The Baldwin Braves picked up a much-needed region win last Friday when they beat the West Laurens Raiders 32-7 on Homecoming night in Milledgeville.
The Braves had a strong first half, scoring most of their points in the first and second quarters. However, a non-serious injury to senior running back Micah Welch did slow down the Braves’ offense in the second half, but Sadur Salahuddin and Johnathan Butts were able to step up and played well in the second half.
Quarterback Lamar Pounds also gave an impressive performance, passing for two touchdowns and rushing for another en route to the Braves win.
Baldwin received the ball to start the night and began with a long drive to the Raiders’ goal line, where Pounds pushed his way across on a quarterback sneak to give Baldwin an early 6-0 advantage.
West Laurens responded, though, with a long drive of their own and scored with quarterback Ty Cummings rushing 23 yards to take the lead after a successful extra-point kick.
After the first drive of the game, Welch was getting plenty of carries and helped the Braves go 55 yards to the end zone, highlighted by a 43-yard touchdown run by Welch. On a trick conversion play, Ahmad Greene completed a pass to Jaylen King for an extra two points that gave Baldwin a 14-7 lead.
On the Raiders next drive, Baldwin put together its first stop of the night and forced West Laurens to punt. Unfortunately for Baldwin, though, they also were unable to move the ball and punted back to the Raiders.
Eventually, Baldwin was able to force a Raiders punt and Braves receiver Armontae Palmer returned it about 45 yards for a touchdown and a 20-7 lead.
Just before halftime, following another Braves defensive stop, Pounds made his first touchdown pass of the night, throwing to Kielan Walker from 38 yards out to extend the Baldwin lead to 26-7 at the half.
The Braves extended their lead to 32-7 in the second half while holding the Raiders scoreless.
Baldwin’s lone second-half touchdown came early in the fourth quarter when Pounds passed to Armontae Palmer for a touchdown, though the extrapoint attempt missed.
Baldwin’s second region win brings the Braves region record to .500 (2-2) after losses to Spalding and Perry but wins over Howard and West Laurens to set the Braves up for a playoff spot battle this Friday when they host Westside (Macon) at Braves Field in Milledgeville.