The Baldwin Braves extended their regular season winning streak to four games with a 49-36 win over Howard last Thursday night in Macon.
However, the streak came to an end Tuesday night in one of several makeup games due to Hurricane Helene as the visiting West Laurens Raiders handed a 28-14 loss to the Braves.
The high-scoring shootout with Howard marked the fourth time Baldwin has scored more than 40 points this season, all games in which the Braves won. On the other hand, the defense gave up its second-most points this season, with the most points allowed coming against Perry, which downed the Braves 37-6 in the season opener.
The game with Howard started slowly, with both teams struggling to reach the end zone and turning the ball over to each other once. Baldwin’s turnover came after a fumble at its own 35-yard line before the defense forced a Huskies intercepted pass by Baldwin defensive back Brandon Whisby.
The Braves scored the first touchdown of the game on a scramble to the end zone by quarterback LJ Pounds with 51 seconds to go in the first quarter.
Howard’s next drive ended on a blocked punt with the ball landing on the 19-yard line. Baldwin wide receiver Jaylen King caught a pass at the two-yard line to set up a quick pitch-and-catch from Pounds to King again for a touchdown, putting the Braves up 14-0 with the converted PAT.
It began to look like a blowout when Baldwin drove downfield and scored again on a direct snap to Jonquavious “Q” Russell for a one-yard rushing touchdown that extended the Braves’ lead to 21-0.
Howard managed to put together a great drive before the end of the half, however, and scored a touchdown with less than a minute to go.
Still, Baldwin did not end the half on a sour note. Instead, kick returner Whisby went coast-to-coast for a touchdown followed by a successful two-point conversion. The two-point play was a Kaiden Gibson halfback pass to Kielan Walker that gave the Braves a 29-7 lead at halftime.
Howard enjoyed its best quarter of play in the third, scoring on two of their three possessions, excluding the opening one.
Howard cut the score to 29-14 before Baldwin quickly answered back with a rushing touchdown by Pounds on their second drive, followed by the extra point kicked by Josh Fields to put the Braves back to a commanding 35-14 lead.
Baldwin scored twice more, with Johnathan Butts contributing a rushing score and Pounds adding a third rushing touchdown, too. Howard also scored three more times in a too-little- too-late effort for the 49-36 final.
Baldwin (5-4, 5-2) will finish its regular season this Saturday at 1 p.m. versus the Academy of Richmond County (2-7, 2-5) in Augusta.