The Elbert Co. Blue Devils played perhaps the best all round game Friday night in the granite bowl rolling to a big 48-7 win over Region opponent Morgan Co. The blue devils offense and defense seemed to be working on all cylinders as the blue devil offense rolled up 319 yards of total offense in the first half alone scoring 4 TD. The defense held Morgan to only 61 yards rushing in the first half and gave up 52 passing of which 49 yards of that was on a long pass play that led to the Morgan Co. only score of the night. Morgan Co. received the opening kickoff but was quickly 3 and out and were forced to punt to the blue devils. On the first play for the blue devils RB Valdon Cooper made a 54 yard run on which the blue devils scored 2 plays later on a 10 yard run by RB Trez Haley. Omar Vargas then added the point after to put the blue devils up 7-0. The Morgan Co. offense then went to work in which they gained 2 first downs on the drive but the blue devils again forced them to punt. The blue devils then put together a good drive and on the 3^rd play of the drive Valdon Cooper again had a big run of 41 yards moving the ball down to the Morgan Co. 23 yard line. 4 plays later after a couple of strong runs of 12 & 8 yards by RB Trez Haley, RB Valdon Cooper scored to put the blue devils up 14-0 with 3:12 left to play in the 1^st Quarter. The blue devil defense again forced Morgan Co. to punt 3 plays later on 3^rd and 12. The blue devils then put together a strong 10 play drive but were forced to punt for the first time of the night. Morgan Co. then scored their first and only touchdown of the night on a 6 play drive capped of by a 49 yard touchdown pass to cut the score to 14-7 with 6:06 left to play in the 2^nd Quarter. The blue devils then came right back and marched down the field on a 10 play drive which was highlighted by a 35 yard pass from QB Hunter Blackmon to TE Keldric Rambert, which took the ball down to the Morgan Co. 3 yard line. Valdon Cooper then scored his 2^nd touchdown of the night a couple of plays later. Omar Vargas again added the point after to put the devils up 21-7 with 2:18 left to play in the half. The blue devil defense then went to work and 4 plays later DB Shi Marshall made a great play intercepting a pass at the blue devil 20 yard line. The blue devils then ran 2 plays, and 8 yard run and an incomplete pass, and on 3^rd down with only 21 seconds left in the first half RB Trez Haley made a spectacular run, after looking like he was going to be brought down by a pile of Morgan Co. defenders, he broke free and sprinted down the sideline for a 75 yard TD run. Omar Vargas added the point after to put the blue devils up 28-7 going into halftime.

The second half was much of the same as the blue devils took the opening drive after half and marched down the field on a 10 play drive marked by good running by QB Hunter Blackmon, who had 4 carries for 32 yards on the drive and Trez Haley, 2 for 18 yards. The drive was capped off by a 3 yard Touchdown pass from QB Hunter Blackmon to TE Taj Letman. The point after attempt was blocked thus the blue devils were up 34-7 with a 6:26 to play in the 2^nd Quarter. Morgan Co. then mounted a 13 play drive of their own but were stopped on the blue devils 31 on 4^th and 13. The 4^th quarter was marked by getting to see many of the up and coming blue devils who played well. LB Ty Robinson scored on a fumble recovery in which scampered 36 yards down the sideline for another blue devil score to put the blue devils up 40-7 after a blocked XP. The final blue devil touchdown came on a 10 play drive by the JV offense capped off by a 3 yard TD run by Soph. RB CJ Fleming who also scored on the 2 point conversion to put the blue devils up 48-7.

Offensively, the Elbert Co. Running Backs had big nights as they had 2 backs with over 100 yards. Senior Trez Haley had 9 carries for 131 yds and 2 TD, and Junior RB Valdon Cooper had 12 carries for 126 yds and 2 TD to lead the blue devils offensively. Sophomore QB Hunter Blackmon again had a good night both running and passing as he finished with 10 carries for 61 yards and completed 4 out of 8 passes for 52 yards and 1 TD on the night. On the receiving end were TE Keldric Rambert 2 for 42yards, FB DJ Lewis 1 for 7 yards, and TE Taj Letman 1 for 3 yards for 1 TD. Perhaps one of the strongest performances of the night might go to FB DJ Lewis who did a tremendous job blocking and creating big holes for the blue devil running backs as well as he added 3 carries for 8 yards along with the 7 yard reception. The offensive unit as a whole (offensive line/tight ends/running backs/z backs) had their best night of the year putting together a strong performance creating many holes for the blue devil runners and protecting the QB. The blue devils finished the night with 440 total yards of offensive.

Defensively the blue devils held Morgan Co. to 94 yards rushing and 55 yards passing on the night but most importantly only gave up 7 points. The defense was led by the linebackers with outside linebackers JR Taj Letman- 7 tackles (5 solo and 2 assists) and Sophomore Trent Allen -7 tackles (3 solo and 4 assists) leading the way. Middle linebacker Freshman Tyshon Dye- 6 tackles (5 solo and 1 assist) and Sophomore Linebacker Bryce Martin contributed 5 tackles (2 solo and 3 assists). Other key performances on defense were JR DB Shi Marshall’s interception and JR Ty Robinson’s fumble recovery in which he returned for a TD. Senior’s Ethan Fortson and Demarcus Davis each forced a fumble on the night. Andy Corder again did a good job of punting as he only punted twice but averaged 31.6 yards per punt.