Braves break 40 in the first half, beat Liberty

Published 11:32 pm Friday, August 20, 2021

HINESVILLE, Ga. — An initially unplanned road trip did little to slow the Baldwin Braves (1-0) down against Liberty County (0-1) Friday.

BHS lit up the scoreboard with 42 points in the first half and eventually took the opener versus the Panthers 42-6.

The season-opening matchup was originally scheduled to be played in Milledgeville, but delays with installation of Baldwin’s artificial turf football field forced a change. What was supposed to be a home game turned into an over three-hour bus trip, but the Braves kept their focus and took care of business against the 3A school. 

“It might have been the best half of football we’ve played in the past three or four years,” Baldwin head coach Jesse Hicks said in a postgame phone interview. “We had a lot of guys touching the football. We spread the ball around offensively and just dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides.” 

Baldwin returns nearly all its playmakers from last year’s 5-2 second-round playoff team. They helped the Braves shoot out to a 28-0 lead that saw four different guys score touchdowns. In the end, seniors Jeramiyah Scott at running back and Derrick Lewis at quarterback scored twice apiece while playmaking wideout Shatavious Hogan and bruising running back Micah Welch reached paydirt once each. 

Hicks’ guys had a great showing defensively as well. Senior DB Kirtavious Hightower pulled down an interception and junior lineman Nasir Robinson totaled two sacks to lead the way on that side of the ball. The BHS head coach also praised his special teamers. Kicker Dyson Sallad and Hogan at punter further lent a hand in the dominant effort. 

Liberty’s only score came against the Baldwin defensive reserves.

The Braves will likely have a four-quarter battle on their hands next week when they travel to Sandersville to face the Washington County Golden Hawks. WaCo leads the all-time series versus BHS 22-19-2 according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association, and the Hawks took the last meeting between the teams 42-7 two seasons ago.

“Anytime we play WaCo it’s going to be huge,” Hicks said. “There’s probably going to be a bunch of people there, and that’s the kind of football you like to play in Middle Georgia. I think our kids will be up for the challenge.”