COVINGTON, Ga. – The Alcovy Tigers hoped to secure its first victory in the 2025 football season and exert some revenge on region rival Jackson County Panthers on Thursday night. Instead, the opposite happened.
The Panthers secured a 59-6 victory in dominating fashion under the bright lights of Sharp Stadium.
From the first few minutes of the contest the winner of the contest was no longer a question. Led by three-touchdown performances by sophomore running back Daylan Maxwell and senior quarterback RJ Knapp III, the Panthers boasted a balanced offensive attack, scoring on every possession in the first half.
Outside of a late score by Carlos Sing, Alcovy was inefficient in all three phases of the game.
“They came out a little bit more prepared than we were,” said Alcovy Head Coach Spencer Fortson. “We didn’t execute on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball based on the game plan we had.”
Game Action
Within the first 60 seconds, the Panthers immediately found paydirt thanks to a pass from Knapp to Silas McDaniel for the first score of the night.
Alcovy attempted to capitalize off of a Jackson County muffed punt deep into Panther territory. However, Alcovy quarterback Trey Bryant was picked off after a trick play went wrong.
On the next play, Maxwell showed his jetlike speed, taking it back 78 yards for his first score of the night.
Five minutes later Knapp once again showed off his arm talent, connecting with Owen Anderson on a 29-yard pass to put the Panthers up 22-0 to end the first quarter.
After another stalled Alcovy drive, the Panthers got the ground game going once again with a 15-yard rushing score by Maxwell.
Having been down four scores, the Tigers opened up the playbook again for Bryant. But another deep pass attempt was picked off by Jackson County.
This interception led to Knapp’s third passing touchdown of the night, connecting with Kaleb Clark to put the Panthers up 36-0.
Alcovy’s struggles carried over to special teams, as an errant long snap over the head of the punter gave the Panthers two more points in the form of a safety.
Jackson County was not done, however, as a successful Panther drive allowed Maxwell to earn his third score of the night to allow the Panthers to enjoy a 45-0 lead heading into halftime.
After a quick three and out by Alcovy, Jackson County continued its offensive tear. This time, it was backup quarterback Samuel Maxey who connected with Robert Spry.
A fumble by gadget player Ayden Goddard gave the Panthers another prime offensive possession, which led to a rushing score by Jayson Lee to put the Panthers up 59-0 to close out the third quarter.
The Tigers finally got the offense rolling midway through the fourth quarter. A long rush from Kaeden Booker and a completion to Colton Curnutt set up a Carlos Sing rushing touchdown to give Alcovy its lone score of the night.
In the closing minutes of the game, Alcovy forced a fumble to get the ball back with less than two minutes to go. But a third interception by Bryant sealed the game with time expiring.
Fortson: 'We have to learn how to fight.'
To say it’s been a disappointing season for Alcovy would be an understatement.
Currently, the winless Tigers are ranked dead last out of all AAAAA football teams in the state, according to MaxPreps. With only 53 offensive points, and 302 allowed points, Fortson knows what needs to change for Alcovy.
“We have to learn how to fight,” Fortson said. We can’t let one mistake put us in a downhill spiral, so we gotta be able to come out of that.”
While all may seem lost for the Tigers, a trip to the postseason is still not out of the question. After a road trip to Habersham Central in two weeks, the Tigers will face Apalachee, Clarke Central and Loganville – all teams with two wins or less – to close out the season.
Fortson says he will not let this outing against Jackson County put a damper on their season as the Tigers look ahead to better days.
“We take every week with a 1-0 mentality,” Fortson said. “The biggest thing is for us to look and find the good things out of this film. We want to speak so much on the negative part, but we have to find the good things and stuff we can build on.”
