The Indians traveled a short 25 miles to rekindle an old rivalry
last Friday night. The Indians march landed in Blakely, GA to take on the class AA Early County Bobcats in a non-region
contest. With Early County capturing 40 victories of the 53 total meetings, the Indians had an uphill battle ahead of
them. Although beginning their season with two losses, the Bobcats were in the hunt during those games the entire way.
Things got started for the Indians on their first possession with Antwan Buggs, player of the game for the second straight
week, speeding down the field from 51 yards out for the first score of the evening. Jeffery Croom added the PAT and
the Indians were up by a score of 7-0. The quarter ended with that 7 point Indian lead and with just over 2 minutes
gone in the second period, the Indians hit pay dirt again. This time Buggs found Jaquan Johnson wide open in the middle
of the field hitting him in stride for a 56 yard TD strike. One Bobcat defender appeared to draw a bead on Johnson,
but ran out of gas as Quan crossed the goal line. The PAT attempt sailed wide left and the Indians had to settle for
a 13-0 advantage to enter the intermission.
The pride of Seminole County, the Green Machine Marching Band, then
took the field gaining rousing cheers and accolades from home and visitor fans alike. Johnelle Simpson introduced the
Green Machine in his always exciting manner that pumps up even the most docile spectator in anticipation of the impending
performance. Drum major Kalob Yanez confidently led his band of musicians through an always entertaining performance
showing the hard work and dedication of not only the band members, but also band director Dallas Burke and all of his support
staff, i.e. the band boosters. Following the Green Machines show, the Early County 'Band of Blue' Marching Band took
the field for their entertaining halftime display garnering a well deserved round of cheers and applause for their efforts.
Once the halftime festivities were concluded, it was back to business
with the Indians receiving the second half kickoff. The Bobcats came out with an onside kick attempt that one lucky
Bobcat pounced on giving the hosts what appeared to be an early edge for a comeback. The Indian defense, led by top
tacklers Andrew Ingram and Desmond Wright, were having none of that, bowing up and stopping the Bobcats in their tracks by
capturing one of Early Countys 7 fumbles, 4 of which were snagged by an Indian player. On the legs of Antwan
Buggs and Dee Virgin, the Indians marched downfield to score once again. After Buggs plunged into the end zone from
4 yards out Barren Rambo took in the 2 point conversion attempt making the Seminole lead 21-0. The Indians were flagged
for 'celebration' penalties following the score and the resulting kickoff came from the Indian 12 yard line. Still,
the Indian defense stood tall, backing the Bobcat offense down and forcing an errant pass to land in Jaquan Johnson's hands
to which he returned 11 yards. The final nail in the coffin for the Bobcats came at close to the midpoint of the 3rd
quarter when Dee Virgin took a Buggs pitch around the edge and turned on the afterburners for a 52 yard TD run. Croom
came on again to tack on the extra point and the Indians enjoyed a 28-0 lead going into the final stanza. A battle worn
Indian defense with a sprinkle of substitutions gave up two late scores, one on a punt return of 62 yards and another on an
8 yard run capping off a long Bobcat drive. When the dust settled, the scoreboard read in favor of the Indians, 28-14.
The loss takes Early County to 0-3 and raises the Indian record to 2-1 (1-0).
Antwan Buggs led all rushers with 159 yards on 24 carries with Dee
Virgin close behind with 147 yards on 12 attempts. This is the third straight 100+ yard rushing effort by Buggs and
the second straight by Virgin. Buggs also was 3 of 5 passing with 1 TD pass and 1 INT. The Indians gained 15 first
downs as opposed to the Bobcats 11. SCHS was penalized 11 times for 130 yards while the home team had 35 yards on 5
flags. Overall head coach Alan Ingram was happy with the performance of his charges saying, "It's hard not to win with
almost 500 total yards offense. Antwan and Dee played great tonight and Quan was Johnny on the spot on both sides of
the ball." He added, "there are still many things offensively and defensively that we need to work on, but the Indians
played well enough to get the W." Defensively, Andrew Ingram and Desmond Wright led the charge in the tackling department
with Johnson getting one INT and 4 Indians grabbing a fumble recovery. Those four were Desmond Wright, Cole Miller,
Eric Pace and Barren Rambo. The Indians look forward to coming home to Seminole Stadium to take on another region foe
in the Calhoun County Cougars, fresh off their 44-8 whipping of Stewart County in Lumpkin. Kickoff time is 7:30 this
week so make plans to come support your Indians as they go for win number 3 in their 2010 campaign.
In other action, Miller County edged Northview of Dothan, AL 28-22
on a last second touchdown over in Colquitt, Randolph-Clay remained unbeaten upending Baconton Charter 60-18, Brooks
County slipped by Pelham 15-12, Lee County blasted Terrell County 57-17, Mitchell County took their first loss of the
year losing to Thomasville 44-6, Clinch County defeated defending champs Wilcox County 33-14, while Bainbridge enjoyed a 35-15
win over Westover of Albany.
