HOSCHTON, Ga. — A lackluster first half on a hot Saturday morning was no excuse for Jackson County coach Korey Mobbs.
“I told the guys this morning that regardless of the conditions, they're always in our favor. It got warm. But everyone has to play in those conditions,” Mobbs said after watching his Panthers pull away in the second half for a 36-13 win over Flowery Branch in both teams’ season openers at Panther Stadium.
“I thought we were in shape. We didn't cramp as much as they did, but they also had guys playing both ways. I'm glad we went early, because I'm not sure if we started at noon we'd have had anybody left.”
The good for Mobbs was that the Panthers wasted little time in jumping on the Falcons. Senior quarterback RJ Knapp connected with Daylan Maxwell on a 31-yard pass to the Falcons 35 then Maxwell scampered 35-yards on the next play to cap a quick 4-play drive for an 8-0 lead after a 2-point run by Kaleb Clark less than two minutes in.
But from there, a determined Branch squad held their own against the bigger, deeper Panthers. Twice in their first three drives they got inside the Panthers 10. The first time they used 12 plays to get to the 8 but senior quarterback Brett Sturm was sacked on fourth down to kill the drive. On their third drive, the Falcons got to the Jackson County 9 but Brooks Recinella’s 21-yard field goal was blocked by Mason Allen to kill another possible scoring drive.
“(Flowery Branch) Coach (Michael) Perry is going to do a good job. Flowery Branch, they're very improved,” Mobbs said. “They're efficient on offense and defensively, they give you fits.”
But Jackson County used that momentum to add on to its lead, aided by two Falcons penalties that gave the Panthers first downs on third down. The Panthers capped the 10-play drive when Maxwell scored his second TD of the game on a 2-yard run for a 15-0 lead with 4:15 left in the half.
Maxwell had 9 carries for 71 yards, and the two scores in the first half for Jackson County. He would finish with 176 yards and two scores on 19 carries, including a 68-yard burst that set up their final score and snuffed out any final momentum the Falcons had after cutting the lead to 29-13 in the fourth quarter.
Sturm finally got the Falcons on the board on their final drive of the first half. The senior went 8-of-8 for 92 yards, including a 12-yard TD pass to Griffin Harper to cut the lead to 15-6 after a missed PAT with 12 seconds left.
Sturm was 16-of-21 for 154 yards and the 1 TD pass in the first half. It was a different story in the second half.
Just like to open the game, the Panthers got a fast start to the third quarter. They needed just four plays to extend their lead, with Knapp finding a wide open Landon Jones for a 35-yard TD pass for a 22-6 lead.
The Falcons’ only score of the second half came on a 57-yard TD pass from Sturm to Tre Demary. That one play accounted for more yards than Branch was able to manage the rest of the second half.
Sturm finished 22-of-32 for 221 yards and 2 TDs but the Falcons were held to minus-2 yards rushing in the first half and just 13 yards on the ground for the game.
“Our defense did a good job of stopping them twice and I felt we controlled the lines of scrimmage,” Mobbs said. “But they were on the field too long, and then a lot of that's field position. We could be a lot better. You know, I would give us a C and we’ll just start getting ready for next week.”
The Panthers (1-0) will definitely move up in challenge as they travel to Jefferson next week. They are 0-11 all-time against their arch-rivals.
Branch (0-1) continues a tough road trip through Region 8-5A next week, heading to Habersham Central (1-0).
