in 31 years. Will the game be Jefferson’s treat, or will North Oconee pull a trick out of the hat on Halloween night?
Kick off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Rabun County
The Dragons hit the field looking to put the Wildcats away early. Jefferson found the end zone for the first of many times Friday night just a little over two minutes into the game on a pass from quarterback Darius Minor to
Tab Martin from 18 yards out to draw first blood.
The Wildcats fumbled on their next possession, with Jefferson recovering deep in Rabun County territory, and broke into the end zone again moments later to put the Dragons up 14-0.
Jefferson would score three more times in the second quarter to wrack up a big lead going into the half. The Dragons wracked up 280 yards just in the first half en route to scoring 33 points, while holding Rabun County to just 50 yards offensively.
Big enough, in fact, that Minor came out, and Lucas Redd went in at the QB slot.
Redd went to work and the Dragons offense went to work, running the score up to 47-0 by the end. Jefferson’s defense, meanwhile, held the Wildcats to only 81 yards total offense for the game.
Numbers Game
Minor had 12 completions on 16 pass attempts for 135 yards Friday night, with two carries for 30 yards.
Redd had 5 carries for 58 yards; Chris Jackson had four carries for 44 yards; Zack Crosby had four carries for 40 yards, and three catches for 52 yards; Martin had three catches for 34 yards, and had one kickoff return for 28 yards; Virgil Appleby had 19 carries for 15 yards, and three catches for 15 yards; Zach Allen had three carries for 15 yards; Dillon Greeson had two carries for seven yards; and Sky Porter had one catch for six yards.
Kyle Mosley led the Dragon defense with 12 tackles, including seven solo and five assists. Jefferson held the Wildcats to 30 rushing yards on 20 attempts, and to 55 passing yards, with six completions on 18 attempts.
