MONTICELLO, Ga. – After an epic triple overtime showdown in 2024, the Social Circle Redskins came up well short against longtime foe Jasper County in a 42-7 defeat.

Coming into Friday night’s contest, the two rivals were expected to rekindle the back-and-forth style football that fans are accustomed to. Instead, it was the rushing attack of Jasper County’s JT Thomas and Chance Ross that led the way for a dominant Canes victory.

“I mean physically we just got whipped tonight,” said Head Coach Rob Patton. “They won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football.”

Game Action

The Hurricanes’ rushing attack was persistent from the jump, with big runs from Thomas and Ross. A strong drive eventually led to points in the form of a Ross touchdown.

Social Circle looked to match the Canes’ offensive intensity after a big return from Elliot Hamilton. After the Skins’ were stopped at the Canes’ 35-yard line, Bryce Murphy attempted to notch the Skins’ first points of the night. However, Murphy’s 45-yard field goal attempt was just short.

The opening gave the momentum right back to Jasper County as Thomas continued his big rushing game. This led to a Thomas pitch to MJ Maddox to put the Canes up 14-0.

Playing catchup mode, Social Circle quarterback Remi Farmer looked to use his arm to make plays. But an errant pass led to an interception by Zech Smith.

With another march down the field, it seemed like the Canes would take a three-score lead. But a fumble recovery off a Thomas fumble gave the Redskins some much-needed hope.

As the Redskins attempted to garner momentum, Farmer’s pass was tipped by defensive lineman Breelynd Beasley for his second interception of the night.

On the next play, Thomas delivered a strike to Dee Pennamen to give the Canes a three-score lead.

With nearly two minutes left in the first half, the Skins’ finally delivered a big play with a 40-yard strike from Farmer to Hamilton. This set up Social Circle in prime scoring position.

As the clock wound down, Jasper County was able to stuff a desperate fourth-down attempt, holding the Redskins scoreless to end the first half.

The struggle continued after the intermission, with the Redskins going three-and-out to start the second half. Defensively, however, the Skins’ showed some focus, holding Jasper County to its first punt of the night.

Once again, another Social Circle offensive drive came down to a fourth down attempt. After pulling out the chains, the Redskins came up short for the second failed fourth-down conversion of the night.

It was back to business as usual for the Canes, with Thomas leading another touchdown drive with a pass to JT Robinson to put the Canes up by four scores.

The Canes’ offensive party kept on rolling into the fourth quarter, with Ross scoring his second touchdown of the night to give Jasper County a 35-0 lead.

Determined to avoid the shutout, Farmer delivered another big pass time, this time to AJ Bailey. That set up Kayden Fears for the Skins’ first touchdown of the night.

Things continued to get interesting after Hamilton recovered an onside kick. With the crowd on the edges of their seats, Farmer gave it his all to get the Redskins back on the board. But once again, the Redskins could not get a fourth down conversion.

With the game all but sealed, Jasper County continued to add on with Ross rushing his way in for a third score on the night.

The Redskins attempted one last gasp, with King Box getting the ball down to the Canes’ one-yard line with one second remaining in the game. But even that did not go Social Circle’s way as the game ended 42-7.

Looking ahead

Social Circle now sits in an interesting spot. At 5-3 – and 3-1 in region play – the Redskins appear to be poised to make the postseason. But they will need a lot of help in order to repeat as Region 4-A Champions.

The Redskins will have to defeat Lamar County – another undefeated team – next week in order to stay alive for the top spot. Patton says that they will need to move past Friday night’s loss and convert it into positive progress.

“We were in this same situation last year when we came up short against Jasper,” Patton said. “Then we responded the right way the next week and ended up winning the whole thing. So we just gotta fix us.”