BEARVILLE — Jae’Veon Williams scored a career-high four touchdowns over the second and third quarters leading second- ranked Pierce County to a 42-0 victory over outmanned Class 4A Wayne County here Friday night during the Cancer Awareness game.
Williams (21 carries, 117 yards) scored on runs of five and three yards in the second period with touchdowns of one and 13 yards coming in the third stanza as the Bears moved to 3-0 with a fourth consecutive shutout of the winless and injury depleted Yellow Jackets (0-4) in the non-region matchup.
Quarterback Drake Dowling (14 carries, 143 yards) recorded his second straight 140-plus yard rushing night adding a touchdown. He also threw for a touchdown completing 2-of-4 (interception) passes for 59 yards.
PCHS will have a short week with a rare Thursday night game this week. The Bears travel to Pooler to face New Hampstead (1-3), losers of three straight after a 38-14 setback Friday night in Richmond Hill, at 7 p.m.
“There were a lot of mistakes offensively with missed blocks and not staying on blocks,” said head coach Ryan Herring. “There were a lot of things that didn’t go right. There’s a lot of things we’ve (coaches) got to fix. You can’t rely on the scoreboard to tell you how you played.
“My hats off to them (Yellow Jackets). They gave us a kind of different look and they had some guys who will hit you. Once we (coaches) knew what they were doing, then we (players) should have done a better job of executing. We were able to put the ball in the end zone. I thought Jae’Veon and Drake ran the ball hard.
Pierce County scored on six of its nine possessions with an average starting position at the Yellow Jackets’ 49. Five times the Bears started at midfield or better (50, WCHS 47, 42, 24, 23) scoring four of its six touchdowns. They turned two turnovers and a fourth down stop into 21 points.
Defensively, PCHS limited Wayne County to just 27 yards of offense. The Bears shutdown the rushing game with the visitors being thrown for minus-9 yards on 26 attempts, the lowest by an opponent through three games. The Yellow Jackets’ average starting field position for 10 possessions was their own 27.
Wayne County finished with two first downs. The longest play was a 42-yard middle screen on the Yellow Jackets’ third play of the game from quarterback Max Copely (3-of-9, interception, 36 yards) to running back Tyreese Wright. Wright (10 carries, 35 yards) also supplied the longest running play with an 11-yard run on Wayne County’s first play of the third quarter.
“We played good defense,” said Herring. “We didn’t fit up some of the runs real well. But, we’re a work in progress. The bottom line is nearly everybody out there on both sides of the ball is a new starter so we’re going to be a work in progress. Hopefully by the time we get to the region schedule we’ve kind of filled out.”
Herring also spoke of the Yellow Jackets’ injury situation.
“They have been hit hard with injuries,” he said. “They lost their best player (senior defensive end/tight end Dawsyn Sikes, 6-foot-4, 220 lbs.) to a knee injury last week against Appling County and I’m sure that killed their morale. That kid is a football player. It’s a tough position for their coach (John Mohring), who has been dealt a tough hand with the injuries and one of the toughest schedules in the state.
“He (Mohring) is a football guy having played linebacker at Georgia Southern and a stint in the NFL. I like him and what he is trying to build over there. But it’s tough when your best players are standing on the sideline beside you.”
PCHS scored on its opening two possessions to take control of the game. The Bears’ first touchdown followed a Wayne County missed 57-yard field goal attempt.
Pierce County moved 61 yards in six plays with Dowling running through the Yellow Jackets’ defensive unit for a 26-yard score with 5:53 on the clock. Garrett Stevenson connected on the first of his six PATS for a 7-0 lead.
After Wayne County punted from out of its end zone, the Bears needed three plays to cover 42 yards with a Dowling hooking up with Chance Williams for the 31-yard score growing the lead to 14-0 with two minutes left in the opening period.
PCHS turned a 31-yard Nigel Brown interception return in the second period into points. Jae’Veon Williams needed two attempts to cover the 23 yards with runs of 18 and five for a 21-0 bulge with 6:34 remaining in the half.
Following the Yellow Jackets’ fumbled snap on a 53-yard field goal attempt, Pierce County drove 56 yards in seven plays to widen its advantage to 280 just 1:19 before intermission. The big play in the drive was a 28-yard pass from Dowling to Brown down to the Wayne County 11. Jae’Veon Williams scored three plays later with a three-yard run.
The Bears turned the ball over on their opening possession of the third quarter. Noah Delaney recovered an onside kick attempt by Wayne County at midfield with PCHS eventually reaching the Yellow Jackets’ 12. A third down pass by Dowling was intercepted in the end zone.
Pierce County’s defense forced a three-and-out with the offense capitalizing on the short field. Dowling broke loose for a 46-yard gain down to the Wayne County one. Two incomplete pass attempts by Jae’Veon Williams was followed by his one-yard bullish run stretching the lead out to 35-0 with 4:46 left in the third period.
Ocean Henderson’s fumble recovery at the Yellow Jackets’ 24 on Wayne County’s ensuing possession set up the final touchdown. Jae’Veon Williams did the honors three plays later with a 13-yard run off left tackle with 1:48 showing on the third quarter clock.
PCHS had one big play in the “mercy rule” final stanza when Dylan Johnson hooked up with Leland Williams for a 24-yard gain as the Bears reached the Wayne County 19 before turning the ball over near the six minute mark.
