Geneva County tops Providence Christian

HARTFORD — Geneva County’s Rico Reese entered Friday second in the Dothan Eagle coverage area in passing yards a game.

While he still had a solid game Friday night, it was the running game and a key defensive play that sparked Geneva County.

The Bulldogs earned 270 yards rushing in just seven offensive series, and Desmond Lett returned an interception 66 yards for a touchdown, leading Geneva County to a 28-14 win over Providence Christian in a Class 1A, Region 2 game at Dixie Howell Stadium.

The win kept Geneva County unbeaten in region play at 3-0 and improved the Bulldogs to 3-1 overall. Providence Christian fell to 1-3, 1-2.

The two teams are expected to be among the contenders for one of the four region playoff spots along with Brantley, McKenzie and Ariton.

“That was a big win,” Geneva County head coach Darren Stewart said. “We didn’t stress it a lot this week, but we knew that was big as far as the playoff picture. It was huge.”

The Bulldogs seized control in the second half after the teams went to halftime tied 7-7. They scored on two of their three possessions, running out the final 6:51 on the other series behind their power running game.

“We missed two or three plays, but really and truly they did what they had to to win the game in the second half,” Providence Christian head coach Emory Latta said of the Bulldogs. “They just lined up and we never really stopped them. That was the difference in the game.”

Karon White led the Bulldog running-game charge, racking up 167 yards on 27 carries with a score. Reggie Jones had 47 on three carries — all in the first quarter — and Julian Ammons earned 41 on six carries.

“We felt like they would probably key on our passing game a lot and it (the running game) was working, so we kept with it,” Stewart said. “I didn’t want to give them anything cheap and we also knew he (Latta) would play offense and defense with his offense, so we kept with it.”

Reese, who came into the game averaging 179 yards passing and attempting 18 passes a game, did do his damage too, completing 5-of-11 for 132 yards with one score.

He directed Geneva County to a quick score to open the second half, hooking up with Kevin Key on a 50-yard touchdown pass. Key took the pass on the outside, broke a tackle, then raced down the Bulldog sideline before cutting back inside the 10 to work into the end zone.

It was part of a big night for Key, who had four receptions for 131 yards and a team-high 10 tackles on defense.

Providence, which had moderate success moving the ball throughout the game, moved to the Geneva County 43 on the next series behind the running of Preston Jones and Ross Eidson.

However, on 1st-and-10, the Eagles rolled out quarterback Nick Plagenhoef to the right. Plagenhoef fired toward the sideline, but Lett stepped in front of the pass and raced to the end zone for his interception for score.

Banks Smith blocked the extra point for PCS, but it was 20-7 Geneva County with 6:45 to go in the third quarter.

“That was the turning point of the game,” Stewart said of Lett’s second interception of the game. “We stressed in practice all week that this kid (Plagenhoef) had a great arm and he can throw great play action. I saw his (Lett’s) eyes. He had it the whole time. It was probably the only bad throw 7 made. Desmond had him locked in the whole way.”

The Eagles, though, were undaunted and answered with an impressive 12-play drive. Smith hit a 23-yard field goal, but the Bulldogs roughed him, giving Providence new life for more. A play later, Jones scored off the left side on a 3-yard run, closing the gap to 20-14.

“The kids will fight,” Latta said. “They will not quit.”

Geneva County, however, wouldn’t give Providence a second chance. Behind a 44-yard run by White, the Bulldogs moved inside the Providence 25.

The Eagle defense stiffened, forcing 4th-and 12 at the 26. Reese dropped back to pass, couldn’t find anyone open and raced out of the pocket to an open hole in the left side and outraced everyone to the end zone. Reese added a two-point conversion to make it 28-14 with 10:31 left.

The Bulldogs then stopped Providence after one first down and milked the clock out.

Both teams scored on their opening possession of the game.

Plagenhoef completed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Dowd to cap an 11-play, 52-yard drive for Providence that last five minutes and three seconds.

Then Geneva County scored off an eight-play, 71-yard drive with White scoring from 4 yards out.

In addition to Key’s 10 tackles, Geneva County had eight tackles from Chris Lett, seven from Ammons and five from Desmond Lett.