GREENE COUNTY
The Lake Oconee Academy football team is hosting Jasper County at Titan Stadium this Friday at 7:30 p.m. for the fifth game of the season.
• Series Record: Jasper County leads the all-time series 1-0.
• Last Meeting: Jasper County defeated Lake Oconee Academy 27-9 in 2022. The Titans prepare to play the Hurricanes in front of their home crowd for the third time this season.
Both teams come into the contest with a 2-2 record, and Lake Oconee Academy head coach Patrick Stewart understands just how competitive of a matchup this could be.
He acknowledged that in comparison to last week, the team’s offense must take better care of the ball in order to give themselves a chance to win.
“Jasper is a really good team, and defensively, they are very big up front, so it’s going to be a hard-fought game,” Stewart said. “From an offensive perspective, we want to try and control the time of possession and use the game clock to our advantage because that will keep their offense off the field and help our defense out.”
In last year’s installment, the Titans took care of the ball relatively well. LOA graduate Garrett Payne threw an interception for the team’s only turnover of the game.
It was also one of two games that Stewart’s offense had last season where the passing game put up more yards than the running game.
Payne threw for 142 yards on 13 completions in that contest with one touchdown. As a whole, the Titans’ collective rushing attack combined for 119 yards without finding the end zone.
On the defensive side of the ball, Lake Oconee Academy was able to contain Jasper County at certain points in the game; however, the Hurricanes were still able to put up 27 points.
Heading into this year’s installment, Stewart wants his players to understand their responsibilities and use the experience they’ve gained over the last two seasons to make this a competitive game.
“Most of the guys are entering their second year with the program, and as long as we’re showing we can compete with Jasper, the confidence will still be there,” Stewart said.
With a win, the Titans would have their first 3-2 start in program history.