Baldwin’s chances of returning to the state playoffs for a seventh straight year got slimmer on Friday.
The Braves (1-4, 0-1 Region 2-AAAA) opened up region play against Spalding last week. The Jaguars (3-2, 1-0 Region 2-AAAA) routed Baldwin 40-14 at Braves Field.
Spalding's high-octane passing attack, led by quarterback Curt Clark, powered the Jaguar offense. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior completed 18-of-26 attempts for 290 yards, two TDs and two INTs. Clark also racked up 36 rush yards on eight attempts, followed by one reception for 46 yards and a score against Baldwin on Friday.
The Braves played tough in the first quarter, leading Spalding 7-6 at the end of it.
Baldwin sophomore Deiondre Parks returned the opening kickoff deep inside Spalding territory, however, a few plays later, the Jaguars would pick off Lamar Pounds.
Spalding went right to work. The Jaguars ran a trick play on the first play from scrimmage as running back Dwight Terrell connected with Clark for a 46-yard catch-and-run TD. Spalding’s kicker would miss the PAT, but the Jaguars led 6-0 early.
The Braves got on the board via a Spadling special teams blunder a few possessions later. Senior Elisha Cleveland made a heads up play, and came up with a botched snap in the Spalding end zone. Dyson Sallad then tacked on the PAT.
Regardless, the Jaguars would respond in the second quarter, forcing another INT, and went into the locker room at halftime with a 22-7 advantage over Baldwin.
Spalding’s defense pressured Pounds all night, and never let Braves’ running back Micah Welch get into a rhythm. He was held in-check all night by the Jaguar defense.
Terrell led Spalding with 59 rushing yards on 14 attempts. He also led the Jaguars in receiving yards, with 68 on a TD reception from Clark in the third quarter.
The Braves’ offense has been a cause for concern through their first five games of 2022. They have scored a total of 86 points, which is an average of 17.2 points per contest.
Defensively, Baldwin has given up 182 points in five games. The Braves are letting opposing offenses average 36.4 points per contest against them this season.
They will travel to Macon on Friday night to face Howard (4-1, 0-1 Region 2-AAAA). The Huskies are coming off a 49-0 defeat to Perry on the road this past week.
Howard has a high-powered offense, led by quarterback Camareon Taylor and running back Tybion Smith. The Huskies are averaging 30.2 points per game on offense.
Taylor is a dual-threat. He’s thrown for 209 yards and two TDs with two INTs, but he’s leading Howard in rushing. Taylor has racked up 251 yards on 47 rushes and two scores.
Smith is not far behind in terms of rushing yards. He’s amassed 229 yards on 51 attempts with three TDs. The 5-foot-9, 160-pound junior is averaging four yards per attempts.
Howard is off to its best start since 2019, which is when the Huskies started with a 5-1 record. They have a chance to do that this week against an inferior Braves’ team.
The game has been moved up from Friday to Thursday due to expected inclement weather. The kickoff between Baldwin and Howard is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Braves’ head coach Jesse Hicks and his squad hope to rebound this Friday.
This is Baldwin’s worst start to a season since 2019 when the Braves started out 0-5. They ended up winning four of their five remaining regular season games and made it to the second round of the Class AAAA state playoffs before losing to Blessed Trinity.