Warner Robins junior Malcolm Brown earned the right to sleep late on Saturday.
The running back carried the ball 35 times for 205 yards and three touchdowns to lead the reigning Class 5A champions to an impressive 50-34 road win against Class 7A power Archer. Brown showed both strength and slashing ability as he scored on runs of 6, 4 and 22 yards. He also caught a pass for 17 yards.
“Malcolm will sleep well,” Warner Robins coach Marquis Westbrook said. “He’ll probably be asleep before we get to the other side of Lawrenceville. He carried the load tonight.”
Class 5A No. 2 Warner Robins (2-0) also got an outstanding effort from quarterback Christon Lane, a first-year starter, who completed 15 of 24 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns – 36 and 89 yards to Deuce Petty and a 33-yarder to Javeon Walker. Lane also ran for a 1-yard touchdown.
Archer (0-2) got 60 yards on 15 carries from Chase Sellers, who scored on runs of 8 and 1 yards. Sophomore quarterback William Wallace completed 6 of 15 passes for 260 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Archer scored on its first possession on an 8-yard run by Sellers, but missed the extra point. Warner Robins answered on Brown’s 6-yard run, only to have Archer strike with an 86-yard pass from William Wallace to Derrick Moore.
Warner Robins took the lead for good on a 36-yard pass from Lane to Walker, then used an interception by Petty to set up a 33-yard touchdown pass to Walker, who finished with five catches for 67 yards. Petty had four catches for 163 yards.
“They hit us in the mouth early, but we bounced back well,” Westbrook said. “The offense played a heckuva game. … We punched it in when we needed to.”
Archer again struck with a deep ball, an 81-yarder to Frank Osario to trim the lead to 28-20. But the Demons made it a two-score difference on Brown’s second touchdown run with 3:10 left in the half.
Warner Robins essentially put the game away by scoring on its first possession of the second half, a 1-yard run by Lane, and a safety when Wallace was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone while being pursued by Victor Burley.
“Defensively we gave up some big passes early on and it was very frustrating,” Westbrook said. “We made some adjustments and we came back to play very well.”
The game began 90 minutes late because of a heavy rainstorm that came through the area. Fans were evacuated to the adjacent gynasium and teams were sent back to the locker room and the game did not begin until 9 p.m.
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