FOOTBALL: West Laurens plows past Rebels, rolls to eighth win on homecoming

Methodical would be a great adjective to describe the long, steady drives that led to six West Laurens touchdowns. 

Other than time, little was wasted on any of them, as the Raiders progressed up the field in efficient fashion, and never in too much haste. 

They ran 50 plays, at an average yield of 7.8 yards a pop. The longest rush was 22. With the exception of two deep ones, completions in the passing game fit the same trend of short gainers. 

That the operation, over four quarters, was entirely free of penalties did even more to prove you’ll never go broke taking a profit. 

A West Laurens machine that looks more finely tuned by the week cranked out another win Friday night at The SHU, defeating Hephzibah 42-7 to keep its unbeaten streak humming along. 

And it did so amid a homecoming week whose festivities, in years past, have had some disruptive effects on that momentum. This one went off without a hitch. 

“I was really proud of how they came and showed up tonight, took care of business,” said West Laurens head coach Kip Burdette. 

The Raiders’ offensive and defensive units worked in much better concert than their last home game against Baldwin, when the latter got nearly worn out trying to meet the pace set by a counterpart that was scoring in overdrive. 

Friday’s performance built on an improvement in tempo and possession from the prior week’s road game at ARC, which was West’s first of the season running more plays than the opposition. Despite a deficit of just a few, the count here had them working step-for-step with the team on the other side once again. 

“We’ve just gotta stay consistent,” quarterback Cason Pollock said. “Last week, we kind of stuttered here and there. But I felt like this week, we really bounced back and had a good week. The line worked their tail off in practice this week. I felt like it was a good week of practice. We had a lot of distractions, but I felt like we overcame those, and I thought that was great for our team honestly.” 

Other than a 22-yarder in five plays to capitalize on a Hephzibah turnover on downs early in the fourth quarter, the Raiders’ shortest trip to points on the game was 57, or – going by snaps – the one-and-done just before halftime with which they instantly cashed in a last-second Hephzibah fumble to get a 28-0 lead to the fieldhouse. 

The most satisfying possession was probably the night’s second, covering 85 yards and taking the game deep into the second quarter as Pollock punched in a short keeper, and Duggan Malone buried the PAT, to stretch their early lead to 14. 

“I love those, whatever it was, I think it was a seven- or eight-minute possession,” Burdette said. “As a former defensive coach, it makes you feel good when your offense goes out there and eats up clock like that. Get first downs and then cap it off with some points.” 

An array of different players were part of the homecoming spread, which included three takeaways and three stops on downs, compliments of the defense and special teams units.  

But the host with the most was Pollock, who accounted for four touchdowns, three passing in addition to the above, while throwing for 160 yards. A drop and a breakup were the only incompletions on his eight tries. 

But the senior passed along a majority of credit in the big night to his skill guys, and the big men up front. 

“I couldn’t do it without the offensive line,” Pollock said. “They’re up there working their butts off, protecting, every single play, no matter what. Without them, nothing happens. First off, credit to them. My wide receivers are making plays for me, when they’re making plays, it’s real easy to be the quarterback.” 

Branden Brooks led the backfield with 94 rushing yards. Ty Cummings – who was purposely limited after the senior tweaked a knee in a freak mishap during the week – looked fine on his way to 60. 

The other pair of rushing touchdowns belonged to homecoming king Shannon Adkins – who crashed the end zone first on a 10.5 yards run to conclude the Raiders’ 57-yard opening statement, then carried it just once more for a handful to convert a fourth down later in the game – and Braylen Robinson, who toted it 10 times for 37 and walked in up a huge corridor opened by his line for the last of the 42 unanswered in the fourth quarter. 

Hephzibah, with some physical and efficient running, did its part to keep the ball and the clock on the move. But penalties, and turnovers, would get the best of the Rebels by the end of things. 

And the Raiders, despite being driven down the field a decent amount, dug deep and came up with the stops when push came to shove. 

“I’m really proud of how our defense played after halftime,” Burdette said. “We had some kind of bend-but-don’t-break moments in the first half, a turnover on downs, we recovered a fumble on the kickoff. We got stops down here to turn ’em over on downs. We gave up some chunk yardage in between, but I’m really proud of how our defense came back after halftime and played.” 

A solid chunk of Hephzibah’s 264 total yards came on two quality drives early in the ballgame, but both were ultimately halted in or just outside the red zone on fourth downs. 

Its first giveaway spoiled a potential scoring chance in the last seconds of the first half, just after a 12-yard Pollock touchdown pass to Juvon Hill in the back right corner of the end zone had maximized a drive of 77 to put the Raiders on top 21-0. 

Kickoff return man Christopher Kohn had the ball knocked loose from behind by Jaden Stanley as he dug for midfield, and kicker Duggan Malone fell on it for the recovery to give the Raiders a bonus possession with only 16-ish seconds to go.

Pollock dropped it over to Brooks on a screen, the senior reversed his field right and outran the Rebels to the end zone. 

Hephzibah would fumble again early in the second half, as Maxx Chafin stripped one out and Leroy Mack recovered. The Rebels then punted for the first time, but Reante Byrd’s kick (appearing to be blocked) pegged the back of his up man and was recovered by Hunter Castellaw for a start at the Rebel 15. 

Nothing came of either opportunity in plus territory as the West Laurens offense, hitting an uncharacteristic third-quarter lull, punted it away and got stuffed on downs just outside the goal. 

But the Raiders were soon back in the same position as Hephzibah, inadvisably, went for a fourth down deep in its own territory, and had a Byrd run tied off by Adkins near the line of scrimmage a few plays into the final quarter. 

A tipped Pollock pass found its way to Evan Holmes for a diving touchdown reception to convert the short field. 

Stanley dove to pick off Byrd ahead of the 68-yard scoring drive for Robinson’s final touchdown. 

Adkins, with 9.5, and Mack and Chafin, each adding eight, led the West Laurens tackling. 

“There’s a lot of stuff we had to fix, and I feel like we did a real good job of being physical up front,” Chafin said of the defensive performance. “Coaches stressed it. I felt like we came out here and executed tonight.” 

The Dublin-born Byrd, playing a first game back in his hometown since a family move about age 6, got in from nine yards against a majority JV lineup to put Hephzibah on the scoreboard in the last few minutes. He was 13-of-15 passing for 103 yards. 

The Raiders will play their next-to-last regular season game, before a finale against Westside of Augusta now set for the night of Thursday, Oct. 30, this coming Friday at Aquinas.