Jake Fromm completed 26 of 36 passes for 414 yards and four touchdowns Thursday to lift Houston County to a 26-14 victory against Mary Persons on the opening night of the Kell Classic at Mercer University in Macon.
It was the first time the two programs have met since 1995, and Houston County had never beaten the Bulldogs.
In what was a tale of two halves, Houston County scored on every possession in the first half, then relied on its defense to hold off a Class AAAA Mary Persons team that is ranked eighth in the state.
The Bears' opening drive went 85 yards in nine plays and took less than two minutes. Fromm, a Super 11 selection who is committed to UGA, completed six passes for 77 yards on the drive, the last a 10-yard touchdown pass to receiver Amari Colbert. Mary Persons countered with a 10-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game, then watched as Fromm and the Bears took control. Fromm led Houston County on three long drives, completing three touchdown passes to Colbert of 34, 32 and 8 yards.
"If you run your route right, it's going to be right on time, every time. He's that type of player," said Colbert, who finished the game with 10 catches for 168 yards. "He made me who I am. It's a really good feeling when you know you have (Fromm) back there throwing to you."
But there were no more highlights for the Houston County offense. The Bears, ranked third in Class AAAAAA, failed to score on five possessions of the second half, in large part because penalties stopped drives. Houston finished the game with 16 penalties for 131 yards.
Although Mary Persons stayed in Houston County territory for much of the second half, three interceptions by Branden Smith, Trey Jones and Caleb Thomas kept the Bulldogs at bay. Mary Persons managed to score with 5:53 remaining in the game to cut the lead to 26-14.
"We executed in the first half, but we didn't execute the second half because there were too many mistakes" said Fromm.
"We've got to get better moving the ball, especially in the second half, you know (Mary Persons) made some adjustments and did a great job." said Houston County coach Vonn Lassiter. "I'm glad I don't have to answer the question of, 'If we had not gotten those turnovers what would have happened?'"Mary Persons running back Zach Harvey rushed for 198 yards on 26 attempts and scored two touchdowns, his first on a 1-yard run and second on an 18-yard reception from Caleb Speir. Speir finished the game with 114 yards on nine completions. The Bulldogs rushed for 305 yards on 42 attempts. They had 446 yards of total offense.
Houston County added 163 yards rushing and 414 yards passing for 577 yards of total offense. Fromm also passed to Kimar Robinson four times for 81 yards and Eli Watson five times for 73 yards.
Mary Persons' defensive end Malik Herring, the other Super 11 selection in the game, finished with three solo tackles and three assists. He got to Fromm once for a 6-yard sack.
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