'Early focus' leads Stephenson to win over New Hampstead and second round of playoffs
The opening round of the Georgia High School Association football state championship tournament began with a few Thursday night matchups and in Class 4A, the Stephenson Jaguars found themselves well in control early as they jumped put to a 18-0 lead over the New Hampstead Phoenix heading into the second quarter and by halftime, led 45-7.
"The guys showed up and they were locked in," Stephenson head coach, Marcus Jelks said following the Jaguars win on Thursday, praising his players for their performance. "I saw focus early in the game, so we came out and played really well early, which is one of the things I challenged them with this week so I'm proud of how we played," Jelks said.
Scoring for the Jaguars began on the opening drive of the game as senior quarterback, Zabrian Boler threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Michael Miller and on the ensuing New Hampstead possession, the Stephenson defense added a second Jaguars touchdown as Kwame Green Jr. intercepted a pass by Phoenix quarterback, Antonio Benton, and returned it for a Jaguars score as they led 12-0 after this failed two-point conversion.
"Huge momentum swing," Jelks said of the Green Jr. pick-6, which was followed up by a second Stephenson defensive interception by Kaiden Gooden, which led to Boler's second touchdown pass of the night, as he connected with junior wide receiver, Noah Mohoney, leading to an 18-0 Jaguars lead. "I was happy to see the defensive touchdown tonight," Jelks said.
Stephenson would go on to win by a final of 45-22 and now await the winner of the Howard and Calhoun matchup on Saturday and with the extra day to prepare for whoever their opponent will be next week, Jelks says the Jaguars must "drill down these mistakes ," and there were some things he wants his team to "clean up" before next Friday arrives.
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