Lovejoy 14, Ware County 0
Lovejoy struggled to move the ball for a half in its Class AAAA quarterfinal against Ware County, but in the second half, the Wildcats and tailback Travis Custis solved the Gators’ defense.
Custis scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns and a Lovejoy (13-0) posted its eighth shutout, beating Ware 14-0 Friday night at Twelve Oaks Stadium.
The two teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half, but on the opening possession of the second half, Lovejoy drove 63 yards in 10 plays, capped by Custis’ 1-yard run.
After the Lovejoy defense forced a punt, Custis broke loose on a 62-yard run. He appeared to be stopped at the line but pushed through and sprinted down the right sideline for a 14-0 lead.
“ I don’t know how I got out of that pile, but I did,” said Custis, who finished with 203 yards on 24 carries. “I have to give up to my line. They got a good push.”
Ware County passed for minus-10 yards in the first half, but had success on option plays to Xavier Tobler, who had runs of 37 and 28 yards on option pitches. The Gators (10-3) rushed for 126 yards in the first half, but managed just 10 on the ground in the second half and finished with 195 total yards, and Lovejoy thwarted two scoring opportunities with red-zone interceptions
Tobler finished with 77 yards on nine carries.
“If you can run the ball and play good defense you’ve got a chance,” said Lovejoy coach Al Hughes, who has the Clayton County school in the state semifinals for the first time. “We just give it to Travis, and the defense takes care of itself.”
Lovejoy survived a first-quarter turnover that gave the Gators the ball at the Wildcat 38. The Lovejoy defense forced a 45-yard field goal try by Ware’s Seth Starling, whose kick fell short.
“We moved the ball on them in the first half, but against a defense like that, you really have to be on,” said Ware County coach Ed Dudley.
A second Ware County scoring opportunity was stopped when Gators quarterback Josh Bennett tried to throw the ball away to avoid a sack and was picked off by Lovejoy’s Rico McWilliams at the Wildcat 16.
“Our defensive ends are just awesome,” McWilliams said. “We just told the offense if they could get us 14 points we were going to win.”
Ware’s last chance came with just over three minutes left. Scrapping the running game, Bennett moved the Gators from their own 24 to the Lovejoy 25 before Jermaine Hough intercepted him at the 2-yard line.
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17 comments Add your comment
Tucker Dad
November 25th, 2011
11:33 pm
Great job Lovejoy! You have surpassed my expectations. @sportsnut, My hat goes off to you. You have called this from the beginning. I have my eye on you. We will see you in the dome!!!
thunder04
November 25th, 2011
11:40 pm
All i have to say is ( L O V E J O Y ) till i die he
y till i die hey
sportsnut
November 26th, 2011
12:10 am
@ Tucker Dad == Thanks and congrats on you victory. It would be great to meet in the Dome but there is still work to do. This team has not looked ahead at all this year and are truly focused. I just happen to believe what the coaches do and that is Defense wins championships. It would be great to put an end to this talk of a city championship and keep the trophy local. I know for a fact that Lovejoy’s D will do their part .
Tracy
November 26th, 2011
12:23 am
Congrats to LOVEJOY you guys have earned it.Bring it home. You have the BULLDAWGS full support. You guys played great ball tonight. Show the BIG BOYS the best defense in the state. The southern tip of 4AAAA all the way. Nothing was given to this team. They have Earned every victory. Also good job goes out to Tri-Cities for making it this far
WarEagle
November 26th, 2011
12:55 am
Congrats to Lovejoy.
Wildcats#1
November 26th, 2011
8:33 am
ALL I KNOW IS ALL I KNOW AND ALL I KNOW IS HOW SWEET IT IS!!!
outside looking in
November 26th, 2011
8:44 am
Here they are 13-0 and in the semi finals. They weren’t suppossed to beat Upson-Lee, they weren’t suppossed to beat Kell and they weren’t suppossed to beat Ware County. In those three games they gave up 13 points. Do you think they may get some respect now. Great job Lovejoy lets keep it up. See you Friday Warner Robins and Welcome to Clayton County.
Chesley
November 26th, 2011
8:49 am
How SWEET it is! Way to go Coach Hughes!
Lovejoydad
November 26th, 2011
10:48 am
Cal Prep, Max Prep, AJC, Fox5 and all the rest keep picking against us. #1 Defense in 4AAAA. We just keep winning despite critics and haters. By the way great season Tri Cities. You guys will be right back in it next year. You gave us our toughest game of the season. Region 4 has to show the state that we play real football here. There are still alot of unbelievers out there, but Upson-Lee, Kell and Ware County, They believe!!!!!! Warner Robins welcome to Clayton County. May the best team win.
4AReg6Fan
November 26th, 2011
11:57 am
Congratulation to Lovejoy on your continue success, you have made believes out of MANY. Yes, defense is a key to any team sport for success. Good luck next week with WR!!
“WE ARE TUCKER”
ANOTHER SEIM-FINAL APPEARANCE
Wildcat!
November 27th, 2011
12:28 am
YOU DON’T WANT NONE (clap clap) OF THE WILDCATS!!!! Great job guys! I’m so proud!!!!!!
sportsnut
November 28th, 2011
1:20 pm
4AReg6Fan == didn’t know you cared. Thanks for the good wish’s. Hope you guys can do what you and Lovejoy need to do to keep it local
Gamer
November 28th, 2011
3:41 pm
Keep it local? It takes just over 1-hour to get to Lovejoy from Warner Robins. Tucker a little less.
demon fan
November 30th, 2011
7:39 am
your right we are gonna keep it local… Warner Robins vs. Northside in the dome…. then Peach County in 3aaa thats about as local as you can get. i love middle ga
sportsnut
November 30th, 2011
10:42 am
I guess I can let go a little bit now. Friday will be here in a couple days. WR has on Friday what they fear most, a team that will battle with it until the end. Come here thinking that you are a brick wall and meet the wrecking ball. All along we, the fans have been careful not to look ahead and we will continue but Friday is Friday. The time has come for WR to find out what we have been saying all year. No play shall be easy for you. No consideration will be given to how many backs you have. Your competitive spirit will be challenged to the extreme. From the coin flip, you will feel the heat. Do not expect us to be gracious host on the field. Time for WR to know what it feels like to be the nail. The D will be in full force from the start. We still will not claim victory until it is earned but it is time to claim that you are in trouble come Friday night at 12 Oaks.
demon fan
November 30th, 2011
12:23 pm
no body thought we would make it this far and especially not to the title game… looks to be a battle that we have no business winning. cant wait to upset 1 more on our way….
sportsnut
December 1st, 2011
9:08 am
Friday is coming Warner Robins