AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Fire had little problem finding the end zone Saturday at Lucy C. Laney Memorial Stadium in a 77-12 victory over Edward Waters in the Augusta City Classic.
The victory secured the Mid-South Conference Sun Division championship.
“We were pleased with the way we came out, and scoring on every drive in the first half,” said coach Keith Barefield. “Our young guys got in and got some great playing time and turned in some good minutes.”
The ground game got started first, with Jarrell Reynolds scoring three first-quarter touchdowns to help the Fire go up 28-0 after 15 minutes of play. Reynolds finished with 160 yards on 14 carries, all in the first half.
Senior quarterback Jonathan Pearce had a career day, completing 14-of-15 passes for 253 yards and a school-record five touchdown passes, including two to LaQuvionte Gonzalez to help the Fire amass a 63-6 halftime advantage.
“We talk about playing fast, starting fast, and doing our job, and we did a good job of that today,” said Pearce. “The offensive line was great, our run game was great, and the guys I throw to do a good job of making me look good.”
Gonzalez was the game’s leading receiver with five grabs for 143 yards.
The defense even added a score just before the intermission with Collin Thomas intercepting a pass and returning it 28 yards for a score.
Thomas added another touchdown in the third quarter, picking off his second pass of the day and taking it 63 yards for SEU’s 11th touchdown of the day.
“I did my job and got under the No. 1 receiver and the ball was there,” said Thomas.
Matthew Craig caught a 20-yard TD pass in the second quarter from Pearce, and hauled in a 13-yard scoring toss from Jacob Carter in the third quarter.
The regular season finale will be next Saturday at Victory Field at 7 p.m. against Ave Maria.