NEXT ROUND

Rockmart heads to next round with win over Bremen

The Rockmart Yellow Jackets are moving on to the next round and remain undefeated after a 35-23 win over Bremen.

Now at 12-0 on the season, the topranked Yellow Jackets move on to play Jefferson County this Friday, Nov. 23 after a coin flip earlier last week determined where the next game in the quarterfinals would be held.

Head coach Biff Parson said the win over the Blue Devils provided the program with a long-sought accomplishment of getting past the second round of the Class AA playoffs.

“I know in my tenure here that we wanted to get the monkey off our back in the second round, and we did that,” he said. “Now we get another opportunity to play.”

Rockmart started off rocky, and went through much of the first quarter scoreless after the Jackets gave up a touchdown to Bremen on a drive that was kept alive by a pass interference call on a fake punt, and capped off with a 10-yard drive into the end zone by Brant Ivey.

The Jackets then scored four unanswered touchdowns through the rest of the second half, with quarterback Dylan Bailey getting his offense back into their usual tempo with a 66-yard strike to Juke Boozer late in the first quarter.

On their next drive, Rockmart running back Markus Smith ran for a 24-yard touchdown, followed by a punt return by Javin Whatley for 73 yards, and then a one-yard run in for a score by Smith again.

“We didn’t punch it in on our first drive, and then they go up seven and all the sudden we put up 28 unanswered,” Parson said. “The punt return by Javin Whatley was huge, and that gave us momentum.”

Smith would end the night with the two touchdowns rushing for the Jackets. He also played under center during the second half, but threw no passes.

His performance was one Parson said showed the rest of the state the senior’s true talent.

“We talked about it all week – big time players have to play in big time games now,” Parson said. “We’re going to be in some big games…. We rely on our dudes, and Markus is a dude and I hope the rest of the state sees that.”

Zabrion Whatley added a touchdown of his own in the third quarter on a 58-yard run. Bailey went 4 for 7 on the night in passing for 115 yards and the lone first half touchdown.

The Blue Devils didn’t let Rockmart off the hook easy in the rest of the game after leading early in the first quarter. An 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Jace Garrett late in the second quarter kept Bremen in the game, and a safety early in the second half plus a second touchdown from Ivey kept it close for a while, but the Jackets proved too much.

Rockmart ended the night with 648 yards of offense, compared to the 341 put up by Bremen. Blue Devils quarterback Wade Cartwright finished the game 5 of 19 and throwing for 104 yards.

“I’m proud of how these kids weathered the storm,” Parson said. “They fought their tails off to get the victory.”

The Jackets take a three hour drive to Louisville to take on the Jefferson County Warriors, who won out over Dodge County last Friday night 27-13. The 10-2 Warriors finished first in Region 4-AA.

Rockmart’s win ended Bremen’s season at 9-3 in the second round of the playoffs.

/ Kevin Myrick Zabrion Whatley runs toward the edges and finds room against the Bremen defense in the third quarter.

/ Kevin Myrick Bremen’s defense chased after Rockmart’s Markus Smith, who scored two first-half touchdowns for the Yellow Jackets in their 35-23 victory in the second round of the playoffs.

/ Kevin Myrick Javin Whatley avoided tackles and gained big yardage in the second half against Bremen.

/ Kevin Myrick Left: Bremen’s runners kept finding themselves facing a wall of black in the second half as Rockmart’s defense held the team firm through four quarters. Above: Quarterback Dylan Bailey found himself sharing duties under center last Friday against Bremen, but still threw for more than 100 yards and a touchdown on the night.