Braves outlast Huskies on Halloween in Macon

Published 9:00 pm Friday, November 1, 2024

MACON – Stephen King? Clive Barker? John Carpenter? When is the evil murderous monster (in this case a Husky) finally going to die after a final decisive blow by our young protagonists (in this case a band of Braves)? When are the directors in stripes finally going to say, “That’s a wrap. Let’s all go trick or treating now?”

So was the metaphor developing on Halloween Night Thursday at Thompson Stadium – not a horror movie set, but a high school football game between the Baldwin High Braves and Howard High Huskies. Baldwin and head coach Kevin Patterson got ahead by three touchdowns in the second quarter but had to keep scoring and scoring in the second half as those Huskies kept rising and rising out of presumed defeated state. Even as Howard struck the final blow in the final minute of regulation, Baldwin stood triumphant in the end 49-36.

The Braves won for the fourth time in a row improving to 5-3 overall. The tie for first place in Region 4-AAA went down to two teams Thursday, Baldwin and Harlem High both having one region loss (Harlem holds the head-to-head tiebreaker for a higher state playoff seed). West Laurens was in the tie also but lost Thursday at Westside-Augusta, and West Laurens is Baldwin’s next opponent in a make-up contest Tuesday at Braves Stadium.

There was some cost to the win as both Brandon Dixon and Jaylen “Boom” King left the game with injuries, King’s coming after a long catch-and-run play that ended with a fumble ruled recovered by Howard.

Several Braves, though, stepped up with clutch performances, including Antonio Goodman on defense and Charlie Warren on offense.

With it being Thursday and in a stadium not Howard’s home turf, Baldwin did have to shake off a few early blahs, including a fumble lost to the Huskies on the Baldwin 35-yard-line. The Braves defense didn’t have any issues – early in the game anyway – as Jonquavious ‘Q’ Russell had three tackles for a loss and King one in the opening quarter.

Howard did get to 1st-and-goal after the takeaway, but penalties moved the hosts back to the BHS 18. On second down, safety Brandon Whisby intercepted a pass over the middle with a return to the 24.

An exclusive rushing attack of quarterback Lamar Pounds and backs Johnathan Butts and Kaiden Gibson drove to the Howard 30. Pounds then made a pitch-pass to King on 4th-and-3 for first down on the 22. With a keeper run to his left, Pounds scored with 51 seconds left in the opening period.

Josh Fields kicked the PAT through for 7-0 Braves.

Goodman and Labraydon Burden opened the second quarter stopping the QB option and forcing a punt from Howard. The kick landed two yards on the wrong side of the line of scrimmage, giving Baldwin’s offense a 19-yard drive. King first caught a pass on the 2 for 1st-and-goal, then took a short pitch forward from Pounds to score at 9:46 until halftime. Fields was good again on the PAT making it 14-0.

Howard had just two first downs in the first quarter, and three of its first four drives ended 3-and-out. Linebacker Devarious Russell cut off the edge on a 3rd-and-2 jet sweep bringing up fourth down and the punt, this one to the Baldwin side of the 50 (32).

In eight plays, Baldwin covered the 68 yards. It was 4th-and-goal at the 1 with the Braves lined up in the T formation. Pounds turned towards the sidelines, and a snap went directly to ‘Q’, who scored his second rushing touchdown in as many games. Fields had to kick a 25-yard PAT, which was no problem in getting the score to 21-0 at 5:18.

But behind quarterback Deon Wellons, Howard’s offense became almost unstoppable the rest of the evening. It helped that the Husky sideline had no qualms going for it on a few fourth-down calls and converted them.

Even when Corey Myrick Jr. got a TFL for Baldwin setting up 4th-and-11 at midfield, the Howard offense stayed on the field and Wellons completed a strike on the Baldwin 24. Goodman and Jazz Lamar put Howard in another third-down situation on the 18, but Wellons completed another throw, this one in the end zone, with 54 seconds left in the first half.

With the score 21-7, Baldwin made it a more bearable halftime when Whisby returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. Trying something different on the conversion play, Gibson threw a halfback option to Kielan Walker to score two points. The Braves led 29-7 at the half.

The one time Baldwin’s defense held down Howard in the second half came to start the third quarter. Both Russells and Goodman keyed the three-and-out series.

The first Braves’ offensive turn did not end well either, even as Pounds went sideline-to-sideline and hit King open on the 40. The tight end was on the move inside Howard’s ‘red zone,’ but lost the football. The Braves lost possession on the 14 and King’s services for the rest of the night.

Even after ‘Q’ Russell’s fifth tackle for a loss on Wellons for 3rd-and-11, the QB broke containment to get a first down. The drive continued on to midfield, and though Goodman forced a 4th-and-1, Howard’s Ta’Shawn Poole took a direct snap and entered Baldwin ground. On 3rd-and-4 at the 42, receiver Terrance Brown of Howard beat his coverage and scored at the 3:41 mark.

Now it was a matter of Baldwin matching each Howard scoring play. The Braves did it here going 65 yards in 10 plays with another big side-to-side first down run for Pounds to the Howard 45.

Butts, Gibson and the quarterback carried the load to the 19, then Walker made a sliding catch on the 3. Pounds executed the play-fake to score for the second time, and Fields knocked in another kick for 36-14.

That was with 27 seconds left in the third period. In the fourth quarter, Howard was at 4th-and-24 on its 31 due to plays by ‘Q’ Russell and Nakarreon Walls. Wellons fired away and was on target for another major conversion on the Braves’ 22.

From the 10, Devarious Russell brought Wellons down for a loss, but on third down the Huskies found their way into the end zone again. The PAT kick went into the crowd of blockers, so the score stayed 36-20 at 8:58.

Enough time for four more scoring drives, even with four minutes taken by the Braves to go half of the field. Of the 11 plays, Patterson called for his own fourth-down ‘go-for-it,’ 4th-and-15 on the 18. Pounds found Warren on the 2 to keep the series alive, and Butts got the touchdown at 4:51.

With no PAT this time, it was 42-20, and Baldwin’s kickoff spotted Howard on the 15. With the arm of Wellons – and 30 yards of penalties – Howard was on the Braves’ 5. After a holding call, Kameron Clark scored a 15-yard touchdown still with 3:06 to play. With a two-point run, the score now said 42-28.

One game minute later, Pounds scored his third touchdown, this one 62 yards. Fields made his team’s final point, but 49-28 wasn’t the overall final.

Warren saved a touchdown stopping the kickoff return on Baldwin’s 37. With 46 seconds to play, Wellons scored on a 22-yard run, and they added two.

Finally, it was a wrap.