Braves blast Bremen in Region 5-AA opener

(Bremen, GA) — The Braves doubled up the Bremen Blue Devils Friday night on the road, winning by a final score of 42-21 in the Region 5-AA opener for the Braves.

It was a great atmosphere for high school football for Bremen’s opener with the stadium packed on both sides and fans lining the fence all the way around the field.

In a game very similar to last year’s home win by the Braves, senior Ta Freeland and junior Duranta Dunson once again each had three touchdowns.

Freeland dominated the game early scoring on an 89-yard scamper down the sidelines in the Braves first play from scrimmage after a hold by the Braves defense on the Devil’s opening possession of the game.

Quarterback Trent McLure then led the Devils on a long drive to tie the game early in the second at 7-7.

On the ensuing kickoff Freeland returned the ball 76 yards for his second score and with the Trey Wiggins PAT the Braves were back in front 14-7. The impressive freshman kicker converted all six extra-points on the night.

Senior Ta “The Freak” Freeland scored 3 TD’s Friday night and had just over 200 yards rushing.

A big fumble recovery by Dunson on the next drive led to yet another 21-yard TD by Ta “The Freak” Freeland giving Coach Barron’s squad a 21-7 lead.

McLure continued to lead the Devils down the field on the next drive, and Voltaire Driver ran it in to close the gap to just seven once again.

A key first down on fourth and three by Freeland on the Braves next drive led to Dunson’s first score on the night and the Braves led 28-14 at the half. Dunson would score two more times in the second half breaking lots of tackles on several plays and keeping the Blue Devils out of reach.

The Braves overcame three second half turnovers thanks mostly to a couple of big defensive stands. The key play of the night on defense came when Elijah Toney made a big tackle on a Devils fourth down inside the red zone.

“It was nice to see our offense playing and executing the way they did — you know playing with that confidence and using that speed tonight, ” said Tim Barron after the game. “Practice has been like pulling teeth at times this year but I think coming off this win will make the work week a lot better next week.”

The Braves will return to Staples Stadium next week to take on the Kendrick Cherokees who shut out Temple 37-0 Friday night.