Langston Hughes Opens GHSA 6A Playoffs With 42-14 Win Over Glynn Academy
On Saturday, the Langston Hughes Panthers hosted the Glynn Academy Terrors in the opening round of the Georgia High School Association Class 6A state playoffs. The two teams met last season in the second round of the playoffs and the Panthers walked away with a 35-0 win. Determine to have a different outcome this time around, the Terrors held their own defensively as neither team was able to find the end zone during the first quarter.
However, in the second quarter, Glynn Academy would strike first thanks to a Greg Peacock rushing touchdown as the Terrors would take a 7-0 lead. Langston Hughes would answer on their ensuing possession as quarterback Prentiss Noland connected with Terrance Love and the Panthers would go on to tie the game 7-7. The Panthers would then take their first lead of the game later in the period courtesy of an Antonio Martin rushing touchdown and after a failed extra point attempt, Langston Hughes would lead 13-7.
As time would wind down in the second quarter, the final two minutes would see the the Terrors regaining the lead after a Tyler Devlin touchdown pass to Tyson Rooks, but the Panthers would answer back with a touchdown pass from Noland to Jelani Thurman as they would take a 20-14 lead into the locker room at the half. In the second half, the Panther defense would shut down the Glynn Academy offense, as they would not score in the final two periods of play. Meanwhile, the Langston Hughes offense would score 22 unanswered points in route to a 42-14 win.
After the game, Langston Hughes head coach Daniel Williams said it was defensive adjustments at the half that helped them shut out the Glynn Academy offense in the second half. “We had some guys we moved around in the secondary to put us back to the way we were playing all year. We were trying to test some things out to see if it could work, so we just went back to what we were doing,” Coach Boone said following Saturday’s win. Offensively, Williams says that the late drive at the end of the second quarter was a big momentum builder for the Panthers.
“Going into the half, that 1:33 when Prentiss Noland took us down and gave us a quick touchdown, that was big. That was the momentum flipper for us because we got the ball coming out for the second half,” Williams said. Noland would throw his third touchdown of the game in the third quarter, while Martin would rush for his second touchdown in the period. In the fourth quarter, Panthers wide receiver Armani Tookes, who had a receiving touchdown in the third quarter, would give the Panthers another touchdown on the ground. Langston Hughes will host Shiloh next Friday in the second round.
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