The entire football season has been a battle for Jenkins, and that included the regular-season finale Friday night against Richmond Academy.
Jenkins’ Tasean Rhodes (#4) sees daylight and hits the hole with the Warriors’ season on the line. (Zaniah Elizabeth Raqulle Dempsey / HVJ Edits)
Fighting to get into the playoffs, the Warriors engaged in a tight contest with the Musketeers of Augusta before Richmond Academy pulled ahead 35-21 in the fourth quarter at Memorial Stadium.
The game was called with 4:28 remaining after Jenkins head coach Tony Welch spoke with his counterpart at Richmond Academy and game officials following a series of heated exchanges between players after whistles in what was, from the start, a chippy, physical contest.
Milton Speight, the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System’s District Assistant Athletics Director, said at the stadium that the game ended for the safety of the players, with Richmond Academy the winner, 35-21.
Welch concurred after the game. The coach, also the school athletic director, said he spoke with the Jenkins High School principal and said that “it’s unfortunate that it had to end like this,” but safety is the first priority, and he didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
“I said let’s call it,” Welch said. “It’s 4:28 (remaining), they’re up two touchdowns. Can we come back? Possibly, but safety is first. It was like that the whole game.”
He said that while the teams were physical, players on both sides couldn’t control their composure. Welch said two players for the Musketeers were ejected, and one from Jenkins was ejected after retaliating.
“It was a good game until five minutes (were left),” Welch said. “Back and forth.”
The Warriors (3-7, 3-4 Region 1-5A) came into the game needing to win for a shot at the GHSA state playoffs, which, starting this year, are using a power rankings formula to determine qualifiers across all classifications.
The top 32 teams, including the region champions as automatic qualifiers, advance to the state playoffs in each classification. Jenkins was No. 38 in Class 5A, while Richmond Academy (now 8-2, 5-2 region) was No. 13.
Welch said a teleconference on Saturday morning would announce which teams made the playoffs, and he was hoping the calculations, including other teams’ outcomes Friday, would boost the Warriors.
“It’s our faith in someone else to win, where if we’d have won, we wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Welch said.
The coach was proud of his team for still being “in the hunt” on Friday after a star-crossed season which went from 0-3 to 3-3 to 3-7.
“It’s been a rough season, injury-wise,” said Welch, who guided Jenkins to the playoffs each of his first five seasons, including runs to the Class 5A quarterfinals in 2023 and Class 3A quarterfinals last year.
“I’ve never been in a program in a season that had this many people have surgery. Right now, we’re at nine people having season-ending surgery,” he added, noting the loss of standout receiver Jaylon Elliott to a shoulder injury last week.
The quarterback position has been hit especially hard. After Benari Mells-Williams and Jaylon Cooksey were sidelined, Torean Wilson played well until he dislocated his shoulder and had surgery, the coach said.
Speedy junior running back Tasean Rhodes would have been the fourth-string QB, but he broke his hand, Welch said. Junior Printess McMullen, a converted running back, played his first game at quarterback last week.
“He’d never played quarterback in his life. This is his second game,” Welch said. “If you’ve never played quarterback and you’re the fifth-string quarterback, it’s tough.”
The Warriors were almost exclusively a running team on Friday, with McMullen completing 3 of 7 passes, including a 24-yard touchdown pass to Antwan Skeete and a 2-yard QB sneak for a TD to tie the game at 21 with 4:29 left in the third quarter. However, his first and last passes were interceptions – the latter the game’s final play when penalty flags flew away from the play because of player entanglements.
Jenkins also has Rhodes, who dazzled on a few long kickoff returns (one negated by offsetting penalties) as well as seemingly tireless runs from scrimmage. Rhodes had 21 carries for 184 net yards, including a 75-yard dash untouched for a game-tying first-quarter touchdown.
“He’s a real tough guy, a real playmaker,” said Welch, who estimates Rhodes is 5-foot-9 and about 175 pounds. “He’s just physical. And he can run. He’s just a hard-nosed football player.”
The Musketeers had some of those, too, particularly their own star junior running back. Vincent Carter, listed at 5-8 and 160 pounds, ran for his fifth 100-yard game this season on Friday and added three TDs (on runs of 1, 3 and 28 yards) to his previous 17 total.
Richmond Academy responded to McMullen’s tying TD in the third quarter by driving 77 yards on its next possession. Carter scored from 3 yards out on the second play of the fourth quarter, but the extra-point attempt was wide left, leaving the score at 27-21.
The Musketeers would be savvy to kick away from Rhodes, and did so by blooping the ensuing kickoff toward the right sideline where no Warriors were stationed. When a Jenkins player ran over and failed to swat the ball out of bounds, it was snagged by an onrushing Richmond Academy player, who kept running but, by rule, could not advance the ball.
With a short field at the Jenkins 30, the Musketeers ran Carter for 2 yards, threw an incomplete pass to the end zone, and put the ball again in his hands. He ran off-tackle, then cut outside for a 28-yard score with 10:12 left in the fourth. Quarterback Carson Hand found Lo’than McBride on a two-point conversion pass for a 14-point advantage.
Jenkins drove from its 27 to the Richmond Academy 35, where on fourth-and-16, McMullen was under pressure when he had to heave a pass that was intercepted on what became the final play.
RICHMOND ACADEMY 35, JENKINS 21
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Richmond Academy | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| HV Jenkins | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
First Quarter
RA—Chase Caldwell 14-yard pass from Carson Hand (William Mohney kick)
J—Tasean Rhodes 75 run (Charles Whiteside kick)
Second Quarter
RA—Vincent Carter 1 run (Mohney kick)
Third Quarter
J—Antwan Skeete 24 pass from Printess McMullen (Whiteside kick)
RA—Lo’than McBride 16 pass from Hand (Mohney kick)
J—McMullen 2 run (Whiteside kick)
Fourth Quarter
RA—Carter 3 run (kick failed)
RA—Carter 28 run (McBride pass from Hand)
Records—Richmond Academy 8-2, 5-2 Region 1-5A; Jenkins 3-7, 3-4 Region.
High School Football Final Scores
Week 12 | Nov. 5–6, 2026
Thursday, Nov. 5
Bulloch Academy 42, Savannah Country Day 0 (GIAA AAA Playoffs)
Friday, Nov. 6
Valdosta 49, Richmond Hill 12 *
Bradwell 62, South Effingham 28 *
Effingham County 47, Greenbrier 10 *
Ware County 31, Benedictine 17 *
Evans 63, Groves 0 *
Richmond Academy 35, Jenkins 21 *
New Hampstead 33, Harlem 28 *
West Laurens 22, Windsor Forest 12 *
Beach 20, Brantley County 7 *
Islands 13, Johnson 12 *
Bryan County 40, Savannah High 0 *
Calvary Day 49, Savannah Christian 7 *
Bethesda Academy 47, Trinity Collegiate 10 (SCISA Class AAA Playoffs)
* Region Game
Photo credit: Courtesy Zaniah Elizabeth Raqulle Dempsey / HVJ Edits on Instagram
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To share scores, story ideas, or corrections, email kdemasi@prepsportsreport.com or text 912.507.9158.
Optim Orthopedics presents Prep Sports Report’s 2026 high school football coverage.
Optim Orthopedics team physicians include Dr. Don Aaron (Bryan County), Dr. David Sedory (Benedictine, Bradwell Institute, Liberty County), Dr. David Palmer (Calvary Day, Richmond Hill, South Effingham), and Dr. Thomas Alexander (Savannah Country Day, St. Vincent’s Academy).
