After a struggling defensive performance in a jamboree two weeks ago, Abbeville Christian head coach Eric Jones knew he had to make some changes.

Those changes proved fruitful for the Generals in the season-opener Thursday night.

Behind an overpowering defense, Abbeville Christian claimed a 14-6 win over Ashford Academy at James W. Rane Field in the season and AISA Class A, Region 1 opener for both teams.

The game also marked the debuts of Jones and Ashford Academy’s Robbie Brown as new head coaches at the schools.

Jones can thank the Generals defense mainly for giving him his first win.

ACA held Ashford Academy to just four first downs, 45 rushing yards and 79 total yards, while forcing three turnovers. But the defense was even more dominating than those stats indicate.

Of the Falcons 39 rushing plays, the Generals stuffed 22 for negative yards. Four others gained no  yards.

Only a 44-yard touchdown run and a late 53-yard scamper kept the Falcons in positive yardage for the night.

“They were wonderful,” Jones of his team’s defense. “They played excellent. They gave up two big plays and that was all they gave up all night. I am so proud of all my guys. The defense really stepped up.

“After our jamboree against Randolph Southern, we played so bad with the 40 (defense) and we made a lot of adjustments in the two weeks. The boys worked really hard. We changed out to a 5-3 as we figured we could pursue better with that.”

Led by nose guard Jameson Brown, linebackers Corey Owens and Justin Walker along with linemen Tyler Giles and Josh Fleming and defensive back Dillon Barren, the Generals constantly lived in the Falcon backfield.

They also refused to let Falcon runners go northward. Almost every play was turned outside to east-west, allowing pursuit to help out.

The General offense, though, had a hard time cashing in on field position, earning just seven first downs and 187 total yards in the game.

ACA also hurt itself with four turnovers, three on offense and one on special teams.

However, the offense did enough with two possessions to build a 14-0 halftime lead.

Late in the first quarter, Owens timed an inside blitz perfect on the count and got to Ashford Academy’s quarterback, causing a fumble. Brown recovered at the Falcon 18.

Four plays later, Sterling Armstrong  scored off the right side on a 4-yard run. Owens converted the point after to make it 7-0 with 2:23 to go in the quarter.

Abbeville Christian struck big in the half’s final seconds  for its other score.

Facing third-and-7 at its own 45 and the clock under 20 seconds, sophomore quarterback Travis Johnson rolled to his right and heaved a pass toward Walker at the Falcon 30-yard line.

Two Falcon defenders were there, one in front and one in back. The one in front tipped the pass as he fell down, while the back one overran the play. Walker, meanwhile, caught the deflection, turned around to his left and had nothing but green grass to the end zone.

Owens converted the PAT again, making 14-0 with just 11.5 seconds left in the half.

The Falcon offense finally broke through late in the third quarter.  With good field position after ACA penalties and  a punt, Ashford Academy took over at the ACA 44.

On the first play, Kyle Singletary took a wingback reverse to the right, found a hole at the end, then bounced off a tackler five yards down before racing to the outside for a 44-yard touchdown run.

The try for two failed, leaving it 14-6.

The Falcons made things testy for ACA in the fourth quarter when quarterback Trey Johnston found real estate on a 53-yard roll-out run to the right before pursuit caught him at the ACA 34 with just under five minutes left.

However, the General defense stiffened, forcing three negative plays in the next four, the last coming when Fleming and Justin Watford brought down Johnston for a 6-yard loss after the defense forced him to scramble around.

ACA then burned out the clock to finish the game.

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The Generals started the game driving down the field and scoring to take a 6-0 lead. Later in the game the Falcons tied it up with a 95 yard touchdown run.

The Generals continued to struggle and the Falcons took control of the game in the second half making the score 23-6 late in the fourth quarter.

Chip White would connect with Brandon Oates for an 80 yard touchdown making the score 23-14.

The Falcons recovered the Generals’ onside kick, but fumbled the ball on quarterback sneak. The fumble was picked up by Jameson Brown and returned to the Falcons’ 25 yard line.

The Generals were able to score late on the drive but failed to get the 2-point conversion. Once again the Falcons recovered the onside kick and were able to run the clock out on the Generals.

Leaders for the Generals were Taylor West with 65 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries; Shelby Watford had 9 carries for 42 yards; Corey Owens with 9 carries for 29 yards. Chip White threw for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns; Brandon Oates had 122 yards receiving and a touchdown on 6 catches; Watford also added 5 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively the Generals were led by Owens with 11 tackles and a sack; Hank Walker had 8 tackles and an interception; Watford had 5 tackles and a pass broken up; West added 6 tackles; Jameson Brown had 3 tackles and a fumble recovery; Dillon Barron also had 5 tackles.

Contributed by Tyler Giles
Taken from Rickey Stokes News

With the game tied with 1:30 to go in the fourth quarter, the Rangers lined up for the go ahead field goal. The kick was blocked by the Generals and West returned the blocked field goal 97 yards to score the game winning touchdown.

On the night West had 8 tackles and a broken-up pass. He also contributed to the offense, rushing for 78 yards.

Congratulations Taylor!

Contributed by Tyler Giles

Taken from Rickey Stokes News
See the Original Article

ACA kicked off to the Rangers to begin the game. The Generals defense held them on fourth down to gain possession of the ball. After a big run by Shelby Watford, the Generals scored on a Chip White quarterback sneak. The Generals would get the 2 point conversion.

The Generals offense would add another touchdown on a 4-yard run by Watford, though the Generals would fail to get the conversion.

The Rangers would eventually come back and tie the game at 14 in the 4th quarter. With 1:20 left in the game the Rangers attempted a field goal from the Generals 15-yard line. ACA’s defensive line was able to penetrate the Lyman Ward offensive line and block the kick. The ball was picked up in the end zone by Taylor West, who returned the blocked kick 101 yards for a Generals touchdown! The Generals would get the 2 point conversion to make the score 22-14 to hold the Rangers off and escape with a win.

Leaders on offense for the Generals were Shelby Watford with 114 yards on 14 carries; Taylor West rushed for 78 yards on 10 carries; Corey Owens had 16 yards on 7 rushes; Chip White passed for 69 yards, he also rushed for 7 yards and a touchdown on 4 rushes.

Defensively for the Generals, Parker Champion had 12 tackles; Hank Walker had 11 tackles; Blaine Sellers had 10 tackles; Dillon Barron had 8 tackles and an interception; West had 8 tackles, a pass broken up, and a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. Also contributing to the defensive effort were Corey Owens with 9 tackles; Shelby Watford and Anthony Sellers with 8 tackles each.

The Generals have an off week this week but will face their rival the Ashford Academy Falcons next Friday night at home.

Contributed by Tyler Giles
Taken from Rickey Stokes News
See the Original Article

The Generals received the ball to open the game. Right from the start of the game it appeared that the Generals were ready to play as they took the opening drive down the field for a touchdown. After the kick the Generals defense held the Chiefs to a punt and once again the Generals drove down and scored. The Generals continued to dominate and took a 32-0 lead at the half.

When play resumed the Generals picked right up where they left off and continued to dominate the Chiefs on both sides of the ball. The Generals continued to score and left with a 46-0 win.

On the night the Generals compiled 492 yards rushing and had 500 total yards. The offense was led by Sterling Armstrong who had 7 rushes for 206 yards and 4 touchdowns. Justin Walker had 205 yards rushing on 13 carries and a touchdown. Travis Johnson had 8 rushes for 74 yards and scored a touchdown; he also scored on four 2-point conversions and kicked an extra point. Blaine Sellers also kicked an extra point.

Contributed by Tyler Giles
Taken from Rickey Stokes News
See the Original Article

The Generals struck first and went out to an 8 to nothing lead. It didn’t take long for the Rebels to strike back to cut the lead to 8-7. The Generals didn’t waste time as they reclaimed the lead— from there the Generals never looked back.

After the first half the Generals dominated the Rebels and continued to score to take a 36-14 win.

On the night the Generals racked up 408 yards of total offense, and had 4 takeaways on defense. Leaders on the General’s offense were Shelby Watford who had 159 yards rushing on 18 carries and 3 touchdowns; Chip White had 71 yards rushing on 7 attempts; Taylor West had 50 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown; and Corey Owens had 49 yards rushing on 7 attempts and a touchdown.

Defensively for the Generals Tyler Giles had 13 tackles; Dillon Barron had 7 tackles; Blaine Sellers and Taylor West had 6 tackles each; Shelby Watford had 6 tackles, a fumble recovery, and a fumble caused. Hank Walker, Chip White, and Brandon Oates each had an interception.

Next week the Generals will host the Lyman Ward Military Academy Rangers to conclude their annual Homecoming festivities.

Contributed by Tyler Giles
Taken from Rickey Stokes News
See the Original Article

The Generals fell behind early as the Cougars drove down and scored. The Cougars continued to score throughout the half and took a 28-6 lead going into half time. The Generals only score of the half came on an 81 yard pass from Chip White to Brandon Oates.

After halftime the Cougars picked up where they left off, racking up more points to a final score of 48-14.

Not every thing went wrong for the Generals, however. The offense gained over 200 yards of total offense with 118 yards rushing and 123 yards passing. Leaders for the Generals were Shelby Watford who rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown. Taylor West added 49 rushing yards of his own. Chip White passed for 123 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Oates had 4 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Defensive leaders for the night were Blaine Sellers who had 9 tackles; Corey Owens had 7 tackles. Taylor West had 8 tackles and 2 passes broken up, and Anthony Sellers who had 6 tackles and a fumble recovery.

This week the Generals travel to Grady, Alabama looking for their first win of the season as they play the Raiders of South Montgomery County Academy.

Contributed by Tyler Giles
Taken from Rickey Stokes News
See the Original Article

Contributed by Tyler Giles

The Generals kicked off to begin the game. The defense held the Patriots to a punt, but on the return Shelby Watford fumbled on the General’s 5 yard line. The Patriots took full advantage of the Generals gift and scored a touchdown three plays later.

The rest of the half went back and forth with the Patriots scratching in one more touchdown to make the score 13-0.

After the half the General offense was still having problems even though Chip White did throw a 34 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Oates, but that was all they could muster and wound up losing 25-6.

The General offense was able to move the ball all night but were only able to come away with 6 points on the Patriot defense. However, mistakes on the Generals side of the ball didn’t help the Patriot’s cause.

The Generals turned the ball over 5 times with 2 interceptions and 3 fumbles. Leaders for the Generals were Shelby Watford who rushed for 45 yards on 12 carries, and Corey Owens who rushed for 31 yards on 8 carries. Chip White passed for 127 yards and a touchdown. Receiving leaders for the Generals were Watford who had 6 catches for 93 yards, and Brandon Oates who had one reception for a touchdown.

On defense Taylor West had 12 tackles, a pass broken up, and an interception. Corey Owens had 10 tackles including a tackle for loss. Shelby Watford had 7 tackles, forced a fumble, and recovered a fumble. Jameson Brown had 8 tackles. Chip White and Blaine Sellers each recovered a fumble.

The Generals hope to rebound this week as they travel to Lowndes Academy to play the Rebels. Lowndes Academy represented class AA in the AISA state championship game last year, but were defeated by Edgewood Academy.

Contributed by Tyler Giles

Come out and support your Abbeville athletes this Fall! You can find the schedules for our city’s teams by clicking one of the links below!

Abbeville High School
Abbeville Christian Academy