Raiders zip by Braves in Tuesday action

Published 10:24 am Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Ty Cummings going left. Ty Cummings going right. And if he wasn’t gaining first downs – and of course touchdowns – he could rely on a host of teammates to send West Laurens High to a big Region 4-AAA win Tuesday at Baldwin High School. The visiting Raider defense also shut down the Baldwin Braves in the second half, turning a 14-14 halftime tie into a 28-14 final score.

The loss snapped Baldwin’s four-game winning streak that started when its football season resumed in early October after nearly a month off due to Helene’s damage across the homes of its region foes. One of those was West Laurens; the teams were scheduled to play Sept. 27 in Milledgeville, but Helene ripped through parts of central and east Georgia the night before forcing a postponement due to damages in Laurens County.

So as the nation went to the polls to vote for a new president earlier in the day Tuesday, football teams in 4-AAA made up those lost games in late September.

The Braves dropped to 5-2 in the region, 5-4 overall, and West Laurens improved to 6-2 in what was its final regular season contest. Baldwin still has one more makeup to play on Saturday with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Richmond Academy in Augusta, also recovering from the wrath of Helene. Baldwin, West Laurens and Westside-Augusta all have two region losses to sit in a three-way tie for second place in the region behind leader Harlem High.

West Laurens basically showed the Braves a ‘wildcat’ look a majority of the night with Cummings taking the snaps. He would either take keepers for big gains or give the football to the likes of Brandon Brooks on a jet sweep.

On Baldwin’s side, both touchdowns were from the arm of quarterback Lamar Pounds. In fact, he staked the Braves to a 7-0 lead by turning their first possession into a three-play scoring drive. Pounds threw to Kielan Walker on a slant route, and Walker ran untouched for a 61-yard touchdown. Josh Fields added the PAT.

The lead didn’t last long, for Cummings returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to the opposite end zone. And so was the first three minutes of action, ending in a 7-7 tie.

From there, the Raiders showed a willingness to gamble, and the Braves couldn’t catch a break on offense. Having to punt from the 1 (grounding called in the series), the Braves gave the Raiders a spot on their 39. But even as Antonio Goodman and Jazz Lamar put WLHS on 4th-and-9, West Laurens pulled off a daring fake punt with a wide open reception spotted on the 28.

If that wasn’t enough for Baldwin to ponder, a quarterback/blocking back combo Carson Pollock would go in shotgun as he did on a 4th-and-10. Juvon Hill caught his slant throw open on the 13, and two plays later Cummings got outside to score at 2:25 of the first quarter.

Baldwin was unable to answer down 14-7, but the home defenses kept the Raiders out of the ‘red zone’ even as the visitors ran 11 plays for about 40 yards. Jonquavious ‘Q’ Russell and Nakarreon Walls stopped Cummings on the BHS 27, which is where the Braves eventually took over on downs and drove for the tying points.

Pounds got first downs running and passing up to midfield, then the ball went to backs Sadur Salahuddin and Kaiden Gibson for advancement to the WL 18. On 3rd-and-11, Pounds threw a 19-yard touchdown to Bryan Goddard with 1:27 left until the half. Fields tied the game 14-14 on his kick.

Even as Cummings gained more yards on the ground up to the Braves 30 before halftime, Goodman and Russell (who recovered a fumble) kept it a tied game.

But with the football first in the third quarter, Baldwin’s bid for the lead stalled on the WL 25. Cummings churned out more yards and first downs, four carries to the Braves 34. After a Brooks carry to the 26, Cummings was in the end zone for the second time at 6:18.

The score stayed 21-14 in favor of the Raiders through three punts, and then late in the third West Laurens mounted a 68-yard scoring drive that involved Pollock putting his arm to use.

Demarion Baker of the Baldwin defense ended the third bringing down Cummings for 3rd-and-13 on their 41. The first snap of the fourth quarter went to Pollock, who threw to Jacob Holsey over the middle. With about 40 yards added after the catch, he scored the game’s final touchdown.

The Braves had two more possessions, gained four first downs, but their last play ended with Hill’s interception.