Spartans start season with big win

It’s not often that a special teams’ returner gets a second chance at a touchdown.

Athens Academy junior Jordan Lawson got that chance on Friday night.

In the season opener of the Spartans’ 2011 campaign, Lawson’s 74-yard kickoff return, following a safety, kick-started a 30-0 romp of visiting Southwest Atlanta Christian.

Lawson had a 55-yard punt return wiped out by a penalty earlier in the game, but his second quarter kickoff return stood up.

“To get that back on the kick return really meant a lot,” said Lawson, who also made a fourth quarter interception. “All of my blockers were really working hard, everybody on kickoff team.”

Most of the talk leading up to the season centered on the 14 seniors Academy graduated, and the seven seniors on the current roster. But behind 23 defensive or special teams’ points, the Spartans put those thoughts to rest for a week.

A couple of the newcomers are senior quarterback Lake Lindsey and junior running back Taylor Allen, who were in the middle of most of the offense on Friday.  

While the newcomers and younger players adjust, Lawson said it was a relief to see the defense and special teams lead the way.

“We knew our defense was strong, maybe not so much our special teams,” Lawson said. “But that’s a big boost, especially to help out our offense like that, it really helps our team out a lot.”

Added coach Michael Gunn, “When we don’t have to score every single time we have that ball, that’s good. But we’ve got to get better offensively, and we know that.”

One of those seniors is P.J. Blaesing, who made another highlight in the game.

With 4:08 left in the second quarter, Blaesing elected to alter the fourth down defense and try for a block. It worked, and after Blaesing made the block, he watched junior Sam Clements recover the ball for a touchdown.

“He said, ‘I can get there,’ so we made the adjustment to let him go, and he got there,” Spartans coach Michael Gunn said. “That’s them being heads up, and that’s a senior making a good play for us.”

Similar to last year’s win at Southwest Atlanta, where the game was scoreless after the first quarter before a 34-14 Spartans’ victory, it started slow for Academy.

A 14-play opening drive stalled inside the 5-yard line before the Spartans settled for a field goal. But on the ensuing drive for the Warriors, quarterback Darion Bell recovered a high snap in his own end zone.

That’s when Lawson return the kickoff for a score, after he zig-zagged down the Spartans’ sideline.

To start the second quarter, the Spartans received ideal field position near midfield, and used seven plays to score on a 1-yard run by fullback John Braucher.

For the fourth year program at Southwest Atlanta Christian, coach DeMarco Thompson said a lack of depth plays a role in games like this. He only brought 19 players, and six were freshmen.

“That (lack) of numbers start coming in, that fatigue,” Thompson said. “We fought hard, and the second half was a lot different than the first half.”