The Heard County Braves improved to 4-1 on the season with a 28-7 win over the Central Lions out of Carrollton on Friday night. Central was able to contain Ohio State QB commit Emory Jones for the most part, but this made way for senior RB Dayvin Troy to steal the show.
Heard County started the game with excellent field position after #2, junior Jaden Moreland, returned the opening kickoff to the Central 48 yard line. The Braves could not capitalize on this drive as penalties forced them backwards. They ended up in a 4th and 7 situation and were unable to convert.
Central then took over and took the ball all the way down to the Heard 20 yard line after a long run. The drive stalled after that and the Lions went for a 39-yard field goal. The attempt ended up being blocked by Heard County, and they took over on their own 38 yard line.
Again, the Braves could not get anything going as they were forced to punt it back to the Lions. Central took advantage of this as #2, sophomore QB Ray Cheeks, took a read option play 82 yards for a Central touchdown. This gave his team the 7-0 lead after the converted PAT with 5:55 left in the 1st quarter.
The two teams then traded punts to close out the 1st quarter. To start the second, Heard had the ball on their own 40. They had a couple of penalties on this drive, but ended up making it down to the Central 2 yard line. Dayvin Troy then got his first taste of the endzone in the game as he took it in with 7:08 left in the 1st half. This drive by the Braves ate up almost 5 minutes off of the clock and allowed them to tie it up at 7.
Heard’s defense then stepped it up and forced Central to punt it back to Emory Jones and the offense. This drive started on their own 28 yard line. After a long Dayvin Troy run as well as a couple of Emory Jones runs and completions, the Braves were now on Central’s 6 yard line. Emory Jones then used his scrambling ability as he took it in from the 6 yard line. This drive ate up almost four minutes and it gave Heard the 14-7 lead.
Central then had two minutes remaining in the half to get some more points on the board. They ended up on Heard’s side of the field after some great clock management by the quarterback and the offense. Soon after, they had an untimed down on the Heard 9 yard line due to a roughing the passer penalty. This allowed Central to attempt a 26-yard field goal, but the attempt was no good. Heard took a 14-7 lead heading into halftime.
Central’s offense was very one-dimensional on the night as they seemed to run the ball 75% of the time. Heard made the halftime adjustments and did not allow Central to score again. On the other hand, Heard added two more touchdowns in the 2nd half. The first was midway through the 3rd by Dayvin Troy for his 2nd touchdown of the day. The second came from #8, sophomore Andrew Leak just as the 3rd quarter ended.
This was the last action of the game as Heard won the contest 28-7. Emory Jones was 6-of-14 passing for 72 yards. He added 8 carries on the ground for 50 yards and one touchdown. Dayvin Troy was the leading rusher with 19 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns. #24, senior RB Mike Holmes, had 5 carries for 48 yards and Andrew Leak had 3 carries for 8 yards and one touchdown.
#15, senior TE Ethan Brant, was the leading receiver for Heard with 2 catches for 31 yards. #2 Jaden Moreland also had 2 catches, but had 24 yards. Dayvin Troy was the clear offensive force in Friday’s game.
Heard will play at home vs Temple this Friday to start region play. Central will look for their first win of the year against region opponent LaGrange High. The game will be played at Central.
If you are a parent or relative of a player interested in purchasing photos, feel free to e-mail me. The pictures in this article are not all of the photos I took Friday. So, do not hesitate to contact me to ask if I have any you may be interested in. Thanks for reading!
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