#8 Evans Executes its Way to a 26-18 Win Over Richmond
The Knights are off to their best start since 2008, and first year coach Barrett Davis couldn't be happier.
First year head coach Barrett Davis has every reason to be proud of his players after #8 Evans (class 6A) overcame a slow start to defeat Richmond 26-18 at home and improve to 4-0. Before Friday night, the Knights hadn’t started a season with 4 straight wins since 2008. And the way Davis’s bunch responded to a 12-0 first quarter deficit perfectly aligned with the coaching staff’s instructions during the recent week’s practices following last Friday’s 22-20 win over Harlem.
“Our kids fought. They never dropped their heads. I’m proud of them,” Davis beamed in a post game interview. “We talked about composure this week. We talked about playing between the whistles and doing things the right way and our guys did that. I’m proud of our kids. They’re getting better each week. They’re playing hard. They’re taking hard coaching. They’re responding in a great direction. I’m just proud of them guys, man. I love ‘em.”
After Evans gained its composure, Davis’s team executed its game plan in nearly flawless fashion as an array of playmakers got into the offensive act. And despite an almost heroic performance by Richmond’s phenom of a junior running back Jontavis Curry (21 carries for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns), the Knights avenged last season’s loss to the defending class 3A, region 4 champion Musketeers in a well played game in which neither team committed a turnover.
Joseph Hampton rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries to go along with a 60-yard kickoff return for a score. Kaleb Jackson completed 7 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Jourdain Spann caught 3 passes for 76 yards, including a 45 yard touchdown reception. And Kenneth Dorsey, DJ Walton, and Tyler Perry all stepped up to make key plays as well.
Excellent Execution
Immediately after Richmond scored its second touchdown on its second offensive series, Davis and his staff made a clever adjustment on the ensuing kickoff to help the Knights get on the scoreboard. Hampton, the speedy senior running back, swapped spots with Dorsey to position himself closer to the kicker in anticipation of a “pooch kick” by Richmond. Once Hampton got his hands on the ball, he knew exactly what to do with it.
“We knew all week they were going to pooch kick it to the left,” Hampton explained. “The ball came, and I was gonna fair catch it, but I didn’t. I caught it and I just took off. I broke like two tackles and I took off.”
Hampton’s touchdown changed the momentum. Then it was Jackson’s turn to make an impact. The dual threat quarterback powered a 95-yard touchdown drive that ate up more than 5 minutes of clock and concluded when Jackson hit Dorsey in the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown strike with 55 seconds remaining in the second quarter to give Evans a 13-12 lead, the first of the game for the Knights.
The Jackson-Dorsey connection came on fourth-and-5, and it was the first of three long touchdown drives that saw Evans score on either third or fourth down. Jackson rushed for 30 yards and passed for 47 during the drive.
Next Jackson passed the baton back to Hampton on the first offensive series of the second half for Evans. During a 68-yard drive, Hampton carried the ball 6 times for 46 yards, including a 24 yard touchdown on third-and-17 on a brilliantly executed draw play that put the Knights ahead 20-12. Coach Davis explained the play call that led to Hampton’s score and why it worked:
“We knew if we could get to that second level… ‘cause they were walking guys up on the edge…” Davis continued. “We knew if we could hold them and invite the linemen up field a little bit, and then release up to that second level… a kid like Joe Hampton only needs one cut. So he was able to get off that ‘Mike’ and work to the edge. And he made a good play.”
When Hampton hit that “second level” he benefitted from a block by lineman Trey Morris (#53). Morris, who was a force in the trenches on both sides of the ball, had zipped down field to put a body on Grady Noegel. (Noegel led Richmond’s defense with 10 tackles, including 2 for a loss.)
Curry Left it All on the Field
Evans’s run was interrupted by another brilliant series by Curry. The Richmond junior ran it 8 times for 53 yards on a 67 yard drive that ended when Curry crossed the goal line from 2 yards out and then slammed the ball into the turf after getting up, having just recovered from cramps following a 23 yard dash earlier in the drive.
Curry’s second touchdown of the game cut the deficit to 20-18, but it seemed to take the last of his energy. One thing is clear. The lightning quick rusher with impeccable footwork put on a show in defeat. And no opposing defense will be safe as long as Curry continues to tote the ball for the Musketeers.
The Knights finished off the visitors in the fourth quarter when junior DJ Walton, normally a receiver and defensive back, got behind center on third-and-5, rolled right and found Tyler Perry for a 25-yard first down completion that advanced Evans to Richmond’s 45 yard line with 2:52 remaining. Jackson then returned and connected with Spann on a slant 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Upon catching it, Spann took the ball the remaining 35 yards to punctuate the 26-18 final score.
Richmond’s Fast Start
Richmond scored on its first two offensive series, first on a 76-yard march that ended with one of Curry’s many dynamic dashes:
Then the Musketeers took advantage of a short field to finish a 38-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown strike from Jack Murphy to Kellen McDuffie.
Next Week
Next Friday Evans (4-0) will travel to Washington County (1-0), and Richmond (1-2) will host Vidalia as both teams will get the benefit of one more non-region contest against an excellent opponent before both schools attempt to defend last season’s region title.