FOOTBALL: Johnson County overwhelms Hancock Central in region debut

WRIGHTSVILLE – The Johnson County Trojans returned from a week off, and hammered Hancock Central 37-8 Friday to earn their first win in region play. 

JoCo had 222 yards total offense to the Bulldogs’ 87. The Trojans had 12 first downs against Hancock’s two. 

Head coach Don Norton was pleased overall, but disappointed with the first quarter.

“I’m glad to be 1-0 in the region,” he said. “Slow start, but we kind of played like we practiced on one day this week, and we have found out that one day, a bad practice, kind of equals one and they had one bad quarter.”

After a scoreless first, JoCo racked up 31 points in the second quarter.

Starting at 5:47 in the first  quarter on their own 37, the Trojans drove 63 yards in 10 plays. 

Cory King had the two-yard touchdown with 11:00 remaining in the half. Will Peeples kicked to make the score 7-0.

After the kickoff, the Trojan defense backed the Bulldogs up 11 yards on the next three plays, forcing a punt from the 29. The defense blocked the punt and Kelsey Waters scooped and scored with 8:39 in the second. The kick failed, but the Trojans led 13-0.

“Our defense, you know, we always expect them to play well, and they did,” said Norton.

Will Peeples kicked onside, and the Trojans recovered. Their six-play 23-yard drive ended with a five-yard Jeremiah Scott touchdown. 

The kick failed, but the Trojans led 19-0.

On the next Bulldog drive, Scott picked off a pass and returned it 26 yards to the Hancock 7. A penalty got the Trojans backed up to the Hancock 22. Tayshawn Norris ran for 14 yards and Scott had the eight-yard touchdown. 

The conversion attempt failed, and the Trojans led 25-0. 

A 58-yard Peeples kick was followed by an 11-yard loss on three downs. A Bulldog 12-yard punt gave Johnson County the ball on the Hancock 15. 

Then Nathan Turberville ran for a touchdown. The conversion pass failed, but the Trojans were up 32-0.

Norris had a 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second-half. With the point-after kick, the Trojans led 39-0.

By agreement, the second half had a running clock, creating opportunities for young Trojans and experiments. 

“I saw some good things. We were able to work on a few different things tonight,” Norton said. 

Hancock Central scored on an 89-yard run with 7:10 to play. With a conversion, the score was 37-8.

Daezon Devero led Trojan receivers with three catches for 22 yards.

Jeremiah Taylor led the tackling with six, and two assists. 

Tayshawn Norris rushed five times for 42. Corey King rushed four times for the same. Jeremiah Scott carried five times for 41 and Jeremiah Taylor had three rushes for 31. 

Turberville was 2-for-3 passing with 19 yards. Chance Wombles was 2-of-2 with 18.

Turberville said he thinks the game demonstrates that his team has good character.

“This team is just resilient, and this team is focused,” he said. “We’re locked in, and we’re determined this year.” 

Johnson County (6-0, 1-0 region 5-Low A) will be back home against Twiggs County this week.