Chipley defense seals victory against Holmes County
CHIPLEY — “We’ll take that and appreciate it,” said a jubilant Chipley Coach Rob Armstrong.
His Tigers (4-4) had just defeated rival Holmes County (2-6) 28-21 Friday setting up a trip to Pensacola Catholic next week with the District 1-2B title possibly on the line.
The Tigers earned the win the hard way, with Colby Obert’s sack of Holmes County quarterback Jomar Concepcion and Colby Hartzog’s breakup of a fourth-down pass attempt with 3.9 seconds left sealing the outcome.
Hartzog had two interceptions and the Chipley ground game of Hartzog, Shonquelle Swain and Johnny Watford, along with the passing of sophomore Josh Myers matched the always explosive Concepcion on offense.
Chipley’s opening drive went all the way to the Blue Devils’ 9, where Ethan Russ recovered a Tiger fumble. Concepcion put together an eight-play drive the he finished off with a 15-yard touchdown run. Cameron Bailey’s kick made it 7-0 with 1:40 left in the first quarter.
Kodi Russ’ interception halted Chipley next drive, but Hartzog made the first of two interceptions on the Chipley 17. Nine plays later, Swain burst through the Holmes County defense 46 yards for the score. Jared Bozarth’s kick tied it with 6:06 left in the half.
The Devils came back on the ensuing drive as Concepcion hit Timothy Benton with an 18-yard touchdown pass. Swain used second effort to bull through two Holmes County defenders to score with 30.7 seconds left in the half to finish off a nine-play drive and it was 14-14 at halftime.
Concepcion hit Marcus Wood for a 72-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the third quarter. Later in the quarter the Devils made it to the Tigers’ 35 before Hartzog’s second interception. Myers hit three completions on the ensuing drive that Swain finished off with a 1-yard scoring run.
The Devils reached the Tigers’ 23 before James Voorhees picked off Concepcion and returned 36 yards to the Devils’ 49. Swain once again finished off the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run, with Bozarth’s kick giving the Tigers their first lead of the night with 2:17 left in the game.
Concepcion completed passes to Wood and Benton to get the ball to the Chipley 33 before Obert’s sack dropped him, and Hartzog broke up a pass on fourth down to seal the win.
“It was a tough one,” said veteran Holmes County coach Al Simmons. “We played them hard.”
