Panthers handle Raiders, lock up first-ever home playoff game | JCCHS Sports | mainstreetnews.com

MT. AIRY — A Jackson County football team intent on "leveling up" all season now stands alone in program history.

Daylan Maxwell rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns and RJ Knapp threw two touchdown passes to Jacob Coombs as the Panthers (8-2) beat Habersham Central 34-21 on Friday (Nov. 1) to clinch a second-place finish in Region 8-AAAAA and a home playoff game for the first time ever for the school. The team also tied the 1992 team for the school record for wins in a season. Jackson County’s first-round opponent is Region 2-AAAAA No. 3 seed Coffee County on Nov. 15 at Panther Stadium.

Jackson County led Habersham Central just 17-14 at the half but built a 31-14 lead with just under six minutes left in the game and held off the Raiders to lockup the region runner-up finish.

Jackson County’s defense generated two more turnovers and special teams was a big factor again as Panther freshman Mason Allen blocked a potential game-tying field goal in the second quarter and Carson Odom kicked two field goals, including a 47-yarder. Meanwhile, Habersham Central missed a field goal and had a botched punt attempt that ended up in a turnover on downs on their own 20.

Jackson County clung to a 17-14 lead at halftime, but Kane Berryman picked up a fumble deep in Raider territory midway through the third quarter, leading to a 17-yard touchdown pass from Knapp to a wide-open Coombs and a 24-14 edge. Coombs finished with 106 receiving yards.

The Panther defense delivered again on Habersham Central's on next possession with a sack from Berryman and Deacon Wiley that forced Habersham Central out of field goal range and into a punt. Jackson County's offense answered with a 10-play drive that ended with Maxwell knifing into the end zone from 13 yards out to push the lead to 17 with 5:57 left.

A 47-yard touchdown pass from Paris Wilbanks to Jay Feltus kept the Raiders in the game, but Jackson County closed out its fifth straight win with a 27-yard field goal from Odom.

One of the game's key sequences came in the second quarter with the Panthers up 10-7. Habersham Central drove and threaten to take a 14-10 lead, but Jackson County forced the Raiders into a 24-yard field goal attempt which Allen blocked. Three plays later, Knapp hit Coombs deep downfield for a 75-yard touchdown pass and a 17-7 lead. Knapp finished 6-of-13 for 137 yards.

But momentum didn't last into halftime as Habersham Central drove 98 yards and scored with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Wilbanks to Braydon Strickland in the waning moments of the second quarter.

Jackson County led the contest 10-0 after a quarter despite a slow start that included four consecutive offensive penalties on the first play from scrimmage. But on the Panthers' third possession, Odom nailed a 47-yard field goal that struck the cross bar and bounced over to get Jackson County on the board, followed by a 22-yard touchdown run from Maxwell who trucked a Raider defender inside the 10 yard-line en route to the end zone.

Jackson County, which hasn't lost since Sept. 20, will now have two weeks to rest up for its Nov. 15 playoff clash with Coffee County (8-2), which fell 38-7 to Thomas County Central in its regular-season finale.

This story will be updated.

Jackson County 34, Habersham Central 21

JCHS 10 7 7 10 — 34

HCHS 0 14 0 7 — 21

Statistics

Rushing: Maxwell 174 yards, 2 TDs; Knapp 2-11; Lee 1-1

Passing: Knapp 3-106, 2 TDs; Lee 1-24; Mah 1-4; Maxwell 1-3

First quarter

Jackson County: Carson Odom 47-yard field goal, 3:03

Jackson County: Daylan Maxwell 22-yard run (Odom kick), 1:24

Second quarter

Habersham Central: Donnie Warren 1-yard run (Camden Meeds kick), 11:20

Jackson County: Jacob Coombs 75-yard pass from RJ Knapp (Odom kick)

Habersham Central: Braydon Strickland 1-yard pass from Paris Wilbanks (Meeds kick)

Third quarter

Jackson County: Coombs 17-yard pass from Knapp (Odom kick), 4:13

Fourth quarter

Jackson County: Maxwell 13-yard run (Odom kick), 5:57

Habersham Central: Jay Feltus 47-yard pass from Wilbanks (Meeds kick), 3:40

Jackson County: Odom 27-yard kick, 0:47

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