FOOTBALL: East Laurens shut down by Heard County

The top-seeded Heard County Braves, and their array of offensive and defensive weapons, proved as elite as advertised during an East Laurens visit to Franklin Friday night. 

Though the Falcons made some isolated plays that to hang their hats on, they couldn’t come up with anywhere close to the number needed to contend with an unbeaten opponent playing very near the top of its game. 

The Braves, whose defense held East Laurens to just 70 yards total, erupted for six touchdowns – all involving one or more of either quarterback Ethan Tisadle, running back Darience Coleman or receiver Brody Cofield – to put the matchup well out of question before halftime. A fourth, on Amari Heath’s pick-six early in the fourth quarter, polished off their 49-0 shutout to advance. 

Heard County (11-0, 6-0 region 6-High A) moves on to host Social Circle in the second round. The Falcons, after claiming the last available playoff bid to extend their season by a couple extra weeks, finish up at 3-8 (3-6 region 2-High A). 

Both teams’ strong defensive lines were a focal point of the matchup, and a major factor over the course of the night that had each other’s quarterback, or quarterbacks, operating on the run a majority of plays that had a potential pass as part of the equation. 

The junior Tisdale, a reigning all-state pick and recent D-1 target, seemed to thrive under the heat as he threw for three touchdowns, and rushed for two more. 

East Laurens, on the opposite side of the coin, kept the salty Heard County front from wreaking too much havoc by taking most of its offense outside the hashes and numbers on perimeter runs, quick passes that were the equivalent, that had barely hit-or-miss success against defenders who were able to make more plays in space than Falcons with the ball. 

Their pair of passers were able to complete only two throws each in those on-the-move situations, Bryson Hazley on seven attempts before his fourth-quarter ejection for a personal foul, and Jason Giles with nine tries. The duo was intercepted three times. 

The East Laurens run game – netting 54 yards for the majority of the offensive number – was surprisingly viable in the early going, particularly on two strong series that made up East’s best and most mistake-free drive of the opening half. 

But losses and mistakes were a little too frequent to keep the Falcons within the chains, and an abundance of third-and-longs – including on that second possession that would end in a punt – made those manageable situations a rarity the rest of the way. 

Hazley was East Laurens’ leader on eight carries for 22. Norrion King five for 17. 

Both Tisdale and Coleman ran roughshod in the other direction. 

The QB got 54 yards and his first touchdown on just the second play from scrimmage as the Braves countered to a left side with just one unblocked Falcon left with a shot at the tackle, but nowhere close to an angle on the stop.  

They’d go 73 in more deliberate fashion to add a second touchdown before the end of one. 

Tisdale hit a deep shot to Zaiden Moreland for the key play that got the drive inside the 10, before he trucked in from a short distance to add to the lead. 

Heard covered a distance of 90, and actually further due to a Lagen Mack tackle for loss on the opening play, to start the second quarter scoring. 

Back-to-back Tisdale completions got the Braves out of a hole on their own half, then came another big passing play on a third down from just over midfield as his off-balance heave found Cofield with a step for a 45-yard score. 

He’d waste the East Laurens pressure again on a throw to Cofield for another big gainer that set up Coleman’s 14-yard touchdown run for a lead of 28. Coleman scored again from shorter range as the Braves climbed to the end zone for a fifth touchdown inside five minutes left. 

That might’ve been it for the half if not for a Falcon turnover that opened the door for a literal last-second TD to close the half. 

Hazley, who had picked up the first East Laurens first down of the quarter on an 11-yard scramble a few plays earlier, hung one up deep on the left side for Major Floyd. But the underthrown pass was picked off by Cofield, and returned to the Falcon 40 to put Heard County in business with 55 seconds to go. 

A timeout with 10 seconds left to go stopped the clock for a virtual last shot just inside the 15, and Coleman leaked out into the flat on some secondary action as Tisdale dropped it off to him, and proceeded untouched into the end zone. 

Save for the second and last possessions of the half, East Laurens wasn’t able to go much of anywhere from scrimmage. 

Hazley and King combined for the positive plays that moved the chains a first time, then J.J. Wright rounded the end on a jet sweep to do it again before the early trek stalled out on two losses, then an extended Hazley scramble that Heard ate up at the line of scrimmage. 

That changed only later in the second half, which went in a hurry as the Falcons opted to take an early running clock for the third, and their only full possession also failed to achieve a first down. 

East’s defense, however, did start the new half on a high note as Caleb Jackson blew up a block on his way to Tisdale for a third-down sack to force Heard County’s first punt of the night a few plays before.

Backups entered for Heard, and punted it back to the Falcons to start the fourth. Just after the return to play, Heath intercepted Giles’ floating pass to the far side and ran it back for the TD. 

King’s long kickoff return sparked a good-looking final drive for the Falcons that reached the red zone, but also concluded with a pick as East faced a fourth and lengthy from the 18, and M.J. Jones came up with a ball that was thrown for grabs on the left side to take it back for the Braves with about three minutes to go.