JEFFERSON — There was little secret for Flowery Branch on the game plan against Jefferson if the Falcons had any chance to knock off the No. 1-ranked Dragons: Slow down their powerful rushing offense.
And like the first four teams the Dragons had faced in 2021, well, the best laid plans as they say.
Jefferson churned out 324 yards on the ground, led by sophomore Sammy Brown and senior quarterback Malaki Starks, for a 27-7 win in both team’ Region 8-4A openers at Memorial Stadium.
Brown had 133 yards and scored four TDs while Starks had his best game of the season with 104 yards and converting on several key third downs to keep drives alive.
Despite the seemingly good rushing numbers, Jefferson coach Gene Cathcart was a tough critic of his group. The had 8 penalties for 105 yards and had just 15 yards passing.
"We thought we might be able to come out (in the) second half and get rolling but we just gave up too many penalties. It was very, very frustrating," he said on The Hardy Chevrolet Scoreboard after the game. "We’ve got to work at it, get better and hopefully we will. We certainly didn’t look like one of the top teams in the state tonight. We got stopped pretty regularly tonight.”
While the offense was grinding down the Falcons defense, the Dragons defense stopped No. 7 Flowery Branch three times inside Jefferson territory. The Falcons lone score, a David Renard 3-yard run, did not come until there was just 16 seconds left in the game.
"We couldn’t overcome the penalties offensively to get in any rhythm, but defensively our guys really did a great job of holding them on third down," Catchcart said.
Branch finished with 252 yards of offense but Renard was held to just 128 yards passing while running back Myles Ivey was held to less than 100 yards for the game.
Both defenses opened the game forcing punts. And the Falcons looked poised to force another Jefferson punt on its second possession. But they eventually converted a first down despite facing a 3rd-and-16 and Tre Reece capped the 13-play drive with an 18-yard sprint for a score.
Branch was ready to answer, driving to the Dragons 17 but fell a yard short of converting a 4th-and-19 from the Jefferson 34. The Dragons took advantage as Brown capped an 11-play, 83-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run and a 14-0 lead.
Brown practically sealed it in the third quarter with a 57-yard TD for a 21-0 lead. He added a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
