POOLER — For a team that had to piece together units on both sides of the ball because of injuries, fifth-ranked Ware County looked no worse for the weary here Thursday night in a Region 1-AAAA game against New Hampstead.
Despite missing a handful of starters, the Gators were able to claim a 57-19 victory to run its record to 6-1 overall and 1-1 in the region. Offensively, receiver Ja’Londi O’Hara and running back Jamir Boyd were sidelined while Zhai Solomon and Jah Evans were missing from the secondary among the injured.
“We had guys learning a new position in three days,” Gators head coach Jason Strickland said afterwards.
The win helped ease the sting of a 30-27 loss to Benedictine in the region opener September 26.
“It was big to get back on the grass and get that sour taste out of our mouths,” the coach added.
Senior running back Tayshaun Franklin ran 15 times for 140 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Gators despite not being 100 percent himself. Junior quarterback Isaiah White was 8-for-11 passing for 175 yards and a touchdown to Ja’Mario Rice.
White also ran for a touchdown as did sophomores Masiyer McKoy and Justin Hampton. Rice’s touchdown was one of his four receptions for 114 yards. The senior also added a two-point conversion run.
McKoy went both ways, rotating between three positions, said Strickland.
“A lot of credit to ‘Moo Moo’,” Strickland said. “He was in three different places on the defensive side.”
The Gators, who have an open date this week, cracked the 50-point mark for the third time this season (55 vs. Appling County, 58 vs. Bainbridge) while collecting 428 yards of offense and 20 first downs.
New Hampstead (1-6, 0-2) road its customary passing attack to stay with the Gators for the better part of the first half, before Ware County steadied defensively.
Quarterback Eric Hockman finished 19-of-31 for 239 yards and a touchdown with an interception. Running back Christian Kinlaw ran 13 times for 65 yards and scored each of New Hampstead’s touchdowns (two rush, one receiving).
The Phoenix had 263 of their 333 total yards and 16 of their 21 first downs in the first half. Hockman was 14-of-22 for 181 yards passing in the first two quarters.
“We didn’t play fast the first half ... we were flat,” Strickland said. “At halftime Coach (Dante) Sapp simplified things (defensively) to just man coverage (in secondary) and get pressure up front to go get the quarterback.”
New Hampstead took its only lead of the night off the opening kickoff. The Phoenix went 85 yards in 12 plays, converting three third downs in the possession.
Kinlaw, who ran for 25 yards in the drive and caught a pass for 11 more, capped it on a one-yard run with 8:17 left in the first quarter. Nahmir Williams was wide with the conversion for a lead that would last just 17 seconds.
New Hampstead’s squib kickoff went out of bounds giving Ware County the ball at the Phoenix 47. On the first snap, White found Rice behind the New Hampstead secondary on a fly pattern to tie the score. Gonzalez added the conversion kick to put the Gators on top for good and start a point barrage over the next two minutes, 20 seconds.
With the Phoenix flagged for a personal foul on the touchdown, Gonzalez kicked off from the New Hampstead 45. Rice recovered the bouncing onside kick at the Phoenix 25 setting up the visitor’s next touchdown.
Three plays later White faked a dive to Franklin into the line and skirted left end for the touchdown with the extra point from Gonzalez making it 14-6.
Jalen Suber fumbled the ensuing kickoff for New Hampstead with Cameron Pierre making the recovery for the Gators at the Phoenix 17. Three plays and a penalty later, Franklin scored from a yard, and the conversion made it 21-6 with 5:40 left in the period.
Senior running back Tayshaun Franklin takes dead aim at New Hampstead’s Raymond Lewis plowing over the smaller safety at the one-yard line to score the first of his three touchdowns in the Gators 57-19 Region 1-AAAA win in Pooler.
New Hampstead then went 80 yards in nine plays after the kickoff to close the gap. Kinlaw’s four-yard run finished the possession, and a pass for two points failed leaving the score at 21-12 with 1:35 remaining in the quarter.
From there it was all Gators as they added two touchdowns in each of the next two quarters against one for the Phoenix to bring on the running clock in the fourth when they closed out the rout with their final touchdown.
Franklin scored on a five-yard run to end a seven-play, 60-yard series with 10:32 left in the first half. Gonzalez tacked on the extra point for a 28-12 lead.
Hockman and Kinlaw teamed up for New Hampstead’s final points on the ensuing possession that covered 70 yards and took 10 plays. The capper was a 12-yard pass between the senior duo followed by the conversion kick from Williams to make it 28-19.
Franklin finished Ware County’s first-half scoring with a four-yard run to finish a seven-play, 58yard drive. Backup kicker Joel Cortez added the extra point for a 35-19 lead just 1:54 before intermission.
New Hampstead threatened again before the first half break, but McKoy knocked away Hockman’s pass intended for his brother, Ben, in the end zone on a fourth-and-16 play from the 32-yard line.
Ware County ended any hopes of a Phoenix comeback by taking the second half kickoff and going 75 yards in nine plays for another score. Franklin finished off the drive and his night on a two-yard run that was followed by Rice’s two-point run for a 43-19 cushion five minutes into the third quarter.
After a Phoenix punt, McKoy tallied on an 11yard run to finish a sevenplay, 88-yard march, Ware’s longest of the night. Gonzalez added another PAT for a 50-19 lead that brought on the running clock in the final period.
Hampton had Ware’s final touchdown, a 16yarder early in the last quarter that was followed by the last conversion kick from Gonzalez.
After the kickoff, the Phoenix moved to a first down at the Ware 18 in the final minute, but Lotwan Carter’s interception ended the possession on the game’s final play.
YARDSTIICK
Ware County 21 14 15 7 - 57 N. Hampstead 12 7 0 0 - 19 SCORING SUMMARY First Quarter NH - Christian Kinlaw 1 run (kick failed), 8:17 WCHS - Ja’Mario Rice 47 pass from Isaiah White (Jeffrey Gonzalez kick), 8:00 WCHS - White 6 run (Gonzalez kick), 7:09 WCHS - Tayshaun Franklin 1 run (Gonzalez kick), 5:40 NH - Kinlaw 4 run (pass failed), 1:35 Second Quarter WCHS - Franklin 5 run (Gonzalez kick), 10:32 NH - Kinlaw 12 pass from Eric Hockman (Nahmir Williams kick) WCHS - Franklin 4 run (Joel Cortez kick) Third Quarter WCHS - Franklin 2 run (Rice run) WCHS - MooMoo McKoy 11 run (Gonzalez kick) Fourth Quarter WCHS - Justin Hampton 16 run (Gonzalez kick) WCHS NH First downs 20 21 Rushes-yards 30-253 25-94 Passing yards 175 239 Total yards 428 333 Comp-Att-Int 8-11-0 19-31-1 Punts-Avg 0-0 2-32.5 Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1 Penalties 7-53 5-36 3rd Down Con. 2-of-2 7-of-9 4th Down Con. 0-of-0 0-of-1 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – WCHS: Franklin 15140, McCoy 9-69, Hampton 3-31, Hayes 1-7, White 2-6 NH: Kinlaw 13-65, E. Hockman 8-27, Smart 32. PASSING – WCHS: White 8-11-0, 175. NH: E. Hockman 19-31-1, 239.
RECEIVING — WCHS: Rice 4-114, Hayes 2-31, Fore 1-26, McKoy 113.
NH: B. Hockman 6-99, Lynn 662, Scott 1-33, Kinlaw 4-32, Williams 1-11, Smart 1-2.
