SAVANNAH — Windsor Forest scored a touchdown in each of the first three quarters overcoming a 6-0 deficit to beat visiting Brantley County 19-6 Friday Night at Savannah High Stadium.
Kickoff was delayed by lightning and later in the first quarter as a thunderstorm passed through the Chatham County area. The fourth quarter was played during a heavy rain for much of the period.
“This was a difficult road trip,” said head coach David Shores. “It was a two-hour bus trip and two and a half hours of waiting. Then we get out there and played most of the first quarter and had another lightning delay. We didn’t handle the adversity as well as we need to.
“In saying that, the guys played very hard the entire game. We struggled offensively to score after our first touchdown. We had two trips inside their (Knights) 20 and came away with no points.
“The field goal operations were difficult because of the weather conditions so we opted to go for it on fourth down anytime we got down close. We have to be able to execute and not make mistakes which penalize us anytime we’re in our red zone offense.
The Knights, who were playing their first game of the season, got two first half touchdown passes from junior quarterback Ja’shawn Green (11-of-26, interception, 283 yards) in grabbing a 12-6 halftime lead.
Brantley County (0-2) scored on its initial snap of the night getting an 80-yard jaunt from running back Malachi Saunders (10 carries, 92 yards). The Herons hurt themselves being penalized 15 times for 139 yards.
Dropped passes helped stall the offense as quarterback Kaden Hendrix finished 3-of-20 for 18 yards.
Windsor Forest returned the opening kick 32 yards to the BCHS 47. A 33-yard completion from Green to Jayden Thomas (five catches, 65 yards) moved the ball to the Herons’ 21. Brantley County’s defense stiffened forcing a 40-yard field goal attempt by Dayvon Griffin which sailed left of the upright.
Saunders then gave the Herons a 6-0 lead with his 80-yard burst. He broke through three would-be tacklers at the line of scrimmage and was untouched the final 77 yards. The PAT snap was bobbled leaving the score at 60 with 10:12 left in the opening stanza.
The Knights responded with a six-play, 68-yard game-tying touchdown. Green completed 3-of-4 passes for 73 yards with the final 27 on the touchdown toss to Kamari Duncan with 7:43 on the first quarter clock. A bad snap foiled the PAT of Griffin.
BCHS punted the ball away following three-andouts on its next two first period possessions with the Knights turning the ball over on downs.
Brantley County’s fourth possession, following a fourth down stop at the Windsor Forest 29, of the night spanned the first and second stanza.
BCHS got as close as the Knights’ 16 before turning the ball over on a fourth down incompletion.
Windsor Forest needed three plays to take the lead. Two scram-bles by Green (13 carries, 50 yards) was followed by a quick slant to Griffin for a 72-yard scoring toss and a 12-6 lead about three minutes into the second quarter. The PAT failed.
The Herons put together their best offensive series of the night on the last possession of the first half. They moved from their own 19 to the Windsor Forest 24 in the final minute of the second quarter. Three incomplete passes and a quarterback sack on the final four plays ended the half.
BCHS pinned the Knights at their one with a Hendrix punt following the stalled opening possession of the third quarter.
Windsor Forest got the eight-play, 99-yard drive advancing with a 23-yard pass from Green to Griffin on a third-and-six play. Green’s 39-yard completion to Ramir Richardson (two catches, 63 yards) four plays later was followed by the quarterback’s 21-yard sprint through a wide open middle of the field.
Griffin’s PAT kicked the margin to 19-6 about midway through the quarter.
Brantley County’s next four possessions all ended with three-and-outs. On its’ final offensive series of the night, BCHS reached the Knights’ 16 after a 42yard quarterback keep by Hendrix (12 carries, gamehigh 107 yards). A fumble two plays later ended the drive.
Windsor Forest ran three final plays before the horn sounded.
