Lee County 44, Lovejoy 6

Lee County took control early and handled Lovejoy 44-6 Friday in a Class AAAAAA opening round matchup at Twelve Oaks Stadium in Hampton.

The visitors from Leesburg poured it on with three fourth-quarter touchdowns and advanced to face the Archer/Norcross winner next Friday. In doing so, the Trojans held Lovejoy to its lowest scoring output since a 7-3 loss to McEachern in early October.

Lee led 10-0 after two possessions behind quarterback Garet Morrell. On the opening possession he drove the offense 35 yards inside the Lovejoy 10 before settling for a short field goal. After a Lovejoy punt, Morrell finished a 31-yard drive when he scored on a 9-yard run with 6:26 to play in the first quarter. Lee County grew the lead to 17-0 at halftime behind a touchdown pass from Morrell to receiver Trey Eafford early in the second quarter.

Down 17-6 late in the third quarter, Lovejoy attempted a fourth-down conversion from its own 46. Lovejoy quarterback Quintarius Neely dropped back to pass and lost the ball before falling on it, forcing a turnover on downs. Two plays later, Morrell tossed his second touchdown pass to Eafford, from 43 yards out.

Morrell tossed his third touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, a 6-yard toss to fullback Jamal Gardner. Shortly after Neely was intercepted on the ensuing possession, Morrell found Bernard McCray for a 25-yard score to give Lee a 37-6 lead. Neely was intercepted again on his next pass by linebacker Chris Caldwell, who returned the ball 29 yards for a score.

Morrell, a junior, threw for 284 yards on 19-for-30 passing. The Trojans (8-2) finished the regular season No. 6 in the Class AAAAAA poll, after a 22-21 loss to Valdosta last week. Lee County’s other loss came to top-ranked Colquitt County.

Lovejoy (7-4) finished as the No. 2 seed from Region 2, but sorely missed standout receiver Preston Williams, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the Wildcats’ Oct. 31 game against Tucker. The Wildcats struggled offensively without the 6-5 Tennessee commit, as Neely completed 16 of 46 pass attempts for 169 yards and a 10-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter.

Lee  County        10           7              6              21           44

Lovejoy                0              0              6              0              6

LC – Michael Langston 19 FG

LC – Garet Morrell 9 run (Langston kick)

LC – Trey Eafford 36 pass from Morrell (Langston kick)