Evans football coach Barrett Davis managed to boil his entire offseason message to his team down to four words.
“Finish the close ones.”
That was Davis’ mantra regarding his team’s goals this season and, after the Knights defeated local powerhouse Thomson 35-28 Friday night in the regular season opener for both teams, it appears they heard Davis loud and clear.
This already has an argument to be the game of the season for Evans, especially if it can ride the momentum of it to a solid 2024 season. And while some may argue whether or not a Class AAAAA school beating a Class AA power is an upset, what can’t be argued is that the win was one of the biggest wins in recent Evans’ program history.
You’ll have to go back to October 12, 2007 for the last time an Evans football team defeated a ranked program of any kind. It was a 10-7 win over then-Class AAAA No. 4 Statesboro in Region 3-AAAA play.
That means, coming into Friday night’s game against Class AA No. 8 ranked Thomson (according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s rankings), Evans was 1-23 against ranked opponents from any classification.
Technically, Evans has a win on paper against Valdosta from a December 4, 2020 Class AAAAAA state playoff game. On the field, Valdosta defeated Evans 44-7 that year in the second round of the Class AAAAAA state playoffs, but Valdosta had to forfeit that, and all its 2020 games, because of rules violations tied to then-head coach Rush Propst.
All that aside, Davis is just glad to see a 1-0 Evans squad in 2024.
“It’s great to see our team go out and win a close game against a good, quality opponent,” Davis said. It’s a blessing, it really is.”
Evans put this game out of reach with a long, spirit-crushing 5-minute drive that led to a 14-yard touchdown by junior Jabraylon Kennedy. The drive contained several plays where the Evans offensive line willed its way to victory and pushed the running backs 5 and 10 yards further than where contact was made.
From start to finish, Evans threw the punches and made it look like they were the favorites, not the 14-point underdogs (according to Georgia High School Football Daily). It was the more physical team all night, and that reflected on the scoreboard.
On the offensive side of the ball, Evans is known for their ability to run the ball, but Friday it was the passing game’s time to shine. Of course, the Knights ran the ball like they wanted to also, but when they needed a big conversion, they looked to the arm of quarterback EJ Hogan.
“Last year, we only had about 600 yards passing on the season and one touchdown,” said Davis, now in his fourth year as head coach. “We already broke the touchdown part with two of them tonight. EJ has been a good leader and got banged up tonight, but still came back in and played hard. Tripp Ferguson, the backup, came in [while Hogan was injured], and there wasn’t much drop-off, so, really proud of those kids.”
The revamped passing game from Evans was boosted by Buddyrow Garrer, the Kent State commit playing in his first game in the black and gold.
Already deemed one of the best playmakers in the CSRA, he showed why Friday night, catching a screen pass on his own 30-yard line and taking it 70 yards, untouched, for a touchdown. Evans’ second touchdown pass was to Christian Scott on a play where Thomson sold out on the run, leaving Scott wide-open for six.
An impressive performance was put together by the Evans defense as well, despite only four returning starters.
Thomson was able to move the ball, but the Knights had a “bend-but-don’t-break” mentality and stepped up when the team needed it most. They held one of the best, most athletic offenses they will likely see all season — at least before the playoffs — to just 28 points, with the last of those touchdowns coming at the end against the pass.
The defense also had a stop on a fourth-and-one, when Thomson was driving deep into Knight territory, that completely changed the momentum early on in the game.
Evans (1-0) has a bye week, next week, and will get the chance to get themselves together after such a big win, before they host Grovetown (0-1) on Friday, August 30. The Warriors fell 30-12 Friday night in its season opener against in-county rival Lakeside-Evans. Grovetown hasn’t beaten Evans since scoring a 30-20 victory over the Knights back in November 2018.
