FOOTBALL: Cummings, West Laurens overcome Oconee County to advance to quarterfinals

In football as much as life, there are certain lessons – like those spelled out in the chorus to a well-known Jim Croce hit – that are better when you don’t have to learn them the hard way.  

Having apparently missed some words to the wise from others, Oconee County found out quite quickly Friday night why you don’t kick the ball off to West Laurens superstar Ty Cummings, after electing to defer on the opening coin toss of the teams’ second-round playoff game at The SHU. 

The Warriors, in the blink of an eye, were down a touchdown with only 15 seconds gone from the clock. 

“Sometimes they’ve just gotta test it and see what happens,” said Cummings, who hadn’t visited the end zone as a special teamer since last season, when he scored on two returns and very nearly several more as a junior. 

He’d been kicked clear of by every Raider opponent this fall except one – North Clayton – that happened to find him in the formation on a short squib at the cost of only five yards back in August. 

This one, a much more brazen dare, came right to his sweet spot in the home corner around the 10 for a runback toward the opposite side that easily cleared a line of white jerseys in coverage and a diving tackler on the way to the end zone, where a block by Branden Brooks took care of the last man with a chance. 

Cummings, known widely for his electrifying plays, flipped the switch early to set the tone in another resounding West Laurens win. He’d go on to rush for 120 yards and three more touchdowns to lead the Raiders over Oconee County, 32-7, to remain perfect and keep their season rolling into the state quarterfinals. 

“I knew they were going to try to kick it deep, because the guy’s a touchback kicker,” said West Laurens head coach Kip Burdette. “They got so excited because I told all the kids when we were checking special teams, I was like, ‘They’re gonna kick it deep. Get your mind right, because if it’s short, we’re gonna house the first one.’ And lo and behold, we did.” 

The Raiders’ outstanding execution in the kicking phase couldn’t at all be elevated above an equally-strong effort in the other two, though special teams certainly shined just as brightly in a couple of other situations later in the no-doubt victory that showcased some more of their precise preparation. 

At the end of a quickly-moving first half, West Laurens climbed its way to field goal range, but had no timeouts as the clock descended inside 20 seconds, and an inopportune sack forced it to run the field goal unit on for an impromptu kick. 

The aptly-named fire drill went off just as rehearsed. 

“We practice it all the time, but we haven’t ever had to use it in four years,” Burdette said. “We did a really good job of getting them out there. They hustled up, Coach (Parker) Gordon had them ready to go right there on the side… We probably wouldn’t have liked to have taken a sack right there, but it is what it is, so we went ahead and pulled the trigger and ran ’em on.”

Sophomore Duggan Malone blasted the whirlwind try, which proved to be a career-long of 36 yards, back from the right hash through the uprights to give the Raiders a two-score lead of 17-7 going to the break. 

“We practice it every week, everybody was ready for it,” Malone said. “Everybody did their job on offense, so I had to make sure I did mine and put it through.” 

Late in the third quarter, a second Cummings rushing touchdown had West Laurens up 23-7 with an extra-point pending. 

This time, an issue with the snap forced them into another contingency that was handled expertly by holder J.D. Hogan, on a roll to his right to find Braylen Robinson in the back right corner of the end zone for a two-point conversion. 

The West Laurens defense forced two turnovers, and got three more on downs, to limit Oconee County – on just six total possessions – to a single touchdown via its only fourth-down conversion early in the second quarter, and exactly 200 total yards. 

Missed opportunities would haunt the Warriors on three other drives to plus territory before the fourth quarter, when the Raiders shut and dead-bolted the door. 

“We started off slow,” senior linebacker Shannon Adkins said. “That was one of the points of emphasis this week is just start it fast. We gave up one bust, just lack of communication. Coach (Kenny) Murphy did a good job with the gameplan going in at halftime and making adjustments. I think we just came out here and did what we know we could do.” 

West Laurens’ offense relied on Cummings to be the game-changer he typically is, though the senior – after the early kickoff return – showcased more of the non-explosive segments of his skill set with great handling on a series of sharp cuts, and the ups in a highlight hurdle after his second-quarter reception that helped achieve the field position needed for the last-moment field goal. 

“He’s a war dog, man,” Burdette said. “You never count him out. If things aren’t blocked right, he finds a way. He finds a way on special teams. He keeps begging us to play defense. He’s just a special kid. We love him and we’re proud of him.” 

The Raiders’ biggest offensive gain of the day was 24 yards on a carry by Braylen Robinson, who added 34 on four carries. Brooks, toting a reverse handoff for 21 of his 56 on 11 touches, had the second longest play against an Oconee County defense whose disciplined play and sound tackling kept most of the night’s action to minimal yardage. 

The Warriors’  leading stoppers Conner Jackson and Micah Allen, with key wrap-ups to bend, but not break, forced West to drive the field slowly. But the Raiders obliged, going to the air just a handful of times (Cason Pollock completed four of six for 46) as Cummings (who was in and out of the game with a slight limp at points) and Adkins ground out the rest of the key plays to keep drives moving. 

They converted on six out of their seven third downs, and came back to get it done on a fourth-and-one after the only miss. 

“The line played their tails off,” Pollock said. “And No. 3 (Cummings) is pretty special. It’s fun watching him play. He did his thing tonight.” 

After the quick opening score, the teams had just two possessions each in a time-consuming first half. 

Oconee County took the rock about 55 yards down the field on its first touch, but was denied points as Juvon Hill intercepted an overthrown third down pass at the goal line. 

West Laurens took it 85 yards back the other way to stretch the lead to 14-0 on a Cummings cutback run that posterized two would-be tacklers early in the second. 

The Warriors marched in determined fashion to halve the lead as quarterback Brody Hannah  dialed up some key connections in space to get them inside the 10 for a fourth-and-seven. 

He’d go to tailback Caiden Wood, who motioned across the formation and into a swing route, for a second time on the drive for the 9-yard touchdown. 

Bo Boykin’s extra-point made it 14-7. 

The Raiders weren’t able to put a lot of pressure on the Warriors’ poised passing attack, behind a pretty ironclad offensive line that gave Hannah the time he needed to get the ball out. But they did keep things off-schedule for their receiving corps, which brought in nine of his 16 passes for 89 yards. 

Preferred target, 6-foot-4 all-state tight end Mason Hall, was double-covered on a majority of targets, and came down with only a handful of catches after being greeted with a jarring hit from Hogan to bust up a sure completion on his first chance just a few plays in. 

“We knew he was going to be a threat all night,” said senior linebacker Hunter Castellaw. “I believe we did our job and strapped him down. He is a very, very, very good player that we definitely had to gameplan for. But i believe we executed that well, maybe even perfect.” 

Oconee County, scheduled to get the ball out of the half, was nowhere close to out of it, and once again marched its way fairly deep into plus territory before misfiring again as a Hannah pass sailed, and was picked off by Jayce Blash. 

The pick, his career 10th, broke a school career record held by Eric Scott that the senior safety had tied a week earlier. And his return, all the way back to the Oconee County 35, had West Laurens squarely positioned for a devastating counter. 

Cummings won a footrace to the edge and stretched the ball over the line for a third touchdown of the night. 

Three subsequent fourth down stops, a couple coming on either side of another impressive Cummings TD early in the fourth, prevented the Warriors from chipping away. 

Another West Laurens drive stalled, and failed to score on a longer Malone field goal try that had plenty of leg, but veered wide, before the Raiders closed out the game with the football on a set of kneel-downs. 

“It was a good night,” Burdette said. “We played really well on defense, really well on offense. We had a couple of little breakdowns, but if we don’t do that, it’s a goose egg up there We played physical, payed fast. We pretty much won the line of scrimmage. We’ve got some tough kids, really proud of ’em.” 

This, in a latest of many first-time achievements, is West Laurens’ first team in history to win 12 games in a season. It’ll be the fourth to appear in the quarterfinals, but a first to host a game in the  round of eight. 

“Told the kids that today, keep making history, keep doing things like that,” Burdette said. “I don’t think they’re done playing football yet. I was really proud of how we played tonight. We get to spend Thanksgiving right here at the SHU.”

The Raiders will have the company of fellow unbeaten and fifth seed Jenkins, out of Savannah, on Black Friday. 

“We’re excited to keep going,” senior Grady Howell said. “We’re ready for 13-0, and three out of five next week. Let’s keep it going.”