The Rockmart Yellow Jackets dominated behind four touchdowns for Jai Penson – including a fumble scooped up on defense he ran back to the end zone – and they overcame pressure from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe for a 45-14 win against the Warriors to move to 4-0 in region play.

Rockmart’s win over LFO moved the Jackets overall to 5-1 on the season and kept them at the top of the leader board in 6-AAA amid the first year in a new classification and four games left on the regular season to show themselves as a powerhouse heading into the playoffs.

First, head coach Biff Parson said his team needs to iron out some kinks among themselves before October comes to a close.

“The biggest thing we talked about this week was being physical,” he said following the game. “Not to the standard that we want, but we’re getting there. As we move forward, we have four games left and we want to be able to peak there at the right moment there at the end. A great win, and a lot of teachable moments that we can come to and figure this thing out.”

Despite some costly mistakes in penalties – including a celebration call against Dennis Sims for dancing in the end zone after a touchdown in the second half, which was assessed on the kickoff and a Javin Whatley interception that had the Warriors knocking on the door – Rockmart played above their competition enough on Friday night and the defense kept LFO from scoring on several opportunities in their attempts to make it a game in the second half.

Along with the four touchdowns from Penson, Whatley also connected with Sims in the second half for a big passing score, and Jojo Haynes broke loose for a touchdown late in the game with JD Davis under center for the Jackets getting some playing time against a region defense.

Parson said the Jackets will continue to work as the season goes on to keep their hot streak of wins alive.

“The biggest thing is that we have to be able to get this thing together as a unit,” he said. “We’ve got to get our guys playing for Rockmart High School and not for themselves.”

Next Friday the Jackets are back home to host Murray County in another region matchup. The 3-4 Indians are coming off a win on Friday at home over Sonoraville in a close 27-24 finish.

Key takeaways

Penson was a powerhouse on both side of the ball, coming up with key plays and big scores on the night and showcased himself as one of the many offensive threats available to Rockmart as the season continues.

Discipline among a team is key in order to win championships, and it didn’t show on the night as Parson was willing to admit. Sims could have avoided the unsportsmanlike conduct flag, as an example. (He can dance, that is for sure.) Rockmart will likely rule the region, but the playoffs are a season unto themselves this year, and they’ll need pull together to make it to the final game of the year.

The defense came up with big plays when they needed to, but were out on the field in the second half longer than they should have been. Something to keep an eye on down the stretch.

Whatley gave up two interceptions against the LFO defense, one that would have gone for a second half touchdown with Jakari Clark.