CANEY BAY — Brantley County’s upset in its Region 1A opener at homecoming against visiting eighth-ranked Jeff Davis caught the eyes of many.
The Herons (1-4 overall, 1-0 region) handed the 31-point unbeaten favorite a 28-21 setback with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:25 to play. The victory was the fourth in school history over a ranked foe.
“We just found a way to win at the end,” said first-year head coach David Shores. “We’ve been struggling to find ways to move the chains, but we did a good job in our two-minute offense to score in the final minute.
“Our special teams play was great and shows how important that phase of the game is.”
Brantley County broke a 14-game losing streak to Top 10 members to improve to 2-39 in the current Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll with the merger in 2001 of the Atlanta Journal (2-4) and Atlanta Constitution (2-5), and the Writer’s Poll (2-36).
Both of the Herons’ wins came in 1971 with victories over ranked Atkinson County (28-0) and Montgomery County (18-15). Atco was ranked 7th, 9th and 5th in the three polls at the time of the game. The Eagles were ranked 9th, 9th and 8th.
Since 2001, Brantley County was 1-39 with the lone win a 34-16 decision over sixth-ranked Charlton County in 2019. The Herons had dropped 14 straight vs. Top 10 teams since that matchup.
Now, BCHS must build off the monumental win, the first in the Shores era. The Herons travel Friday night to Sylvester to face Worth County (2-3, 01) in the first-ever meeting between the schools.
“Worth County had a very good program years ago,” said Shores. “Coach (Jeff) Hammond is building off what coach (Phillip) Ironside did before him. Coach Hammond worked under Rush Propst at Colquitt County as the offensive coordinator while I was at Lowndes and Camden County.
“This is going to be a big road trip for us. It’s going to be about how we prepare this week and then a nearly three-hour bus trip goes.” The Rams have lost two straight including a 28-21 setback at fifth-ranked region foe Fitzgerald last week. Worth County’s two wins were routs of overmatched Turner County (446) and Dooly County (46-3), both Class A DII foes.
The three losses have come against ranked foes. Current DII second-ranked Irwin County won a 55-46 shootout while fourth-ranked Brooks County posted a 26-7 decision.
Brantley County’s offense is still trying to find itself. The Herons have produced only five touchdowns through five games. They will be paired against a defensive unit surrendering 23.6 points a game.
Senior inside linebacker Shermon Smith (6-foot-1, 210) leads the team in tackles with 60. He has seven tackles for loss and two quarterback sacks. Sophomore outside linebacker Daylon Smith (5-10, 165) has a team-leading 15 TFLs to go along with 44 tackles. He also leads the team with four quarterback sacks.
Senior outside linebacker Bernard Murphy (6-foot, 190) is third on the team with 36 stops. He has three tackles behind the line. Junior defensive linemen Tyler Fulton (6-1, 265) King Toomer (5-7) have combined for eight TFLs.
“They (Rams) are not as big and strong as some of the teams we have played this year,” said Shores. “Having said that, they are more athletic. Hopefully we can create some running lanes and get our skill players outside on the same page with what we’re going to do in our game plan.”
After averaging 45.3 points in their first three games, the Rams have scored just 28 points in the past two tilts. Worth County is getting nearly 62 percent of its offense through the air with five receivers having 12 or more catches.
“They (Rams) are struggling a little in the run game,” said Shores, “but the passing game is pretty good. They’ve got a sophomore quarterback who threw for over 2,000 yards last year and some playmakers out wide.
“We’ve got to be very disciplined in the second which we haven’t been this year. We’ve had a lot of busted coverages. Our (coaches) biggest focus this week defensively is shoring up the back end of the defense.”
Quarterback Lyndon Worthy (6-1, 155) has a plethora of receivers to work with. Worthy has completed 58% of his passes for 952 yards and nine scores. He has thrown six interceptions.
Senior D’ontae Fulton, a Georgia State commit, leads the way with 26 catches for 367 yards (14.1 per reception) and three scores. Fulton is completing 50% of his 36 passes. He’s thrown for a score and been intercepted twice.
Junior tight end Jayden Farley (6-1, 195) has turned five of his 16 catches into scores averaging 20.7 yards per catch.
Junior Kaden Chester is the leading rusher with 395 yards (6.3 average) and five touchdowns. Chester has recorded a pair of 100-yard rushing nights. He’s caught 12 passes out of the backfield.
Juniors Khalijah Thomas (5-8, 160) and Tre’shaun Jones (5-11, 180) have combined for 408 yards and seven touchdowns.
