The progress South Jones head coach Casey Herrington noted after Week 1 was evident in the Braves’ home opener Friday night. Another strong performance running the football and solid defensive play summed up the evening as the Braves routed Pearl River Central, 32-12.
The Braves (1-1) had to throw the football only five times in Friday’s Week-2 contest, one of which was a touchdown pass from sophomore Stephen Bynum to senior tight end Caleb Horner to give the Braves an early lead in a contest they controlled from start to finish.
South Jones senior Caleb Horner celebrates as he strolls into the end zone for a Braves touchdown. (Photo by Kim Widdershoven)
From then on, the Braves dominated in the trenches and controlled the clock by consistently moving the ball through the running game, rushing for 318 yards on 42 carries en route to the three-touchdown victory. Two Braves accounted for most of those yards with outstanding performances. Junior running back Emmanuel Phillips rushed for a career-best 169 yards on 14 carries, and fellow junior Devonte Brown finished with 106 yards on 14 carries.
The defense did its part, too, holding the Blue Devils’ offense to 178 total yards and forcing two turnovers in the process. A late touchdown made the score a tad more respectable for PRC (0-2), which never saw a real opportunity to recover after the Braves began to pull away in the second half.
South Jones will look to carry momentum from last Friday’s win into an even bigger challenge this week, when they host the cross-county rival West Jones Mustangs (2-0) in their third contest of the season. Herrington said his team knows it won’t be easy to secure its first win over the Mustangs since 2016, but his players are excited for the challenge and look forward to building on their success in Week 2.
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