Johnson rushes for 242, five touchdowns as Swainsboro storms past East Laurens

East Laurens had things headed in a good direction, and some upset hopes that were threatening to catch fire as it summoned a series of clutch passing plays for a pair of touchdowns that would both cut the lead of No. 10 Swainsboro to just a score during a late first-half firefight. 

But the Falcons, over the course of the entire night, had too many things working against them to keep it burning much past the early third quarter. 

Red-hot running back Kyle Johnson and the Tigers ran away with the game’s remainder to win 42-13 Friday at the new Falcon Field. 

East Laurens held itself back with preventables like penalties that didn’t help the home cause. Neither did lost-yardage plays, at the hands of a stout Tiger defense, which took a good bit away from an offensive total that would have otherwise been greater than the final 124. 

But the Falcons’ biggest struggle was slowing down Johnson, who carried 28 times for an incredible 242 yards and five touchdowns. 

Joshua Gray and Shannon Benjamin, who shared five connections for 72 yards, combined for Swainsboro’s only other score at the end of the frenetic sequence going into halftime. 

Adding injury to insult was the loss of quarterback Skyler Snead after taking a hard hit on the first series of the third quarter, followed by most of the offensive momentum East had built up in a strong finish to the first half. 

Before the exit, Snead had completed five of seven passes for 89 yards and both his team’s touchdowns. 

The Falcons spent the rest of the game in a combination of the wildcat and their standard sets, with Jeremiah Rozier, the recently uninjured Zanorrion Ellington, Bryson Hazley (with a clubbed non-throwing hand) and freshman Caleb Johnson all spending a bit of time behind center. 

The contingencies were able to turn the possession in progress into another positive one, with a push over midfield that relied on a Major Floyd catch and Hazley scramble, but it ultimately led to a punt. 

And East Laurens wouldn’t progress from its own territory the rest of the night. 

Floyd, with three catches for 62 and one touchdown, and Aveone Wicker, who caught one big one that went 68 for the second score, joined Gary Stockton and Tawan Horne with catches to bolster the passing dimension. 

But Swainsboro made it tough sledding on the ground. 

Rozier led East Laurens backs with 10 carries for 52, but the team’s combined losses, for nine total ball-carriers, totaled out to a net of only 35. 

The Tigers continued to feed Johnson after his first touchdown, on a 13-yard pitch to the left edge that credited the block of D.J. Cuyler, pushing a Falcon six yards over the goal line, to get them on the board six minutes into the game. 

His second, from 36, was set up by a 46-yard Benjamin catch from Gray on wheel route early in quarter 2. 

East Laurens responded, taking advantage of good field position courtesy of 20 yards in penalties that backed up Swainsboro’s kickoff to its 20. 

But the 60-yard drive wasn’t a cheapo by any stretch. 

A first-play dime from Snead found a well-covered Floyd near the right sideline for a gain of about 35. 

He’d hit him again with a back-shoulder throw from 24 on the very next play for the touchdown, and John Thang’s point-after made it a 13-7 game. 

East Laurens was also penalized on its kickoff, but came out alright on Marco Danford’s return out to the Swainsboro 29. 

But the Tigers needed just about five plays to answer, with Johnson scampering up the middle from 36 for another touchdown with 1:57 left, to put them back up by 13. 

The Falcons, once again, went to the air for a big play to hold serve as Snead found Wicker on a 63-yard catch-and-run with just under 40 to go, bringing them back within six once again. 

Neither could that lead make it to halftime, as yet another unsportsmanlike foul (of an estimated eight in the game) affected the ensuing kick. That, plus a facemask on the return, put Swainsboro back in business at the East 33. 

The Tigers snuck five plays into the remaining seconds, burning one more timeout to stop the clock at three as East stood up a run around the 10 with three seconds to go. 

On the final play, Gray (who was 13-of-20 for 116) rolled all the way out on the right, dumping the ball to an unlikely receiver hanging out back to his left. The open Benjamin, simply standing by, made the catch and ran the remaining five yards to score. 

Johnson got back to work midway through the third quarter, adding to the lead and his touchdown total on a slip up the middle from 58 yards as the Falcons failed to fill his lane. HIs last fit in between a Swainsboro three-and-out, a fumble and a turnover on downs. 

East Laurens (1-4, 0-1 region 2-AA) visits ACE Charter Friday, while Swainsboro (2-3, 1-0 region) heads back home to face Bleckley County.