The Beach High School football team scored touchdowns on its first two plays from scrimmage.
It was almost too much of a good thing on Friday night. The Bulldogs scored one more touchdown the rest of the game.
Together with a 30-yard field goal and three extra points from sophomore kicker Angel Gonzalez, those were enough points for Beach to hold off a late rally from Johnson and win 24-20 at Islands Stadium.
Both teams hadn’t played since Sept. 20 as schedules were impacted by Hurricane Helene. Beach improved to 3-3, 2-3 in Region 3-3A, while Johnson dropped to 2-4, 2-3.
“Being out two weeks, and we started off strong,” Bulldogs coach Michael Thompson said. “At the end of the day, we knew Johnson was going to give us their best shot. This was a key win for us and it put us in the playoff hunt. I’m just proud of my boys because we made some major mistakes down at the end, but we just got through the adversity and we won the game.”
Johnson faced adversity from a start that couldn’t have been much worse. After the opening kickoff, the Bulldogs’ Shareefe Morgan ran 72 yards on first down, sprinting through the defense to the end zone. Gonzalez’s kick made it 7-0 just 18 seconds into the contest.
The Atom Smashers received the kickoff and drove from their 39 to the 48, where on fourth-and-inches they fumbled and Beach standout cornerback Chandler Reid picked it up and was knocked out of bounds by a touchdown-saving tackle at the Johnson 21.
No matter, because on the next play, Bulldogs quarterback Jayvion Williams hit Ke’juan Ferguson with a short pass, and he slipped through tackles for a 21-yard touchdown reception. Gonzalez’s point after made it a 14-0 advantage with 9:06 remaining in the first quarter.
Beach took a while to build on that success, as drives were bogged down by penalties in a game marred by yellow flags – close to 40, including those declined and sideline warnings on both sides.
The Atom Smashers opened the third quarter much sharper and threatened to score on a drive boosted by Treshwan Robinson’s return of the second-half kickoff to his 43. Joshua Maxwell’s 42-yard run moved the ball to the Beach 20, and Brian Robinson followed with an 11-yard carry to the 9 for first and goal.
The Beach defense, which bottled up the Johnson rushing attack in the first half, made three 1-yard stops – the third when quarterback Shamari King fumbled but offensive lineman Darwin Powell recovered.
The Bulldogs stopped King on a fourth-down scramble to the 3 with 7:02 left in the third quarter.
“We knew their main objective was to run the football, so we tried to crowd the box to make them throw the football, make them very one-dimensional,” Thompson said. “Our thing was to make sure we read our keys and attack the running back.”
The Atom Smashers finally broke through after a great punt return by Robinson to the Beach 25. Three plays later, King ran 18 yards for a touchdown, but the kick never happened after a muffed snap and hold.
The 14-6 score didn’t last long, as Beach turned the ensuing kickoff into another huge gain. Morgan returned it 62 yards to the Johnson 5. After a 5-yard penalty on Beach, LaDonte Bright rumbled 10 yards with 2:39 left in the third quarter. Gonzalez’s kick made it a 21-6 advantage.
Beach’s final score was set up when defensive lineman Foster Williams gathered in a tipped pass for an interception at the Johnson 35 with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter. Gonzalez kicked a 30-yard field goal for a 24-6 lead with 4:47 remaining.
Williams’ teammates celebrated the big man’s interception, which perhaps was more poignant because the junior had raised the ire of his coaches for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the first quarter while he was playing on the offensive line.
There were three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on the play – two on Beach players. Thompson said afterward that those infractions hurt the team and could be a problem in the future.
“We’re bigger than that,” he said. “We’re just trying to get back to an elite program on the westside. We’re trying to make history and get into the playoff hunt.”
Thompson said “it says a lot” about Williams how he responded to his early mistake and made a critical play on defense.
“He had a great week of practice and he was one of our captains today,” Thompson said. “Maybe that gave him a little giddy-up to go out there and just play hard. He played on both sides of the ball tonight and did a great job.”
The coach also praised Gonzalez, one of the students in his health class whom he knew was a soccer player and encouraged him to try kicking a football.
“I don’t think he’s missed a field goal yet,” Thompson said. “That’s a blessing for us to have. He’s a humble kid. I’m glad he’s having success.”
Beach, which won one game each of the previous three seasons and five total from 2019-23, hadn’t defeated Johnson since 2018. Thompson, in his fourth year as Bulldogs head coach, said the coaches preached to the players this week that the Atom Smashers had found ways to win, and that needed to stop on Friday.
“This has become a real crosstown rivalry,” Thompson said. “At the end of the day, we expected them to come out there and play the way they played tonight. I tip my hat to their coaching staff because they got their guys ready to compete.”
The Atom Smashers made the game more competitive in the final minutes. King lobbed a long pass to Jamison Lewis, who made a great grab for a 32-yard gain to the Beach 1. Isaiah Scott, a standout linebacker and running back, went in from 6 yards out, but the conversion pass was incomplete for a 24-12 deficit with 1:59 remaining in regulation.
Johnson recovered the onside kick and overcame a couple of penalties when King hit Robinson for a 33-yard gain to the 17. King’s lob to Lewis put the ball at the 1, and after yet another Johnson penalty, Scott went in for another 6-yard TD run. King ran in the two-point conversion for a 24-20 difference with 59 seconds left.
Beach was able to control the onside kick and run out the clock, securing a region victory that could be another step in the program’s turnaround.
“Our guys are building on success. We’re not used to being successful,” Thompson said. “The thing we’ve got to do is stop being complacent and continue to focus on the game plan and go out there and continue to play hard.”
| AE Beach 24, Sol C. Johnson 20 | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Sol C. Johnson | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 20 |
| AE Beach | 14 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 24 |
| First Quarter | |||||
|
B—Shareefe Morgan 72 run (Angel Gonzalez kick) |
|||||
|
B—Ke’juan Ferguson 21 pass from Jayvion Williams (Gonzalez kick) |
|||||
| Third Quarter | |||||
| J—Shamari King 18 run (kick failed) | |||||
| B—LaDonte Bright 10 run (Gonzalez kick) | |||||
| Fourth Quarter | |||||
| B—Gonzalez 30 FG | |||||
| J—Isaiah Scott 6 run (pass failed) | |||||
| J—Scott 6 run (King run) | |||||
|
Records—Johnson 2-4, 2-3 Region 3-3A; Beach 3-3, 2-3 region. |
FINAL SCORES
WEEK #9
WEEK #9 SCHEDULE
Oct. 08 (Tuesday)
Glynn Academy 31, South Effingham 0
Oct. 09 (Wednesday)
Effingham 35, Evans 7
Oct. 11 (Friday)
Camden County 28, Richmond Hill 10
Ware County38, Benedictine 14 *
Long County 25, Windsor Forest 0*
Beach 24, Johnson 20 *
Calvary Day 61, Islands 0 *
Jenkins 48, SE Bulloch 14*
Savannah Christian 48, Vidalia 6 *
Swainsboro 28, Savannah Country Day 21 *
McIntosh Academy County 36, Bryan County 14*
Claxton 42, Savannah High 8*
Pinewood Christian 64, St. Andrew's 36
Bethesda 35, Dillon Christian 6*
OCT. 12 (Saturday)
Liberty County 52, Groves 12 * .
Photo Credit: Courtesy Nathan Dominitz/For Prep Sports Report
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